"Bunning proclaimed himself 'old-fashioned,' recalling that in his day 'players didn't get any better as they got older. When I played with Henry Aaron and Willie Mays and Ted Williams, they didn't put on 40 pounds of bulk in their careers, and they didn't hit more homers in their late 30s than they did in their late 20s. What's happening now in baseball isn't natural and it isn't right,' said Bunning, who further advocated that all steroid-induced records be wiped from the record books."
Yeah, and in his day, the hockey players had names you could pronounce and didn't wear helmets. The basketball players wore respectable shorts, didn't dunk the ball, and didn't listen to the hippity-hop music. Since we're talking about steroids, did anybody notice that Dick Butkus was smaller than Peyton Manning?
I've heard it before, Pops. Uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow. No need to drag the commissioner of baseball to DC to listen to this nostalgia. Save it for your Sunday bridge game at the Elk's Lodge.
Bunning reveals his hand right away. When he talks about "what's going on" in baseball, he's not talking about steroids, he's not talking about MLB in general. He's talking about Barry Bonds chasing Hank Aaron.
That's why we're all here, wasting our time in the hallowed halls of Congress. The Congressmen of our country have decided to take their Hot Stove League public, at taxpayer's expense, while they still don't have an exit strategy in Iraq.
Most of the baseball fans in this country will refuse to give Bonds credit when he passes Ruth and Aaron. While the record book will probably never have an asterisk, most baseball fans will give Bonds an unofficial asterisk.
I personally disagree with this reasoning, but that's just my personal opinion. I realize my opinion is the minority opinion (what else is new?). While I think that steroids have helped Bonds hit a lot of homeruns, I also think the effects of steroids on his hr total have been wildly exaggerated.
So that's my opinion. It is different than the opinion of Jim Bunning. But I didn't call a freakin' Congressional hearing so the world can hear my stupid opinion regarding the stupid hr record. Sheesh.
Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds have had great careers following their 35th birthday. Who else? I can't think of a single other baseball player who cranked up their career for an extended period of time following their 35th birthday.
I'm probably missing somebody who got better in their 30s, but steroids don't have such a great track record.
Did Jose Canseco get better in his 30s? Has Jason Giambi gotten better in his 30s? Did Ken Caminiti?
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