Barry Bonds quest for HR record

[Chalupa]

Schilling on Bonds & McGwire

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2949168

[Aggie87]

BALCO chemist fingers Bonds, Sheff

NEW YORK (SI.com) -- The man credited with creating the performance-enhancing drug known as "the clear" said in an HBO Sports interview that Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield took the drugs provided to them by BALCO, reports the New York Times.

The HBO interview aired on Tuesday night on Costas Now. Arnold told host Bob Costas that he had heard BALCO's founder, Victor Conte, bragging about Bonds' performance on "the program." Said Patrick Arnold: "I have a very strong feeling about it since he was on the program. And like everyone else, the program consisted of 'the clear.'"

In a statement, Conte denied Arnold's allegations. "The program I created for Barry was a comprehensive nutritional supplementation regimen and had nothing to do with the clear or any other anabolic steroids," Conte said.

According to leaked grand jury testimony reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Bonds and Sheffield have denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. In 2004, SI's Tom Verducci reported that Sheffield unknowingly took samples of "the cream" supplied to him by BALCO. A federal grand jury is still investigating Bonds' original testimony for the possibility of perjury.

In 2006, Arnold pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute steroids and was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home confinement.

[Tim McG]

BALCO chemist fingers Bonds, Sheff

NEW YORK (SI.com) -- The man credited with creating the performance-enhancing drug known as "the clear" said in an HBO Sports interview that Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield took the drugs provided to them by BALCO, reports the New York Times.

The HBO interview aired on Tuesday night on Costas Now. Arnold told host Bob Costas that he had heard BALCO's founder, Victor Conte, bragging about Bonds' performance on "the program." Said Patrick Arnold: "I have a very strong feeling about it since he was on the program. And like everyone else, the program consisted of 'the clear.'"

In a statement, Conte denied Arnold's allegations. "The program I created for Barry was a comprehensive nutritional supplementation regimen and had nothing to do with the clear or any other anabolic steroids," Conte said.

According to leaked grand jury testimony reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Bonds and Sheffield have denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. In 2004, SI's Tom Verducci reported that Sheffield unknowingly took samples of "the cream" supplied to him by BALCO. A federal grand jury is still investigating Bonds' original testimony for the possibility of perjury.

In 2006, Arnold pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute steroids and was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home confinement.

As I have stated numerous times before, Barry Bonds has already admitted to using the "clear" back when it weasn't against MLB rules to do so.

BFD.

Here's to making something out of nothing.

[Aggie87]

As I have stated numerous times before, Barry Bonds has already admitted to using the "clear" back when it weasn't against MLB rules to do so.

BFD.

Here's to making something out of nothing.

I have serious doubts that he quit cold-turkey the day it became illegal to take steroids.

Of course, I'm sure you think the steroids had no effect on his numbers either way (which begs the question of why he ever took them in the first place then).

[Tim McG]

As I have stated numerous times before, Barry Bonds has already admitted to using the "clear" back when it weasn't against MLB rules to do so.

BFD.

Here's to making something out of nothing.

I have serious doubts that he quit cold-turkey the day it became illegal to take steroids.

Of course, I'm sure you think the steroids had no effect on his numbers either way (which begs the question of why he ever took them in the first place then).

Cold turkey?

The "clear" is a cream much like Vaseline or Sportscream.

You don't inject nor can you become addicted to a topical gel.

Time to check your facts, my friend.

Edited July 26, 2007 by GoodSpeak

[Aggie87]

As I have stated numerous times before, Barry Bonds has already admitted to using the "clear" back when it weasn't against MLB rules to do so.

BFD.

Here's to making something out of nothing.

I have serious doubts that he quit cold-turkey the day it became illegal to take steroids.

Of course, I'm sure you think the steroids had no effect on his numbers either way (which begs the question of why he ever took them in the first place then).

Cold turkey?

The "clear" is a cream much like Vaseline or Sportscream.

You don't inject nor can you become addicted to a topical gel.

Time to check your facts, my friend.

I'm aware that it's a cream. You're avoiding the point. Quitting cold-turkey as in suddenly stopping the usage of the clear. I figured you'd understand that - I didn't mean for it to confuse you.

