For the record, I agree that there are reasons to be suspicious of Bonds--the overall increase in bodily size, especially his head, would not usually be expected from someone his age. With that said....
I was actually rooting for him to do it--he's been a hell of a player his whole career, both before and after the allegations of performance enhancing drugs began. He plays in a ballpark that is pretty hard to hit homers in as well, especially for lefties. You cannot inject bat speed, reaction time, or his unbelievable hand-eye coordination. He belongs in the HOF, regardless, IMO.
And, as a previous poster noted, he has never tested positive for anything. Everything we "know" about his alleged use of these substances came from LEAKED grand jury testimony. No lab results. No test results. I hope none of you guys are ever on a jury where I have been accused of something--you are only looking at one side of the story, which has been glorified to a certain viewpoint by the media for years now. NONE of us know the whole story.
In addition, even IF he did use some sort of enhancement, baseball itself deserves much of the blame for not having an effective testing arrangement in place. The '98 home run chase between Sosa and McGwire saved baseball--it really did. Attendance was at an all time low following the strike-shortened '94 season, and it was obvious that they just didn't give a shit. Even with the surge in power related stats, the size of players increasing rapidly, and the whispers of steroid use becoming louder and louder--baseball did nothing. The business and future of baseball was simply more important.
Along those same lines--who are we to define cheating? Its hard to break a rule that doesn't exist.....are we now going to examine those pitchers of the past who were accused of "doctoring" the ball? What about supplements? Protein shakes? Nutritional experts? Where do you draw the line? What IS cheating, exactly? Should we put an * next to their names, next to all who tried to gain an advantage? I don't think so. His final total will be remembered as it should be--as a result of the power-bloated era that the '90's to the present has become.
And A-Rod WILL hit 800. Prince Fielder won't hit 500.
