OT: Who's your vote

[ctownboy]

I get SOOOO tired of hearing and reading about the comparisons of Barry Bonds using steroids and Babe Ruth drinking. It doesn't matter, the two are apples and oranges.

Did Babe Ruth drink during Prohibition? Most likely? Was that illegal? Yes. Did his drinking help him on the baseball field? Not likely. Honestly, how hard do you think to was for Ruth to get drunk one night and then show up and play a baseball game the next day? How hard do you think it was for him to wear a wool uniform and stand in 90 degree heat while hung over? How hard do you think it was for him to try and hit a fast ball while staring with bleary eyes at the pitcher who is standing in bright sunlight? I believe if Ruth drank as much as what has been said about him and he played baseball in a hung over state, his stats probably were HURT because of it.

Years after Mickey Mantle retired, I think he was remorseful for drinking and partying so much during his career. I think he said something to the effect of that he wished he had taken better care of his body and NOT partied so much because he would have liked to see what type of numbers he could have put up if he had.

Nope, steroids were illegal when Bonds took them, Commissioner Fay Vincent had sent out a letter in 1991 stating they were against the rules in baseball and that he would punish those who were found to have taken them. On top of this, steroids are a KNOWN performance enhancer.

So comparing what Babe Ruth did to what Barry Bonds did is just plain stupid.

Ruth did something that was illegal but that was most likely detrimental to his stats and career while Bonds did something that was illegal but was VERY helpful to his career.

Oh yea, one last thing. People say that Bonds was already on his way to the HOF when he started using steroids (if he started using in 1999). This, to me, is even more of a reason to keep him OUT of the HOF. If he was already putting up great stats then WHY did he need to use steroids to begin with? Answer - EGO!!!!

Bonds couldn't keep his EGO out of the equation. He couldn't let "lesser" players like McGwire and Sosa soak up the limelight and publicity. So, he took the steroids to "show" the lesser players who was king. In doing so, he put up numbers he otherwise wouldn't have, broke records he otherwise wouldn't have, was paid more than he otherwise wouldn't have been paid and garnered more attention than he otherwise would have gotten.

Bonds didn't NEED to take steroids but he most likely did. Bonds COULD have stayed clean, put up big numbers and THEN talked about OTHER people putting up big numbers and how those numbers were likely tainted. Bonds COULD have been a Hall Of Famer AND a stand up guy who helped clean the sport up. As it is, he is neither.

David