Barry Bonds changed baseball in a big way. When Arizona State University graduate Barry Bonds was picked sixth overall in the 1985 MLB Draft, it only took him 115 games in the minor leagues to make it to “The Show.”
But even though he played for 22 years, made 14 All-Star teams, won 12 Silver Sluggers, seven National League MVP Awards, eight Gold Gloves, set many MLB records, and hit 762 home runs, there is still a big fat asterisk next to his name.
The BALCO investigation led to the arrests of many professional athletes who got anabolic steroids, which were called “The Cream.” Marion Jones, who won an Olympic gold medal, Bill Romanowski, who was an NFL All-Pro, and Barry Bonds were all there.
Many people blame Bonds’ whole career on steroids, but things didn’t start to look fishy until he hired Greg Anderson as his personal trainer in 1998.
Barry Bonds admitted to using steroids. Because of this, most of his records are now tainted, and baseball fans aren’t sure if he should be considered one of the best players ever. No matter what the player did, no one will be able to take away all the numbers he put up. However, the player has an unfair advantage because he got stronger by using steroids.
Barry Bonds Before Steroids
Barry Bonds was a great player before he ever took a drop of steroids. By 1998, he had a.290 batting average and 411 home runs, so he was already more than just good. People were afraid to even pitch to him because his career was going in the right direction for him to become one of the best.
Barry was purposely walked by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the bottom of the ninth inning in 1998, when the bases were full. The team decided that they would rather give up one run and take a chance with the next batter than let Barry hit a home run and let the other team score four runs to win the game.
This is how much the teams were scared of the player, but nothing lasts forever, and there was something of a slowing down of Barry around the late 90s as he started to see other players hit home runs after home runs, and they were nipping at his heels. This was around the time when steroid use was prevalent in the game of baseball; some of the strongest hitters were using the drug to get them even more strength and stay relevant.
But steroid use is banned in most of all the sports, and the players were using various drugs which could be hidden from the drug testing. Well, it worked for a while, but cheating will be caught one way or the other in the end, and Barry was the forefront of the trial involving the use of steroids in professional sports.
Barry Bonds After Steroids
For those who don’t know, a steroid is a drug that helps the user build muscle faster, and as long as they use the drug in cycles, they can keep the muscle growth. Steroids break the muscle tissues on top, and new muscles grow on top. This is different from how muscles usually grow, where the belly of the muscle needs to be broken so that new tissues can grow and the muscle grows.
Steroids also help the person work out longer, feel less tired, and recover quickly afterward. So, yes, players who take the drug have an unfair advantage because they are stronger and can get back to playing faster.
To play well in professional baseball, where you have to travel a lot and play games right after each other, you need to be able to recover quickly, and Barry Bonds made the most of his steroid use.
By 2002, Barry looked huge. He had huge biceps and incredible strength, which let him hit the ball out of the park and do it again the next day and the next week. It was weird and never happened before, but everyone put it down to the player’s huge talent until 2003, when the BALCO scandal broke. Barry was at the center of the investigation because he lied to the grand jury.
Barry’s personal strength trainer, Greg Anderson, is said to have given the player steroids. When asked by the grand jury, Barry said he used a balm that he was told was made of organic oils but turned out to be steroids, which seemed to throw his trainer under the bus. Well, the truth came out, and the last time the player used steroids was in 1998. Since then, almost all of his accomplishments have been tainted by his drug use.
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