the age old perfomance enhancement drug questions finally addressed

by benstl on Sep 21, 2007 12:14 PM EDT Comment 13 comments

All along you have heard Barry Bonds and his apologists and sympathisers say that steriods and other PEDs dont help you hit the ball. Ive asserted that drugs like HGH keep your body basically younger, longer and that helps to maintain the cordination it takes to center a major league pitch.

Finally a study has been performed that actually proves the point that steriods do help hitters hit home runs. Its not exactly backing up my theory, but it definately shows that cheaters like Bonds and the like have definitely benifited in the long ball department from steriod use

heres a synopsis of the story

Study: Steroids boost HR totals
Posted: Friday September 21, 2007 06:12AM ET
Steroids can help batters hit 50 percent more home runs by boosting their muscle mass by just 10 percent, a U.S. physicist said yesterday. Calculations show that, by putting on 10 percent more muscle mass, a batter can swing about 5 percent faster, increasing the ball's speed by 4 percent as it leaves the bat. Depending on the ball's trajectory, this added speed could take it into home run territory 50 percent more often, said Roger Tobin of Tufts University in Boston.

the link to the full story is here:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09212007/sports/study__roids_increase_hrs.htm

Poll

Do you think Bond's record setting second half of his career was SIGNIFICANTLY aided by steriods and designer drugs?

Yes

39 votes

No

3 votes

42 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 13 comments

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Comments

In a word...

"duh"

No offense intended. It is a good diary and a good article, but people who don't believe that steroids don't help players hit homeruns are just in denial.

However, the article misses another affect of increased bat speed. Hitters are able to start their swing later, giving them more time to identify a pitch and a better chance to make solid contact.

500- What it takes enough to win at Rummy, at Indy and in the NL Central.

by Zubin on Sep 21, 2007 12:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

of course

the pseudo-scientific study the article references says that pitchers can throw the ball 4-5 mph faster while juiced, negating the bat speed advantage ;)

"but the rain is so real, lord; and the rainbows pretend..."

by SleepyCA on Sep 21, 2007 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i think we have seen a lot of evidence of pitchers

on the juice as well
im sure we can all name a littany of pitchers who velocity has fallen off dramatically and if the HGH tests that are being developed are effective, i think we might see a huge drop off in homers and strike outs

RESIGN JIMMY BALLGAME....HE SHOULD RETIRE A REDBIRD!

by benstl on Sep 21, 2007 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That doesn't help

It isn't a race. A pitcher throwing 95mph versus 90mph doesn't negate the hitter's strength improvement, in fact, the ball will fly even farther producing more home runs when hit, but will also likely result in more strikeouts.

How about handin' me another helpin' of those mashed taters...thank you very much!

by Elvis on Sep 21, 2007 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Um

HGH isn't a steroid...why you would mention it in a post about steroids baffles me. It's not the same thing at all.

by mojowo11 on Sep 21, 2007 1:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i do know that

ive updated the diary to state PEDs in general vs HGH

everytime a bonds apologists sticks up for him, its always you still have to hit the ball

this addresses that for sure

RESIGN JIMMY BALLGAME....HE SHOULD RETIRE A REDBIRD!

by benstl on Sep 21, 2007 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

no, it doesn't

it just says the ball might fly farther once it is hit.

"but the rain is so real, lord; and the rainbows pretend..."

by SleepyCA on Sep 21, 2007 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

btw this was discussed on BBTF the other day

here's a link to the article:

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/study/

The general conclusion, I think, is that this article is pretty silly and that the author did not do enough research to make the sensational claims that he has made here.

"but the rain is so real, lord; and the rainbows pretend..."

by SleepyCA on Sep 21, 2007 1:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am a "Bonds apologist"

and my support of him has nothing to do with the fact that PEDs help you hit the ball. They obviously do, and anyone who says otherwise is foolish. They help you in the actual act, they can sharpen vision (so I hear), and they help you recover from some injuries quicker, giving you more opportunities to hit some bombs.

