After reading the 12-page excerpt from the blockbuster new book Game of Shadows, and after listening to and reading all of the critical analysis that has accompanied this story, what remains unsaid is that Greg Anderson has ruined Barry Bonds' career and may be the person most responsible for Bonds not breaking the all-time home run record (assuming he doesn't).
Of course Bonds cannot escape blame, but Greg Anderson — thanks to his breathtaking lack of understanding with regards to how to train an elite athlete, with or without steroids — is responsible for causing Bonds’ physical breakdown.
Without Anderson’s ham-handed handling of his drug regimen, Bonds would already be the all-time home run king. If it wasn’t for Greg Anderson’s lack of knowledge, Bonds would have passed the 800 home run mark, probably without an associated cloud of suspicion hovering overhead.
Without Greg Anderson Barry Bonds would have had a fighting chance to be a real hero to some people, and not a national disgrace.
Here’s a passage from the Game of Shadows that describes Bonds’ personal trainer:
“(He) called himself the ‘Weight Guru’ and he had a sophisticated approach to training and he prescribed specific, intense workouts for muscle groups, and he tailored the program for baseball to maximize hitting power while maintaining agility. He could talk about nutrition and blood tests and body-fat percentages with such authority that you might mistake him for a doctor. Not incidentally, the Weight Guru was a longtime steroid user and dealer.”
This is all garbage. Anderson was a half-assed body builder who dabbled in taking and selling drugs. His “rep” was earned through what is commonly known as “gym science,” where the biggest guy in the gym is thought to be an expert due to his large size. This large size is always due to the use of steroids. Guys like this just take drugs and lift weights without regard for function.
Guys like Anderson are a dime a dozen and have been hanging around local gyms all over the country for the past 30-plus years. They aren’t athletes and should not be allowed anywhere near real athletes. Ever.
The major story here is how a steroid using meathead like Anderson, who possessed a Stone Age knowledge of strength and conditioning, got access to the greatest ballplayer of our generation, and in turn ruined him.
The drug regimen that Anderson designed for Bonds – in conjunction with a training program that was obsolete at least 20 years ago - is directly responsible for the series of serious injuries suffered by Bonds culminating in the degenerative knee condition that may end Bonds’ career before he could set the all-time home run record.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Devastator
Know what? I am so sick of the liberal media putting the blame anywhere but where it should belong. No one ruined Bonds' carrear but himself. Not his agent, not the media; himself. No one told him to shoot up and no one held a gun to his head.
At one time he may have been considered one of the best, but he has seen to it himself that there will be a shadow of doubt over any milestone he hits.
2 - Kyle
First of all the majority of the lessened at bats are a result of his BBs. Over the last 7 years pitchers have been absolutely afraid to throw to him. He averaged 104 walks per year during the first 13 years and 174 from 99-04. I'm not counting the 14 game season last year of course. Second, during those years (99-04) he hit 34, 49, 73, 46, 45, and 45 homeruns while his previous season high was 46 and a total of 3 40 hr seasons in 13 years. And that 34 HR season had a career low 102 games played. To think that Greg Anderson has stopped Barry from breaking Aaron's record is incredibly ignorant. Anderson is the only reason why he even has a chance. People dont hit 73 hrs in their late 30's, just look at Hank's last few seasons: 47, 34, 40, 20, 12, 10. That's what is supposed to happen when ball players get older, they hit less homeruns, not set records and career bests. Bonds would've never had a shot at 800 if it wasnt for BALCO and Anderson.
3 - Baseball is dead
Baseball is a shame. I recall the great lock out and the downfall in attendance two years after the event. Especially up north.
Nobody has come close to reaching the home run record set 50 years ago. Then all of a sudden every player and his mother are now in a race to belt home over 70.
Corked bats, juiced players, the MLB probably knew about it. It was a means to get fans back to the game.
Competitive sports lost it's purity once the field of chemistry made leaps and bounds during the 60's.
I don't see the point in crucifiying Bonds and company. It's more than obvious all of them are cheats- the MLB is to blame not the players.
4 - Aragon Junior Varsity Baseball
I played JV baseball for Aragon High School in San Mateo, CA back in 1996 & 1997. Greg Anderson was my coach for those 2 seasons. Not only did we come in 1st Place those 2 seasons, but we went undefeated my sofomore year. Anderson was banned from our league half way through our undefeated season for arguing with the umps too much, but he was always right, and he still managed to coach us from the other side of the fence during every game throughout the season. He just knows how to win, and at least he never offered me or any one else on the team steriods. I'm sure a person can only be persuaded so much. I actually look up to his skill and team building tactics. That's all I got to say bout that issue.
5 - Batman and Robbing
My favorite book is still the 1961 Baseball almanac...pre asterisk. Bonds will get one wish granted, he will always be a part of baseball lore.
Cooperstown may need to place a few placards in the gutters in front on the Hall of Fame so there is never any confusion as to who belongs inside....the finger pointing goes way beyond a few trainers..... sportswriters and owners have let the game down and they too belong in this trough of waste.
6 - Andy Marsh
Sal - Do you have Bonds' home run per at bat numbers pre and post Anderson? I'd be curious to see how much those numbers went up in the steriod time period vs the pre-steriod time period.
7 - sal m
due to injuries over the past 7 years bonds has missed about 240 games which translates into about 1000 additional at bats figuring an average of 4 plate appearances per game...you can look at the numbers any way that you'd like, but these 1000 opportunities - or 240 - games missed have prevented bonds from already breaking the all-time home run record.
8 - Andy Marsh
Yeah, but I still wonder...would he have hit near as many homers before he got so damn big? I mean, look at the pics from when he was younger...yeah I know, I'm a much fatter bastard than I was when I was in my twenties...but I'm not a pro athlete either.
All these guys...McGuire, Sosa, Bonds...hit a lot more homers then they should have because of steroids...and Sammy even used a corked bat! I think all of them ended up with shortened careers. Maybe that's the deal, like lighting the whole book of matches. You get a really bright flame for a short period of time.
Unfortunately it doesn't really matter because in the minds of most it'll always be a what if...
Even guys like one of my favorite football players...LT...what if...
How much better could they all have been...how much longer could they have lasted.
9 - sal m
bonds hit 411 home runs in 6621 at-bats through the 1998 season, a ratio of 1 homer every 16 at-bats...since then he's hit 297 home runs in 2519 at-bats, a ratio of 1 homer every 8.4 at-bats...so even if bonds walked in half of his at-bats that he missed due to injury and hit a home run every 12 at bats, he would have hit over 40 more home runs...and he'd be on his way to 800 home runs.
10 - Matthew T. Sussman
Devastator: "Know what? I am so sick of the liberal media" stop right there. What does the liberal media theory have to do with this?
11 - slickman
To think that Bonds would even be close to the HR record without steroids is ludicrous. Sure, it he'd played in the 240 games he missed, he'd have 800 HRs and he would have played in a lot of those games if not for the steroid abuse. Of course, without the steroids, there's no way in hell he hits 73 HRs in one year. Barry Bonds is a disgrace to baseball. If he had any dignity, he would quietly retire and go play golf with Rafael Palmiero. What he has done to damage baseball is far worse than what Pete Rose ever did and if Rose is on the outside of the Hall looking in, Bonds should be too, HR record or not.
12 - sal m
slickman:
you are correct on all points...my point was that if the steroids and his workouts were handled properly bonds would still have gotten the benefits without the ill-effects that caused him to miss 240 games, and therefore would have hit that many more home runs...and bonds has surely effected the outcome of more games through his cheating than rose ever did by gambling.
13 - DJRadiohead
I understand your premise Sal and I do think the relationship between Bonds and Anderson is an intriguing one. That said, I think one has to be careful not to remove too much of the blame from Bonds himself. I think it is good to highlight additional causes, explanations, or circumstances. It still, for me, comes down to Bonds being done in by his own hubris, ego, and jealousy.
