Steroids: Should It Affect MLB Records?

www.wpxi.com Pittsburgh


NO
By John Fedko

The as usual, out-of-control media is throwing a fit over the baseball steroids issue. Now I'm totally against steroids use for athletic purposes and I applaud the President for standing up against an issue that is becoming a problem with our young people.

But the next question is, if a guy like Barry Bonds used steroids, should his major league baseball records be tainted. Absolutely not.

First of all, steroids have not been technically illegal in baseball. There was no testing and the owners buried their heads in the sand the last two decades. You can't just come out now and start yelling about how Bonds' records don't count. Who know who was using steroids in the 70's and 80's and just because THEY didn't break any records, they're not taking any heat.

It's pretty obvious some of the Steelers were abusing steroids in the 70's. Should their Super Bowl trophies have asterisks by them? No. Again, there no technical NFL rules broken at the time.

By the way, there's no question that steroids can increase your strength and size. But hitting a major league baseball is the hardest thing in sports. Steroids do not make that any easier.

Do not take this article as an endorsement of steroids use. Again, President Bush did a fabulous job bringing this problem to the public forum on a grander scale. I'm just sick of the ultra-liberal press that takes shots at the President for speaking up against steroids, and yet the same press wants to bury Barry Bonds records because of steroids.

Typical liberal stupidity.



YES
By Bill Phillips

Barry Bonds and his fellow Major Leaguers are innocent until proven guilty, even though Major League Baseball's current steroid scandal seems to have Bonds and the rest of Major League Baseball's power hitters trying to prove their not guilty, even though none of them have been accused of using steroids.

If however, Bonds is founded to have been using steroids during his record setting years, there should be an asterisk attacked to those records. Actually, an asterisk wouldn't be needed. I believe most baseball fans would disregard his single season home-run record. Not mention the fact that Bonds, who has challenged everyone to prove he uses steroids, would be known as a liar.

Do steroids help? I don't believe they help a hitter make contact, but when they do the added strength and bat speed would help put the ball on the other side of the wall.

I hope that Bonds and his fellow Major Leaguers haven't taken any steroids and that their bodies have been sculpted solely by hard work in the weight room, but if they have used the juice their records should be disregarded.


John Fedko says steroids shouldn't affect MLB records. Bill Phillips says if they use it, their records should be disregarded. What do you think?


**SURVEY DISCLAIMER**

Please keep in mind that our polls are for entertainment and are not conducted in a scientific fashion.

We make no guarantees about the accuracy of the results other than that they reflect the choices of the users who participated.

If you have questions or comments about our polls, please e-mail us.

OF COURSE, his stats should be thrown out. IF not, what's the purpose of keeping records? Does Barry Bonds do the same thing Hank Aaron did? Obviously not. He's juiced. He's using an unethical edge that was not available to those before him. And don't single out Barry. Toss McGwire, Sosa, and anybody else who looks like Popeye when any doctor, trainer, or Turk Wendell can SEE the difference.

And even though he's a joke, toss Trot Nixon. Why risk liver disease for to be Trot?

San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, New York Yankees stars Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield and three other major league baseball players received steroids from a Burlingame nutritional supplement lab, federal investigators were told.

the other baseball players said to have received steroids from BALCO via Anderson were two former Giants, outfielder Marvin Benard and catcher Benito Santiago, and a former A's second baseman, Randy Velarde.

Bonds or anyone that has used steroids have not done anything 'unethical'. They have no reason to apologize for any of their statistical feats.

There are two more imposing contributors to the increase of home runs during the past decade.

First is a plethora of substandard pitching. Prior to 1990, it was very unusual for a starter to work regularly with an ERA over 5.00
Now days, dudes are in the rotation with a 6.

Second is that the past decade of umpires have shrunk the strike zone down to the size of a shoebox. If pitchers got more called strikes on Bonds etal, there would be less home runs.