Nimajneb wrote, in part:
" ... there wasn't effective monitoring of steroid use in the relevant time period, and even the present scheme isn't as rigorous as could be desired. If you don't think the evidence is adequate that is your prerogative, and you're free to cheer."
Exactly. If one is not rigorous in defining and enforcing rules, one dilutes his authority to punish. It's that simple.
However, just to set the record straight on where I stand with Barry Bonds, and why:
1. I've seen Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Hank Greenberg, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, etc. in play several times; and I just missed seeing Lou Gehrig in action by 1-2 years. However, the period from Gehrig's farewell through a year after his death, I saw countless displays of Gehrig hitting on film, with my father, a big Gehrig fan, pointing out the nature of his "stroke."
2. There is one player, and only one [other than Lou Gehrig], whom I've ever seen with a short, piston-like stroke in which the bat speed seems to flash for the briefest instant, where the viewer is unaware of a follow through. That is Barry Bonds.
3. I'm no fan of body armor; but then i'm no fan of throwing at a hitter with intent to injure, so we may have a wash.
4. I despise the hitter who feels compelled to watch and admire his HR's. To me it's "bush" and looks as if it's the player's first or last, a rare experience to be filed away for memory or never expected to occur again. That, too, is Bonds.
But overriding all, for me, is the unique gift I'm watching; and it's that gift and the accomplishment it aggregates that I cheer.
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