Top 10 All-Time Home Run Hitters Options

[cmac]

i meant 5 or so a season.
and like i said i don't care if he took them or not. he still has to see a ball, recognize it as a strike, the type of pitch (rather it's curving in out or down), and put the bat on it. none of which steroids help him do.
i think that if players wanna be great hitters they should spent more time working those techniques rather than purchasing and hiding doing steroids. i just don't think they impact the game of baseball as they would a sport like football.
and arod is a douche.

[Oasis]

ok but being racist or doing coke doesn't help you hit home runs.

UGH

I'm not talking about hitting home runs, I'm talking about gaining a competitve advantage over the competition. Or, in Bonds' case, history.

Racism helped a lot of ballplayers establish a lot of records that will never be broken. Do you honestly think Rogers Hornsby would have hit .424 if he had to face Satchel Paige, Bob Gibson, or Pedro Martinez? Hell, one step further, if he had to face specialized middle relief pitchers? Of course not.

And yes, coke gives you a huge competitive advantage. Darryl Strawberry had a huge competitive advantage over Ray Knight (assuming there was at least one player on the '86 Mets team who didn't use blow) because of cocaine. Imagine a day-night doubleheader in NY, followed by a cross country trip for a 1 pm (10 am NY time) game against the Dodgers. Would you rather face Fernando Valenzuela and his 100 MPH fastball on 4 hours sleep or coked up and completely functional and alert?

It's funny how no one talks about the competitive advantage Babe Ruth had. He demolished the all time home run record (714 to Roger Connor's 137 or something). Why? Because he was the best hitter after the dead ball era. How is completely changing the makeup of the baseball not a huge competitive advantage?

I'm not defending steroids nor what Bonds did. Just saying that I can't fault him for using something to gain an advantage, when the practice has been going on for 125+ years.

The only thing constant throughout baseball history is statistics. Everything else - the game, the players, etc - evolves.

[Oasis]

it's hilarious to me when people argue that he took them but they didn't help all that much, that he was so skilled as a hitter... players don't suddenly become skilled at age 37, after already playing the game professionally for over a decade.

Bonds was a first ballot Hall Of Famer long before steroid accusations. Think up a better argument, please.

[impala454]

Racism helped a lot of ballplayers establish a lot of records that will never be broken. Do you honestly think Rogers Hornsby would have hit .424 if he had to face Satchel Paige, Bob Gibson, or Pedro Martinez? Hell, one step further, if he had to face specialized middle relief pitchers? Of course not.

But Hornsby faced the same pitchers everyone else did at the time... how come everybody else didn't hit .424? And look at A-Rod, he'll easily beat Bond's record if he has a healthy career. I can't stand the guy but at least his record will be legit.

And yes, coke gives you a huge competitive advantage. Darryl Strawberry had a huge competitive advantage over Ray Knight (assuming there was at least one player on the '86 Mets team who didn't use blow) because of cocaine. Imagine a day-night doubleheader in NY, followed by a cross country trip for a 1 pm (10 am NY time) game against the Dodgers. Would you rather face Fernando Valenzuela and his 100 MPH fastball on 4 hours sleep or coked up and completely functional and alert?

That's just baseball. All players have to go through it. Lack of sleep is not a valid excuse to do coke. Darryl Strawberry was just as in the wrong as Bonds is.

It's funny how no one talks about the competitive advantage Babe Ruth had. He demolished the all time home run record (714 to Roger Connor's 137 or something). Why? Because he was the best hitter after the dead ball era. How is completely changing the makeup of the baseball not a huge competitive advantage?

How is this an advantage when every hitter that walked up to the plate got the same ball??

I'm not defending steroids nor what Bonds did. Just saying that I can't fault him for using something to gain an advantage, when the practice has been going on for 125+ years.

I guess we should just leave it at this. I do fault him. The man took illegal drugs to give himself an edge in his sport. You guys think that's ok, I don't.

Bonds was a first ballot Hall Of Famer long before steroid accusations. Think up a better argument, please.

Please take what I'm saying in context. I was responding to cmac, who was claiming it's more Bond's skill getting the ball out of the park than the 'roids. I didn't say he wasn't a great player or a skilled hitter. He had a high .290s average for most of his career, stole a lot of bases, hit a lot of homers (even before the 'roids). IMHO he would have been a hall of famer easily without the 'roids. He wouldn't have broke the all time HR record, but he'd have still hit 600+ at least.

[Oasis]

I'm mainly talking about competitive advantages from one generation to another. Babe Ruth was the best home run hitter of his generation, by far. As was Aaron in the '60's, as was Bonds in the '90's-'00's. All of them had competitive advantages/disadvantages in their era. Some legal, some not so legal; Some legal in baseball when they were illegal in society, some illegal in baseball when they were legal in society.

[impala454]

ah.. well yeah no doubt old records would get shattered if certain pro atheletes from today could go back in time and play in the old days. but the baseball 'roids case recently is advantages over their current, fellow atheletes, which aint cool imho.