Ex-Cub on Steroids

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by mbyron


You neglected to include Dave's moniker: Mr. May.

I've been searching the 'net for photos of Barry when he was with the Pirates. When he came up, he had the same body type as his dad, Bobby: skinny as a rail. Now look at him: Mr. Universe. Too bad the media won't do more "before and after" comparisons of some of these clowns - no need to pick on Barry, you can find dozens of 'em.

Pictures are going to prove steroid use? I guess if someone showed a picture of me at 18 years old and a picture of me now in my early 30s, I guess I would be on steroids. Considering that I have gained over 30 pounds since I graduated from HS that must make me a steroid user. Why not get pictures of Michael Jordan over the same ages or Charles Barkley. I must be missing something because most people put on some weight as they age. I do not see many people that stay the exact same weight at 45 as they did when they were 18.

Originally posted by mbyron
Steve Martin wrote a hilarious op-ed piece, published in the NY Times some time ago, in which he imagined performance-enhancing drugs permeating wider society.

I can see the argument that says, who cares what athletes do to themselves in the name of making sports more entertaining? But I would have thought, in the aftermath of the latest natural disasters, that this country might have had enough of this "every man for himself" mentality.

My point of view is not that is should be every man for himself. My point of view is based on proving something. Just saying someone gained weight over 20+ years of their life is not sufficient to prove steroid use. I guess it is for you, but it is not for me.

Originally posted by mbyron
For MLB, wouldn't it be great to see the players' union get out in front and say, drugs are bad for baseball and bad for players, and we won't tolerate their use. I know, I know, I'm dreaming.... but it's a great dream...

I guess we all have a right to our own dreams.

Peace

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

Pictures are going to prove steroid use? I guess if someone showed a picture of me at 18 years old and a picture of me now in my early 30s, I guess I would be on steroids. Considering that I have gained over 30 pounds since I graduated from HS that must make me a steroid user.
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Were you linked directly to a convicted steroid manufacturer who said you were supplied with his performance enhancers?
Was your personal trainer just convicted of distributing THG and steroids to his clients?
Are you a professional athlete that gained forty pounds of muscle when others are not?
Do you have any nagging injures associated with abnormally fast muscle growth?

If you can answer "yes" to any of these questions then you are correct. All is forgiven.

************************************************** ************************************************** *********************************************

Why not get pictures of Michael Jordan over the same ages or Charles Barkley. I must be missing something because most people put on some weight as they age. I do not see many people that stay the exact same weight at 45 as they did when they were 18.

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Yes, you are missing something - putting on weight and packing on muscle mass are not the same thing. Most professional baseball players are done when reach thirty eight years of age. Their bodies can't keep up with the pace - look at Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell. Human physiology doesn't normally permit excessive muscle growth in this age group.

Unadulterated photographs convict people of crimes and serve as legacies - they are very powerful tools. Grab a Bonds rookie card and last year's. Check the size of his head - see any similarities between his and the 'roid boys of the WWF.

Lastly, I didn't tell anyone that they should be offended by Coach Joe Paterno's comments. I just found them frighteningly out of step with contemporary collegiate athletics. Your skin color has nothing to do with how fast you are. Implying that it does is a slap in the face to all of the hours of training that athletes go through. If you thought they were okay, then I know why people like him can say what they want. I am not an African American and I was horrified by his lack of discretion.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by WhatWuzThatBlue

Yes, you are missing something - putting on weight and packing on muscle mass are not the same thing. Most professional baseball players are done when reach thirty eight years of age. Their bodies can't keep up with the pace - look at Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell. Human physiology doesn't normally permit excessive muscle growth in this age group.

Unadulterated photographs convict people of crimes and serve as legacies - they are very powerful tools. Grab a Bonds rookie card and last year's. Check the size of his head - see any similarities between his and the 'roid boys of the WWF.

I guess that is the scientific method at work. I hope you get a lot of funding for your research.

Originally posted by WhatWuzThatBlue
Lastly, I didn't tell anyone that they should be offended by Coach Joe Paterno's comments. I just found them frighteningly out of step with contemporary collegiate athletics. Your skin color has nothing to do with how fast you are. Implying that it does is a slap in the face to all of the hours of training that athletes go through. If you thought they were okay, then I know why people like him can say what they want.

You are right. The color of your skin does not have anything to do with an attribute. But for some reason most of the fastest players in the NFL are Black. It also might be noted that Paterno was not commenting on the speed of players, he was talking about their contribution to the game and a conference.

Originally posted by WhatWuzThatBlue
I am not an African American and I was horrified by his lack of discretion.

