A-Rod may still get HR record
Yes, A-Rod cheated. Who is left with a chance to break Barry Bonds or Hank Aaron’s home run records in a “clean” way? Maybe one or two players, maybe nobody. This is definitely a harsh blow to Major League Baseball.
A-Rod got away with it for a while, partly because he lacks the massive “Home Run Machine” look that characterizes Bonds’ appearance. Bonds was a slender young man back in the 1980s, hardly looks like the same person now as then.
Two or three things may line up in A-Rod’s favor, over time (though not to excuse him). First of all, he has admitted it, which neither Bonds nor McGwire has done. Secondly, some will take him at his word that he used the banned substances for three seasons. Though that certainly helped his output during the seasons, who knows how long Bonds has used them — 10 seasons?
Though perhaps all known baseball steroid users will enjoy asterisks after their home run totals (batting averages maybe?) and those records will not be clean, the matter of degree of usage should be considered, also. A-Rod does not appear nearly as muscular as Bonds or McGwire and weighs noticeably less than either. At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, he is not much bigger for his height than the average American.
When I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s if a guy wanted to be bigger or stronger, the only option was lifting weights or some form of working out. Hasn’t changed much, has it?
Elliott Hume
Clarence
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