The Actual Top 20 Lifetime HR Leaders (OT)

[ATP]

In regards to the opening paragraph of the list, if Jr. isn't clean than I don't know if anyone from that era was...or at least I hope that is the case.

[GregMitch34]

Junior averaged 52 HRs a year for 4 years--at peak of steroid era. Hardly anyone in history had ever done that, pre-1990s. Just saying.

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

Junior averaged 52 HRs a year for 4 years--at peak of steroid era. Hardly anyone in history had ever done that, pre-1990s. Just saying.

Griffey Jr. was an amazing talent in a potent lineup who put up those numbers at a small dome. He also got injured. A lot. Aren't PEDs supposed to aid in quick recovery?

[MattyC]

With regard to the slight and implication on Griffey above... I think that's one heck of an unfair leap-- with no hard evidence-- to besmirch such a great player. Talent, hard work, and advances in training, nutrition, and sports medicine can also lead to high achievement. Some fans see PED use behind so many players. What about guys like Koufax or Molitor who had seemingly anomalous spikes in performance; perhaps they found some miracle edge, as well? I just think it makes no sense to sweepingly blanket-erase everyone from an entire era. I surmise by the same logic that Boggs juiced in 87 as well, and the list of boogeymen can go on. And I'm not even a Griffey fan. I think it really hamstrings one's credibility, if one is willing to besmirch a player based merely on being present and doing well in that era. If that's all the criteria it takes to be branded a PED user...

[GregMitch34]

Yeah, we heard that 15 years ago from people who doubted PED use--attributing HR records to "hard work, and advances in training, nutrition, and sports medicine." How did that hold up? Same "advances" today but HR totals dwindled. Again, Griffey HRs spiked at exact time we saw it from known PED users. We used to be told that Piazza was not a suspect either and then a lot of circumstantial evidence came out and it's hurt his Hall chances. Again: no proof but a taint.

And, no, PEDs tend to cause later injuries, not heal them.

Really, comparing Koufax's "spike" to players to PED era? Really?

[Duluth Eskimo]

Originally Posted by ATP

In regards to the opening paragraph of the list, if Jr. isn't clean than I don't know if anyone from that era was...or at least I hope that is the case.

In my opinion, I have always thought Junior was juicing. Not right away, but after some of these other guys started pulling away. It's sad because he had such a sweet swing. He put on serious muscle and then late in his career started falling apart like all the other guys whose bodies couldn't handle all the unnatural muscle packed on. It is what it is, but I would bet serious money Griffey was on it and he didn't have to be. 5 tool player before that.