Only 1 more day and I will no longer......

[Guest OctoberBlood]

Im tired of Bonds, and all of baseball. Youd have be an idiot to not realize that a vast majority of these players are taking steroids. Bonds had always been around the 30 home run mark his entire career, and suddenly hes busting home runs almost every game? Come on. Theres something going on considering that just 10 years ago, it was extremely rare to see players hitting 40 home runs, and now theres handfuls of players hitting 40.

It's called bad pitching, and good hitting. Just like way back, it was the pitching era - this is the batting era .. not everyone is on steroids, and if someone is - they will be pointed out next year. Drug Testing will happen, which includes Weed, Coke, and Steroids. I really think only around 5% of players are on steroids, and I doubt Barry Bonds is one of them. His work out ethetics are unquie and powerful.

[Guest Leena]

In the "good hitting" era, there was never this amount of home runs. The increase in home runs is staggering, the majority of the league is hitting 20 home runs. I agree that the pitching may be somewhat weaker due to expansion, but that doesnt solely explain the vast rise in home runs.

 

I think youre completely wrong that only 5% of players take steroids. Im a tennis enthusiast, a sport that is very loose on drug testing, and its pretty well-known that quite a few of the male players take steroids. In baseball, where I believe there is NO testing, and there is so much emphasis on the long ball, I have to think that Canseco is somewhat right when he says 50% of the players use them.

[Guest OctoberBlood]

I think youre completely wrong that only 5% of players take steroids. Im a tennis enthusiast, a sport that is very loose on drug testing, and its pretty well-known that quite a few of the male players take steroids. In baseball, where I believe there is NO testing, and there is so much emphasis on the long ball, I have to think that Canseco is somewhat right when he says 50% of the players use them.

Over 50%? 50% of baseball players are pitchers. That is a crazy number, coming from a crazy moron named Canseco.

[Guest Leena]

Im not totally sure what percentage Canseco said, I heard it a long while ago on ESPN, but I think it was 50% of everyday players. I probably shouldnt have mentioned that.

 

However, I do think that probably about half the regular hitters have at least tried taking steroids.

[Guest OctoberBlood]

I don't doubt alot of them tried steroids, but I really do think its a very low percentage of players that take them. We'll find out sooner or later tho, nobody really knows right now.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

All the Bonds talk isn't really that necessary. He's not close to any HR milestone, and hitting 5 HR at Coors doesn't mean has much if he did in San Fran.

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

Another thing that has been delved into quite a bit is shrinking ballparks. Shorter distances to travel means more home runs.

 

Case in point: 317 feet at Yankee Stadium in left/right field? I say left/right because I don't remember which it is.

 

Fo sheez,

Kotzenjunge

[Guest teke184]

"In the "good hitting" era, there was never this amount of home runs. The increase in home runs is staggering, the majority of the league is hitting 20 home runs. I agree that the pitching may be somewhat weaker due to expansion, but that doesnt solely explain the vast rise in home runs."

 

"Somewhat weaker due to expansion?" It's a little worse than that... In 1990, there was still a thing called a *four-man pitching rotation*. Within a few years, each team added a fifth man to the starting rotation. That's another 26 different starting pitchers right there. On top of that, you add in 4 more teams between about 1994 and 1998 and that's another 20 starting pitchers you add in.

 

That brings the total from about 100 to 150, which is a 50% increase. Combine that with better weight training, even without steroids, and you get a lot more of just about every offensive statistic.

[Guest MaxPower27]

I think that part of the problem is the inability of pitchers to throw inside. I mean, most of them try to work the inside part of the plate, but if they hit someone, it's a warning, usually, sometimes the other team gets to throw at one of your guys. Schilling, Johnson, Martinez, Clemens, they all throw inside, and are all great pitchers. The problem lies in the fact that players stand right on top of the plate, wearing large pads on their arms/legs to protect them from getting hit. So if they get hit, it's nothing. They force pitchers to throw outside, then they hit the homeruns. I hate that. HR's are boring, and I'd rather watch a run get manufactured by good baserunning than have a roided up goon smashing homeruns because he's standing right on top of the plate.

[Guest alkeiper]

Case in point: 317 feet at Yankee Stadium in left/right field? I say left/right because I don't remember which it is.