[Tim McG]

As I have stated numerous times before, Barry Bonds has already admitted to using the "clear" back when it weasn't against MLB rules to do so.

BFD.

Here's to making something out of nothing.

I have serious doubts that he quit cold-turkey the day it became illegal to take steroids.

Of course, I'm sure you think the steroids had no effect on his numbers either way (which begs the question of why he ever took them in the first place then).

Cold turkey?

The "clear" is a cream much like Vaseline or Sportscream.

You don't inject nor can you become addicted to a topical gel.

Time to check your facts, my friend.

I'm aware that it's a cream. You're avoiding the point. Quitting cold-turkey as in suddenly stopping the usage of the clear. I figured you'd understand that - I didn't mean for it to confuse you.

Oh fer cryin' out loud, Aggie.

You started this ridiculous point and now you bail out on this specious "I know it was a cream" nonsense....then you say I shouldn't be confused with what cold turkey means? Um...huh?

If you were using Vasiline Intensive Care could you quit cold [i can't believe I'm saying this] turkey?

Waiter....check please.

Edited July 26, 2007 by GoodSpeak

[alocispepraluger102]

technology is going to be one(or more) step(s) ahead of testing procedures.

many athletes bodies from now on are going to be products of sports-science.

arguing against this will be about as successful, in my opinion, as arguing against abortion.

[Dan Gould]

Keep dancing, Goodie, for the end is near. Bonds will be in the clink by Christmas - and then Selig will have a gala celebration of the return of the home run record to its rightful holder.

[Aggie87]

As I have stated numerous times before, Barry Bonds has already admitted to using the "clear" back when it weasn't against MLB rules to do so.

BFD.

Here's to making something out of nothing.

I have serious doubts that he quit cold-turkey the day it became illegal to take steroids.

Of course, I'm sure you think the steroids had no effect on his numbers either way (which begs the question of why he ever took them in the first place then).

Cold turkey?

The "clear" is a cream much like Vaseline or Sportscream.

You don't inject nor can you become addicted to a topical gel.

Time to check your facts, my friend.

I'm aware that it's a cream. You're avoiding the point. Quitting cold-turkey as in suddenly stopping the usage of the clear. I figured you'd understand that - I didn't mean for it to confuse you.

Oh fer cryin' out loud, Aggie.

You started this ridiculous point and now you bail out on this specious "I know it was a cream" nonsense....then you say I shouldn't be confused with what cold turkey means? Um...huh?

If you were using Vasiline Intensive Care could you quit cold [i can't believe I'm saying this] turkey?

Per Wikipedia:

"Cold turkey" is a slang expression describing the actions of a person who gives up a habit or addiction all at once.

If Bonds suddenly stopped using "the clear" when it became illegal, that is tantamount to going cold turkey. I highly doubt he quit like that anyway. Now please address my point, instead of some bizarre technicality that only is an issue in your head.

Why did Bonds KNOWINGLY take steroids if they have absolutely no effect on his hitting? Regardless whether they were legal or illegal at the time he took them.

[Lyin' Wolf]

[Aggie87]

Here's a well written article from Tom Verducci last week, about Hank Aaron.

Aaron wants nothing to do with Bonds, not because Bonds is breaking his record, but because he doesn't want to get dragged into the conversation about Bonds and steroids and, as several friends have said, he does not find Bonds to be a likable person. One friend, for instance, says that Aaron was crestfallen to hear Bonds question whether the Hall of Fame is entitled to any memorabilia from his record chase. (Bonds has since relented slightly, saying he might share an artifact.) Said Bonds, in a self-styled epitaph worthy of his tombstone, "I take care of me."

A window into Aaron's position on steroids can be found in his autobiography, in which he said of 300-game winner Gaylord Perry, "I regarded a spitball as cheating, and because of it I have serious doubts as to whether Perry belongs in the Hall of Fame. . . . I had always taken a strong stand against anything that wasn't within the spirit and rules of the game -- like spitballs. I believed in the integrity of the game as strongly as anybody."

"You can call him the people's home run king." - Reggie Jackson, on Hank Aaron.