Funny, I have not found any African-Americans that publicly feel the way you do. Guys love to mock Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, but no one is coming out and saying that Paterno should be fired or retire but a bunch of people that the comments were not directed at. As a matter of fact I have heard many Black writers and commentators saying they were not offended at all by what he said or did not see where what he said was not true.

Peace

[Edited by JRutledge on Nov 6th, 2005 at 12:11 AM]

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

Okay, that was the best line I've ever seen written on this board. Thank you J.Rutledge and SanDiegoSteve for pointing it out.

This was the second best:

"All I am saying Windy is that many of the players that have been caught using and suspended for steroids are not setting records or ripping up the Majors"

Hmmm...Barry? Barry? Barry? Who holds the MLB for homeruns in a season? Who admitted taking a banned substance?

[JRutledge]

Matt Lawton was the individual this thread was about. How many All-Stars has he won? How many homerun titles does he have? How many teams has he played on and why? If steroids were such a great player, why does no one even know who this guy is? I thought steroids were supposed to make you such a good player or an average player great. I did not even know Lawton played on the Cubs. How are those drugs working out for him? He was cut from the Yankees for God sake.

Peace

[SanDiegoSteve]

Here's a before picture:



Here's an after:



[Edited by SanDiegoSteve on Nov 6th, 2005 at 02:40 AM]

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

Steve - We finally agree on something. See, I knew it would happen. Maybe Barry spent all those hours working out instead of talking to the press or the good Lord decided to allow him a second puberty. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[JRutledge]

Wow, it is finally proven!!!! We have solved the mystery!!!

Forget drug testing, lets compare pictures from 15 years ago and that will prove everything.



Peace

[FVB9]

The interesting thing about the roid era is that everyone suspected of being on them has been riddled by injuries in the past few years (Sosa, Bonds, Nomar, Giambi). Even McGuire in his final days. Personally I hope none of them make it into the Hall, although I will cut Bonds a little slack. What this guy has done in the twilight of his career is incredible. Throw out the power stats and look at his average, his OBP, and the fact that two years ago he swung and missed at only 8 pitches before the all star break. Was that a different kind of juice he was taking that helped his hand/eye coordination?

[ChrisSportsFan]

Originally posted by JRutledge
Honestly I do not think Barry and others care if you believe them or not. Until you can prove something, I think all of it is pure speculation. If I take steroids one time, that is not going to make me a good player all by itself. Look at all the players that have been found out to have taken steroids. Do you hear any Hall of Famers out their other than Palmerio? Lawton is a scrub that most people would not know who they were if they slapped their Mama. If you feel it took it that is great for discussion sake, but I do not see how steroids makes you a better player. You still have to hit the ball. You still have to make good contact with the ball. You still have to run and catch the ball. You can come up with all the numbers but I see a bunch of players getting caught that are not even considered good baseball players. And many of these players are not even power hitters.

Peace

I bet if they slapped any of our mothers, they'd know who we were though.

[ChrisSportsFan]

Originally posted by SanDiegoSteve
Here's a before picture:



Here's an after:



[Edited by SanDiegoSteve on Nov 6th, 2005 at 02:40 AM]

It looks like the roids also helped him come to his senses about his pant length also. See, roids are not all bad.

[SanDiegoSteve]

I posted the pictures for entertainment value, not as scientific proof of anything. Whether or not any of these guys take steroids is no skin off my butt. I'm not the one with the shrunken nuts .

There are many links however, that show Barry's ties to Balco, and Conte, and show evidence of his steroid use. All circumstantial, of course. But let's not be naive to the point of denial.

Drugs have been a part of baseball since, well, forever. Alcohol abuse, the amphetamine epidemic of the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Now it's steroids. Some players are looking for that extra edge, that advantage that makes them just a little better than the next guy. I think it's sad that it has gotten so out of hand that players feel it's necessary to cheat in order to get ahead.

[RPatrino]

In my day, the only performance enhancing substance we had was coffee and atomic balm in the jock.

BP

[JJ]

Hmmm...I've bulked up over the years as well...are Twinkies and Mountain Dew considered "enhancing drugs"?

JJ

SDSteve - how do you get all those cool animated graphics on your posts?

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by JJ

SDSteve - how do you get all those cool animated graphics on your posts?

Well, I'm not SDS but I did sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night....

Hit "QUOTE" at the bottom of a post that has a graphic in it. That will show you how the writer of that post inserted that graphic.



If you hit "QUOTE" at the bottom of this post, you'll see how I inserted that.