 

Yankee Stadium has always been that way. Babe Ruth had a right field fence 290 feet away. Of course, this was offset by the center field wall being 490 feet away. A good example of the new parks is Enron Field. For god sakes, they put a bleacher section in left field.

 

 

It's a little worse than that... In 1990, there was still a thing called a *four-man pitching rotation*.

 

The four man rotation met its demise much earlier than that. Sometime in the 70s.

 

I think a lot has to do with a different approach to hitting. Hitters swing harder, resulting in better hitter numbers, but they also strike out a lot more. Strikeouts rates have never been higher.

[Guest Strike Force!]

Don't worry Strike, even if baseball continues, once the playoffs begin you won't hear the words "Barry Bonds" and "home run" in the same sentence for the rest of the year...

Ha!...so true.

[Guest Some Guy]

Another thing that has been delved into quite a bit is shrinking ballparks. Shorter distances to travel means more home runs.

 

Case in point: 317 feet at Yankee Stadium in left/right field? I say left/right because I don't remember which it is.

 

Fo sheez,

Kotzenjunge

It's both, I think right is 316 and left is 318, but center is around 400ft.

 

Fenway had the right field wall moved in for Ted Williams and the bullpens, so it's not like this is a new thing. But SF's park is very short to right which gives Bonds a pretty good porch to shoot for. Put him in Comerica in Detroit and his along with everyone else's HRs go down.

[Guest Mad the Swine]

More commentary on fences:

 

Back in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, nobody and I mean nobody ever hit the ball into the center field bleachers. It was 475 feet away. They brought into the fences over the years, but they never did bring in the stands.

 

I forget where it was, either in Philly or Chicago, that had an old stadium where the fences were so deep, they used to keep the batting cage in center field. During the game.

 

I think if was Griffith Stadium that had the lowest ration of homeruns per game in its history. The number was below 1.0 per game. Oddly enough, the longest recorded tater in history occurred when Mantle hit the the National Bohemian Beer Bottle in left. Now, that was a shot.

 

The shortest fence known in MLB history was the LA Coliseum. One of the poles was 250 ft. but was offset by a monstrous centerfield that was about 450 ft.

[Guest alkeiper]

Fenway had the right field wall moved in for Ted Williams and the bullpens, so it's not like this is a new thing.

 

Actually they built the bullpens in center field for that purpose.

 

But SF's park is very short to right which gives Bonds a pretty good porch to shoot for.  Put him in Comerica in Detroit and his along with everyone else's HRs go down.

 

Bonds has hit 14 home runs at home this year, and 26 on the road. He's hardly benefitting from his home park.

 

The shortest fence known in MLB history was the LA Coliseum. One of the poles was 250 ft. but was offset by a monstrous centerfield that was about 450 ft.

 

They also had a screen in left that stood about 60 ft high or so.

 

For those who are interested in this kind of thing, I highly recommend visiting ballparks.com

[Guest Some Guy]

Fenway had the right field wall moved in for Ted Williams and the bullpens, so it's not like this is a new thing.

 

Actually they built the bullpens in center field for that purpose.

Dude the Bullpens at Fenway run from rigth field into right center adn were put there to shorten teh fence up for Ted Williams. They dubbed the right field bleachers "Williamsburg." It's about 295 to "Pesky's Pole" in rigth anf jets out to 380 in rigth, 420 in center, 379 to left center, and 310 down the left field line. That's off the top of my head so I migth be off by a foot or two, but I don't think so.

[Guest Phr33k]

Bonds has always been a self-centered prick who never cared about anyone but himself. We're just noticing now because he hit 73, and is breaking all sorts of records. Myself, I like watching the guy. He was always a great talent who went unnoticed amongst the Ken Griffeys, Sammy Sosas and Mark McGwires of the baseball world. Bonds deserves his due, and he's now getting it in spades. Good for him.

 

How good would the Pirates be if they'd hung on to him instead of pushing youngsters who never panned out?

[Guest OctoberBlood]

For the Pirates, it wasn't always the offense that struggled, mainly the pitching. Now, this year .. and for years to come, they have some good pitcher, but the offense isn't quite there yet. Giles is a start tho, Adam Hyzdu has been a slight surprise for them this year, but hes getting old.. late bloomers, boo ..