Edited July 26, 2007 by Aggie87

[ejp626]

he does not find Bonds to be a likable person

You can say that again. There was an interesting piece recently that speculated that Bonds is missing out on roughly $20 million/year in endorsements that he would get if he weren't such a jerk and if the majority of fans didn't think he was a cheater (yes, he will always have some defenders -- in fact right here on this BB).

I think there is some kind of karmic justice in that, though I will be even happier if he does end up found guilty of perjury and has his records expunged, which seems fairly likely.

[Brownian Motion]

Of course, I'm sure you think the steroids had no effect on his numbers either way (which begs the question of why he ever took them in the first place then).

He wanted shriveled testicles?

[connoisseur series500]

Why did Bonds KNOWINGLY take steroids if they have absolutely no effect on his hitting? Regardless whether they were legal or illegal at the time he took them.

I'm afraid that this comment tells it all. Barry was juiced, but I still think breaking the record is a tremendous feat.

[paul secor]

I'm a baseball fan, but the day that Barry Bonds hits #756 will just be another day for me.

[Dan Gould]

I'm a baseball fan, but the day that Barry Bonds hits #756 will just be another day for me.

I can't stand A-Rod, but the day he erases Bonds from the record book will be an excellent day for me.

[Chalupa]

I'm a baseball fan, but the day that Barry Bonds hits #756 will just be another day for me.

I can't stand A-Rod, but the day he erases Bonds from the record book will be an excellent day for me.

Selig will erase it first.

A-Rod is a great player and will probably be the first to hit 800 dingers. That said the first image that pops into my mind when I read/hear his name mentioned is this:

[Jazzmoose]

That pretty much sums it up...

[Chalupa]

Let's rewind Barry's career to the 7 years he spent as a wasp-waisted Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder so sleek and fleet Jim Leyland used him to lead off. Barry actually spoke to me once in those days, at the batting cage before an NLCS game against the Braves. He said, "This morning I watched you and those other bleeps on that bleep TV show you bleeps do on ESPN. You bleepers don't know bleep . . . ''

With that, he jumped into the cage for his final hacks. I felt flattered. Barry does not initiate conversation with just anybody. He assigns his bleeps with care.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/philli...wn_to_size.html

[catesta]

Barry Bonds Home-Run Scandal Somehow Becomes Feel-Good Sports Story Of Summer

July 26, 2007

Sponsored by SAN FRANCISCO—Although Barry Bonds remains the target of criticism over his possible—some say almost certain—use of performance-enhancing substances, the fact that Bonds has not been implicated in dogfighting, nightclub shootings, gambling, or murdering his family has transformed his controversial pursuit of the all-time home-run record into the feel-good sports story of the summer.

"Until we have definitive proof one way or the other, the very presence of so many questions about Bonds and steroids will haunt his achievements forever," ESPN's Peter Gammons said Monday. "However, at this moment, I think we'd all have to agree that having a raging juiced-up misanthrope break the greatest record in sports is a ray of sunshine compared to everything else on the sports page."

"What kind of person electrocutes dogs, let alone fights them?" Gammons added. "I simply can't comprehend it. Go, Barry!"

While Bonds has been routinely greeted with booing and jeering whenever he played outside of San Francisco, the taunting seems to have abated for the moment as sports fans across America lapse into a reflective silence as Bonds approaches the plate.

"I know Bonds is probably 100% pharmaceutical Frankenstein," said Brewers fan Charles Michaels, who waved a banner reading "Make Us Relatively Proud, Barry" while not exactly rooting against Bonds at Milwaukee's Miller Park Sunday night. "But I also know for a certainty that gambling problems didn't compel him to affect the outcome of the NBA playoffs. You have to give him that much."

"Bonds is not exactly my hero," said Braves fan Bradley Hanson, who flew to San Francisco for Monday night's Braves game in order to pointedly not boo Bonds. "But he's a reminder that in these troubled times for sports, there are still players whose crimes are simple, pure, and only tarnish our beloved sport and everything it stands for without killing anybody."

Bonds defiantly refuses to acknowledge, much less answer, any of the dozens of questions regarding his use of illegal substances, often lashing out at clubhouse reporters asking even innocuous baseball-related questions. Yet as of press time, Bonds had not yet been involved in even one single murder.