My defense of him has always been based on the hypocritical stances of many of his detractors, like the media and MLB administration. These guys loved it when others were inflating HR totals with their PEDs (and happily cashed all the checks that were the result) but hated it when Bonds was doing it and the heat started coming on sterioids from Congress and the public. That's why, not because he's some great guy or because he is innocent, but because he is the fall guy from people who created this culture of cheating and are having to pay ZERO consequences for it, and in fact are still profiting from it. Bug Selig is principle among them.

Let me get this straight...Rowand over Pujols??? Really, Tony?

by cardzfan24 on Sep 21, 2007 1:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i totally agree

with that whole arguement

except steriods are illegal, PEDS are illegal
i dont care if major league baseball had a rule against it or not
theres a million crimes there's no rule against specifically in baseball

i blame selig and all the owners just as much as barry and everyone else who took various drugs, im 100% with you there

and lets not forget, as far as fall guys go, the way mcgwire was treated when his name came up for the hall....palmeiro was ran out of baseball, sosa is considered a joke....
i wouldnt go so far as to say hes the only one and that he's the fall guy alone

RESIGN JIMMY BALLGAME....HE SHOULD RETIRE A REDBIRD!

by benstl on Sep 21, 2007 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

apologist

I am not a Bonds hater like many of those in the world. (most of them in the media) Cheater...yes, and he broke records because of cheating. IMO, he would have retired years ago with probably under 600 hr without the juice...Fact is, he did it because his competition was doing it. Doesn't make it right, but that's why.

What I hate are the people from other cities who always ask people from STL about Bonds, and when we call him a cheater, they bring up McGwire and talk like Bonds is treated so unfairly. (Usually, this is followed up by some racism accusations)

The comparison is apples to oranges. The reason Bonds gets such a hard time is that we knew about his cheating while he was chasing the all-time home run record. If McGwire was chasing the home run record after his congressional performance, he would have been roasted just as much. When Sosa and McGwire were dueling for the single season record, they were both thought to be clean.

The reason most people were upset is that Bonds (the cheater) was chasing a well-respected, likeable, hard-working, living legend in Hank Aaron. Hank had to watch his most famous of all records slowly fall to a cheater. (Hank would have hit 1000 home runs if he had juiced) (Hank and Barry are the same race...that is why I don't get the racism argument.)

How about handin' me another helpin' of those mashed taters...thank you very much!

by Elvis on Sep 21, 2007 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Steriods

Matt Lawton after being busted for steriods said the biggest differences to him after taking them is that his vision went from 20-30 to 20-15 and he recovered from injury so much faster. Anyone who makes the argument that "you still have to hit the ball and steriods doesn't help you with that" are so full of crap.

If your bat speed is faster, you can hit the ball harder and farther and can watch it for longer and see it better, and you don't get injured or tired as often or for as long, enabling you to work out harder and longer...how exactly can anyone say this doesn't make you a better hitter.

Will taking steriods turn me into Barry Bonds...no, but could it have turned someone like Juan Encarnacion from a .280 20hr 80rbi guy into a .320 35hr 110 rbi guy...abso-freakin'-lutely.

If you doubt it, look at Sosa's career. He went from being worse than Juan to .300 60hr 130rbi type of guy. Or Palmeiro whose numbers went from Juan-esqe to Mike Schmidt-esqe.

Even bigger differences would likely happen to AAAA type guys. What if John Gall, Scott Seabol, or other guys like this juiced...they would be millionaire borderline all-stars instead of looking for winter supplemental employment.

How about handin' me another helpin' of those mashed taters...thank you very much!

by Elvis on Sep 21, 2007 3:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I just dont care about PEDs

call me cynical... but I think they have been around, in some form, for much longer than most of us want to admit. So I really don't care. All sports are littered with it. Does that mean I am going to stop watching? No. I am dealing with it and moving on.

"Show me a guy who takes his time on the mound and I'll show you a damned loser." - Leo Durocher

by mattyfrommo on Sep 22, 2007 10:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs