BARRY BONDS-THE BEATLES?……………………………………
I know most of this community aren’t into sports, but I found this quote interesting:
“And if nothing else, we can say that Bonds is truly the greatest steroids hitter in major league history. I know, I know, that’s a stupid statement, satisfying to no one… but then again, as Chuck Klosterman pointed out rather amusingly, the Beatles took performance-enhancing drugs (how else do you think they came up with side two of “Revolver”?), and no one holds it against them.”
BTW, I despise what steroids has done to baseball, from a historical standpoint.
Music, on the other hand, is not really about statistics (other than record sales).
August 9th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I personally love movies about baseball more than I do actually watching a game……. Two personal opinion (mine) points about the quote – 1. Do people actually believe that performance-enhancing drugs were not around and being used in sports previously?….. I mean, that’s dumb, and, just how much can a drug help your performance? If that were true, then every baseball player taking them would instantly be breaking records…… 2. If drugs made The Beatles music then why isn’t every druggie we’ve ever known a “Super Rock Star”?…… I’m sorry, taking drugs have more negative effects than positive, and if the talent is not in you, I don’t care how many or what kind of drug you take, you’re not going to be breaking any records or topping any charts…….
August 9th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
In the 70’s especially there was tons of amphetamine use going on in baseball (and probably cocaine, too)… do we asterisk the base-stealing records from those times? I’m not a big Bonds fan, but HR’s are not merely about strength — the skill level involved to actually hit a baseball moving at major league speeds is incredibly difficult.
It’s kind of silly, like a few years ago the Chess community was trying to call themselves a “sport” (so they could eventually be in the Olympics). But then they would have to submit to drug testing… the notion that you could play chess better while you are high on anything is pretty ludicrous. Kind of like the Olympics taking snowboarders’ medals away after testing positive for pot… does anyone really think that having a toke at a party made those guys snowboard better? Some baseball players got _too_ big and muscley, perhaps via steroids, and actually hurt their playing ability (lack of agility and flexibility can translate to decreased performance).
Still, true performance-enhancing drugs seem like cheating to me, but it’s endless new testing techniques and regimens to keep up with the cheaters… witness cycling’s implosion this last month. Anyway, I don’t know what to do about it, just sharing some thoughts on the matter.
August 9th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
The fact is many baseball players (not just Bonds) were able to overcome injuries faster, prolonging their career & single seasons, which enabled them to accomplish these feats at an age when most players are on the decline. Mark McGwire is another great example.
Greenies just enabled the hung over ballplayers (Mantle, Ford, etc.) to be able to take the field the next day. In those days the players didn’t make that much money (most average players had full time jobs in the winter). If you missed too many days of work in baseball you were basically out of a job in baseball.
MR, I am not necessarily in agreement with the article, and I know the great musicians would still have separated from the pack without the chemical enhancements.
Steroid use is nothing new. Remember the football player Lyle Alzado? That was how many years ago?
Hard drugs such as Steroids, Coke, Meth etc. will certainly lead to major health problems. However, the occasional use of some of the recreational drugs may have given musical artists an idea or two.
August 9th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
The analogy with music is pretty silly, I think.
It took a while for steroids to catch on in baseball. Heck, baseball players didn’t start weight training in earnest until the late 80s, and probably not coincidentally people started taking steroids after that.
The jump in performance when players take steroids is pretty obvious. Look at Bonds before and after; McGwire; Bret Boone. MLB knew about all this and turned a blind eye because, as Glavine and Maddux said in the Nike (?) commercial, “Chicks Dig the Longball.” Did they care what McGwire and Sosa were on in 1998, when they were credited with bringing so many people back to the game after the 1994 strike. But now they’re reaping the whirlwind, with many of their hallowed records falling to cheaters.
Of course, the whole notion of putting an asterisk by his name is ridiculous. He hit the HRs in legitimate MLB games, off of real pitchers, in real ballparks. But knowledgeable people looking at the records will do so with context in mind: Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Palmiero played in the ‘roid era (1988-present?); Ruth, Gerig didn’t have to face the premier Negro league players; Many players (Ted Williams) lost years to WW2 and Korea.
One reason why people are so upset about Bonds breaking the record is that Hank Aaron was a hardworking gentleman ballplayer, and Bonds is a prima donna jerk.
All IMO, too.
August 10th, 2007 at 8:43 am
This is a GREAT Post, Sunn…… I’ve learned a lot of interesting facts and views and I agree with all of the comments made by our Community….. I think we are all in agreement about the problem and that it is blown way out of proportion, but, it is a problem that needs dealt with…. I love HS’s Aaron/Bonds statement….. …..And, yes, Sunn, I agree that the occasional use of recreational drugs has probably given us all a brilliant flash of an idea at one time or another, but, as it is said, “All things in moderation”…… Too much of anything usually is not the best path to follow……
August 10th, 2007 at 11:59 am
HS, I fully agree with everything you said. Being a baseball history aficionado, it still really gets to me when I look at the record books.
Baseball is the one sport where statistics really are a major part of its’ history. And it’s obviously not just Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Giambi, etc. that are guilty. (At least Giambi had the gonads to admit it.)
How many pitchers were getting the same advantage? You can tell by looking that Glavine, Maddux & Johnson weren’t doing it. Clemens is the most suspect pitcher I can think of, and he plays for my favorite team.
I think the major blame goes to the MLB & the Players Union for letting this get way out of control. They knew this was happening years ago.
It also sickens me the way the race card has been played in this debacle. The majority of Blacks wanted Bonds to break the record, the majority of Caucasians didn’t. Although both know he is guilty.
Same deal as the O.J. trial. After all ,Bonds broke another black mans
record. Race had absolutely nothing to do with it.
August 11th, 2007 at 12:39 am
On the Music side, Just because some artists used recreational drugs I feel did not effect what was put on vinyl. Most artists used not while playing but relaxing (thought altering chemicals that is) the majority of musicians used drugs just to make it from one gig to the next ie: uppers, downers, etc. I think Paul Kantner’s Quote says it best. “We weren’t playing on drugs, It’s hard to play when your guitar strings are 3 foot in diameter”.
August 11th, 2007 at 10:13 am
J.J. I own a great number of Jefferson Airplane albums & CDs. Kantner sometimes sounded like he was trying to play such a guitar.
Some of the concert dialogue you hear on records, it’s obvious some of these guys were doing a little something (Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin, Neil Young, etc.) However, I am sure it didn’t enhance their on stage performance. In the recording studio however, I’m sure it gave them some ideas they may not have had. They may have imbibed, got some groovy ideas, came down, & then recorded them.
I used to play in a group where sometime three different members of the band would shoot amphetamines with a needle before a gig. The only difference I could tell, was rushing the tempo Unfortunately, two of them are now dead.
August 13th, 2007 at 3:35 am
A guitarist that I once worked with said that, on LSD, the neck of his guitar was flopping around as if it were made of rubber.
Well, well, well, you’re feeling fine
Well, well, well, we’ll make you…Dr. Robert
–Lennon & McCartney
August 13th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
From some of the guitarists I’ve played with through the years, this would probably have been an upgrade to their stiff, mechanical style.