At the time McGuire, Sosa and Bonds set their records nobody knew anything about doping. Who is to say Judge won't be found out later. All the records should stand. Rules change and players change the rules.
hitter of all time...and not just for the numbers he put up...here are some of the 'other' reasons why...based on my observations...
>Barry's efficiency at the plate (i.e. # of swings per HR) has to be the best ever...very, very few misses or fouls...when he swung the ball went out...
>Barry's 'eye' also extended to an incredible number of walks...he was so efficient that most teams intentionally walked him...in the middle of the season...the right field wall near the foul pole had a rack on it for "rubber chickens" each time he got one of those IWs...(i.e. razzing the other team for 'chickening out')
>PEDs don't help a batter make good choices on which pitches to swing at...Barry was simply the best...and with his power - even before PEDs - he was destined to set those records.
One other thing on PEDs...MLB...and Tony LaRussa...had to be aware of widespread PED use when the "Bash Brothers" (McGuire and Canseco) were winning the '89 WS (sour grapes on my part)...but they did nothing about it, probably because they were filling stadiums and making money for the teams and the league...singling out Barry as the 'pariah' for PEDs is a cheap shot and needs to stop. It's time to whole-heartedly applaud Barry's HR greatness.
Another Disclosure: I grew up in NYC as a Yankee fan...still admire them...and am "Over the Moon" that Aaron Judge hit his 62nd HR.
(no message)
While P.E.D.'s were against the rules even before testing, the rules had no language that allowed for scores and statistics to be vacated. We have no means of officially discounting them, which means Bonds is the record-holder, and 1998 exists in the books.
And while I think Ruth is the greatest, it's fair to point out that he played pre-integration, and we know from the success of some of the black players that joined the majors once they were allowed that the talent level of the competition did improve overall.
I don't think there's a way to determine which records to asterisk.
(no message)
Aaron Judge and Roger Maris played in more games and had more ABs than Babe in their historic years. Bonds is a huge red flag because he played in less games and had less ABs than Babe but still managed to produce a whopping 13 more HRs during his "historic" year. Superman? At least place an asterisk next to these records. It doesn't cost anything and it puts things in context. Same goes for Pete Rose and his all time hits record and Hank Aaron and his HR record. More chances and more games played = more opportunities.
Bob Costas suggested an introduction to the MLB records book that reads:
“It would read,” Costas said, “something to the effect of, ‘Baseball has the longest and richest history of any American sport. Over time, the game has gone through many changes, among them segregated, integrated, entirely day ball, mostly night ball, 16 teams and now 30 teams, train travel, cross-country air travel, higher mound, lower mound, reliance on relief pitchers, analytics, and significant among them the so-called steroids era in which many performances, especially by power hitters, were disproportionate to any other era in baseball history. Fans may want to take into account all those facts when considering the records reflected in the pages that follow.’”
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/05/sports/baseball/aaron-judge-barry-bonds-asterisks-records.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
(no message)
(no message)
I don't disagree with you guys. Just thought it was an amusing analogy.
(no message)
Get off my lawn!
It seems like you have no idea what I am referencing, either.