"Say what you want about Bonds, but he's not a murderer, or even an attempted murderer," San Francisco Chronicle reporter and co-author of Game Of Shadows Lance Williams wrote in Sunday's edition. "The only thing I believe Bonds did was inject himself with Winstrol, Deca-Durabolin, insulin, testosterone, synthetic testosterone, testosterone decanoate, human growth hormones, Norbolethone, Trenbolone, Clomid, and possibly commercial racehorse laxatives, all in order to make himself a better athlete. Not to allow himself to gut-shoot a gentleman's club bouncer, but to become a better athlete. A better athlete…it doesn't seem so bad when you think about it like that."

"It's a relief of sorts to see someone putting performance first," Frank Deford said in a New York Times Magazine editorial Sunday. "I think we all believe that Barry has taken steroids, and that they made him into a hulking monster who rewrote the record books. But they didn't turn him into a hulking monster who drugged his wife and children into unconsciousness before strangling them to death and hanging himself from a weight bench. And in these troubled times, Bonds' performance is one we can all reluctantly applaud."

Edited July 26, 2007 by catesta

[Tim McG]

I'm a baseball fan, but the day that Barry Bonds hits #756 will just be another day for me.

Right.

And pigs can fly.

Why don't you guys stop pretending you won't watch TV or read the paper or want to know if and when Bonds breaks the HR record? The mere fact that you're here on this thread whining about unproven allegations is sheer testimony to the fact you all are deeply interested.

[Tim McG]

Barry Bonds Home-Run Scandal Somehow Becomes Feel-Good Sports Story Of Summer

July 26, 2007

Sponsored by SAN FRANCISCO—Although Barry Bonds remains the target of criticism over his possible—some say almost certain—use of performance-enhancing substances, the fact that Bonds has not been implicated in dogfighting, nightclub shootings, gambling, or murdering his family has transformed his controversial pursuit of the all-time home-run record into the feel-good sports story of the summer.

"Until we have definitive proof one way or the other, the very presence of so many questions about Bonds and steroids will haunt his achievements forever," ESPN's Peter Gammons said Monday. "However, at this moment, I think we'd all have to agree that having a raging juiced-up misanthrope break the greatest record in sports is a ray of sunshine compared to everything else on the sports page."

"What kind of person electrocutes dogs, let alone fights them?" Gammons added. "I simply can't comprehend it. Go, Barry!"

While Bonds has been routinely greeted with booing and jeering whenever he played outside of San Francisco, the taunting seems to have abated for the moment as sports fans across America lapse into a reflective silence as Bonds approaches the plate.

"I know Bonds is probably 100% pharmaceutical Frankenstein," said Brewers fan Charles Michaels, who waved a banner reading "Make Us Relatively Proud, Barry" while not exactly rooting against Bonds at Milwaukee's Miller Park Sunday night. "But I also know for a certainty that gambling problems didn't compel him to affect the outcome of the NBA playoffs. You have to give him that much."

"Bonds is not exactly my hero," said Braves fan Bradley Hanson, who flew to San Francisco for Monday night's Braves game in order to pointedly not boo Bonds. "But he's a reminder that in these troubled times for sports, there are still players whose crimes are simple, pure, and only tarnish our beloved sport and everything it stands for without killing anybody."

Bonds defiantly refuses to acknowledge, much less answer, any of the dozens of questions regarding his use of illegal substances, often lashing out at clubhouse reporters asking even innocuous baseball-related questions. Yet as of press time, Bonds had not yet been involved in even one single murder.

"Say what you want about Bonds, but he's not a murderer, or even an attempted murderer," San Francisco Chronicle reporter and co-author of Game Of Shadows Lance Williams wrote in Sunday's edition. "The only thing I believe Bonds did was inject himself with Winstrol, Deca-Durabolin, insulin, testosterone, synthetic testosterone, testosterone decanoate, human growth hormones, Norbolethone, Trenbolone, Clomid, and possibly commercial racehorse laxatives, all in order to make himself a better athlete. Not to allow himself to gut-shoot a gentleman's club bouncer, but to become a better athlete. A better athlete…it doesn't seem so bad when you think about it like that."

