Game of Shadows

I just finished Game of Shadows (by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams), the book that outlines the BALCO steroid story with regard to Barry Bonds and other athletes. One always here stuff referenced to it so I thought it was time to check it out for myself.

Newsflash...Barry Bonds is not only a surely guy...but he's a cheat. I'm by no means a Bonds-apologist but in some way I was in denial with how rampant his juicing was. I guess I was holding out some degree of hope that maybe he was only doping during the record breaking 2001 season. According to the book..and I buy a large portion of it...Bonds was juicing before that and after.

It seems that still to this day...that a number of people don't buy it (Bonds as a rampant juicer). They claim...well he's never been busted for a positive steroid test. Yes, that is true but...A) there wasn't steroid testing until a few years ago and B) MLB doesn't test for human growth hormone, which Bonds was using.

The most damaging evidence against Bonds is how well the doping cocktails worked (especially) for the track and field stars. This is a popular argument for people in denial about Bonds...they say...steroids don't help a player hit a baseball. With track and field--as opposed to baseball--results can be more definitive because A) it's an individual sport and B) there are way less outside factors that can effect the athletes given performance. It is definitely easier to measure and quantify the results from a race than a baseball game.

--Tim Montgomery went from not being able to qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics to being (at least temporarily) the world record holder in the 100 meters.

--Michelle Collins went from being almost washed up to setting US (indoor) records in 200-meter fun with help from the The Cream and The Clear

--Look at Marion Jones...her career stalled when it became apparent she wasn't doping.

The bottom line is that the doping drugs from BALCO...the Cream, The clear, HGH, THG...significantly enhances an athletes ability to perform. So it is completely ridiculous to assume that a baseball player is not going to be enhanced from taking the drugs. Even in baseball with other factors influencing a hitter (the pitcher, his protection in the order, the weather) being on the illegal drugs makes one perform better. It's as simple as that.

I've always said that the tragedy of Bonds is that one never knows where the talent stops and the steroids start. Even though one can make a strong argument that Bonds's numbers are tainted...one can't just subtract X number of homeruns from his total to come up with some levelheaded total with regard to how many "genuine" homers he hit. We just have to deal with it.

It's a shame and tragedy (for the baseball records that Bonds has broke) because he was already a hall of fame caliber player.