"It's a relief of sorts to see someone putting performance first," Frank Deford said in a New York Times Magazine editorial Sunday. "I think we all believe that Barry has taken steroids, and that they made him into a hulking monster who rewrote the record books. But they didn't turn him into a hulking monster who drugged his wife and children into unconsciousness before strangling them to death and hanging himself from a weight bench. And in these troubled times, Bonds' performance is one we can all reluctantly applaud."

Just read this tripe:

"Until we have definitive proof one way or the other..."

Um..huh?

Then why all the hugga-mugga in the media then?

"I know Bonds is probably 100% pharmaceutical Frankenstein"

Probably 100%...WTF is that?

This is total bullshit, guys. Nobody has ever been subjected to this kind of gossip-turned-fact nonsense in the history of sport.

Thank God our legal system needs proof to convict anyone.

Wow.

[Aggie87]

Wow.

edit - that fake article went right over your head, didn't it.

Edited July 26, 2007 by Aggie87

[JSngry]

Barry Bonds Home-Run Scandal Somehow Becomes Feel-Good Sports Story Of Summer

July 26, 2007

Sponsored by SAN FRANCISCO—Although Barry Bonds remains the target of criticism over his possible—some say almost certain—use of performance-enhancing substances, the fact that Bonds has not been implicated in dogfighting, nightclub shootings, gambling, or murdering his family has transformed his controversial pursuit of the all-time home-run record into the feel-good sports story of the summer.

"Until we have definitive proof one way or the other, the very presence of so many questions about Bonds and steroids will haunt his achievements forever," ESPN's Peter Gammons said Monday. "However, at this moment, I think we'd all have to agree that having a raging juiced-up misanthrope break the greatest record in sports is a ray of sunshine compared to everything else on the sports page."

"What kind of person electrocutes dogs, let alone fights them?" Gammons added. "I simply can't comprehend it. Go, Barry!"

While Bonds has been routinely greeted with booing and jeering whenever he played outside of San Francisco, the taunting seems to have abated for the moment as sports fans across America lapse into a reflective silence as Bonds approaches the plate.

"I know Bonds is probably 100% pharmaceutical Frankenstein," said Brewers fan Charles Michaels, who waved a banner reading "Make Us Relatively Proud, Barry" while not exactly rooting against Bonds at Milwaukee's Miller Park Sunday night. "But I also know for a certainty that gambling problems didn't compel him to affect the outcome of the NBA playoffs. You have to give him that much."

"Bonds is not exactly my hero," said Braves fan Bradley Hanson, who flew to San Francisco for Monday night's Braves game in order to pointedly not boo Bonds. "But he's a reminder that in these troubled times for sports, there are still players whose crimes are simple, pure, and only tarnish our beloved sport and everything it stands for without killing anybody."

Bonds defiantly refuses to acknowledge, much less answer, any of the dozens of questions regarding his use of illegal substances, often lashing out at clubhouse reporters asking even innocuous baseball-related questions. Yet as of press time, Bonds had not yet been involved in even one single murder.

"Say what you want about Bonds, but he's not a murderer, or even an attempted murderer," San Francisco Chronicle reporter and co-author of Game Of Shadows Lance Williams wrote in Sunday's edition. "The only thing I believe Bonds did was inject himself with Winstrol, Deca-Durabolin, insulin, testosterone, synthetic testosterone, testosterone decanoate, human growth hormones, Norbolethone, Trenbolone, Clomid, and possibly commercial racehorse laxatives, all in order to make himself a better athlete. Not to allow himself to gut-shoot a gentleman's club bouncer, but to become a better athlete. A better athlete…it doesn't seem so bad when you think about it like that."

"It's a relief of sorts to see someone putting performance first," Frank Deford said in a New York Times Magazine editorial Sunday. "I think we all believe that Barry has taken steroids, and that they made him into a hulking monster who rewrote the record books. But they didn't turn him into a hulking monster who drugged his wife and children into unconsciousness before strangling them to death and hanging himself from a weight bench. And in these troubled times, Bonds' performance is one we can all reluctantly applaud."

Welcome to Post-Bush America, where the appearance of a fully-formed turd in an ocean of diahrhea is cause for celebration and proof that things aren't all that bad after all.