14 - sal m
i certainly don't remove blame from bonds...my premise is that if anderson knew what he was doing this saga would not have wound up like it has...anderson had no business handling a guy like bonds....if bonds had been handled by a guy who knew what he was doing this story would have a completely different ending...given his personality, bonds could always go off the deep end, but anderson by not knowing what he was doing made the situation way worse...and by the way, the idea is to not get caught using, and everything anderson did ensured bonds would get caught, positive drug test or not.
15 - Alabaster
Know what? I'm sick of people saying only the liberal media does this, way to try and derail the discussion. Obviously this is biased, Bonds is made out to be the baseball hero of our time, if only his trainer hadn't been an evil, conniving, intrinsically bad, god hating bastard. Which, even if he was, there's no way Bonds is less to blame for this, unless Anderson was feeding him steroids and tricking him into believing they were candy or something. No one forced him to take it, so it's his fault more than anyones.
16 - Nate
Not a personal attack, but the writer of this article seems really ignorant. No where in the excerpt does it say any real specifics about the training regiment that Anderson had Bonds on. Nor does it say any specific dosage information on the steroids, but you the writer can somehow conclude that "This is all garbage. Anderson was a half-assed body builder who dabbled in taking and selling drugs." Umm, okay? Also, muscle and strength usually go hand in hand. Yes, it is possible to gain strength without mass, but the results probably would not have been as dramatic. Also, mass = "max hitting power" in baseball, that's just the way it is. Check out Babe and Mo Vaughn. Guaranteed, a 250 lb guy and a 200 lb guy, equal strength, the 250 lb guy hits it farther. To conclude, this article oozes jealousy, a kind of "I could have made Bonds better" sentiment....and, Bonds and Bonds alone ruined Bonds, a Hall of Fame* athlete.
17 - sal m
nate:
feel free to continue espousing nonsense that has no basis in fact...
if you have read the excerpts from the book and followed the details of this saga even from the most basic level of interest you would know that anderson was a half-assed body builder. the purpose of this item was NOT to provide details for those who are totally uninformed with regards to physiology, this story, the use of steroids, valid and invalid training methods and other pertinent issues, but to point out that anderson didn't know what he was doing.
feel free to catch up on the issue and then rejoing the discussion.
your comments with regards to mass = hitting power indicates your lack of knowledge on a wide range of subjects from baseball to physiology.
when trying to prove a point, try to avoid any examples where you use mo vaughn in a positive light.
and by the way, hank aaron was smaller than all of today's power hitters, and yet is the greatest power hitter of all time...
18 - Matthew T. Sussman
"try to avoid any examples where you use mo vaughn in a positive light"
The First Commandment of Baseball Banter.
19 - Brian
However, a guy like Bonds could have used these performance-enhancing drugs more responsibly.
You're joking, right? Surely this is a satire piece. You're not absolving the man who willingly ingested drugs, are you???
20 - sal m
brian:
you really need to reread the piece as i clearly state that bonds cannot avoid blame and that i do not condone the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
taking this anti-drug stance, however, doesn't alter reality. athletes DO - and have for years - used these drugs. the athletes who used these drugs successfully weren't caught and many avoided suspicion as well.
being anti-steroids doesn't mean that i don't know that there is a right way to use them, and that in this case bonds under anderson's tuteledge used them in the wrong way.
why is this so hard to understand?
21 - DJRadiohead
I think the message Sal has been trying to send is that Greg Anderson is a bad cheater and that had Bonds worked with a good cheater Bonds might have been able to not only cheat more effectively but avoid the controversy.
Mo Vaughn. Next someone is going to want to invoke the name of Carlos Quintana.
22 - DJRadiohead
I also think some of the negative reaction (which people are welcome to have) comes from a sort of Black/White sensitivity to this subject. Barry Bonds is wholly responsible and wholly evil.
Yes, Bonds is ultimately responsible. Examining other factors and other people and their role in this story does not diminish that.
Full disclosure, I think in some areas of this column Sal gives Bonds more of a pass than I would. That said, examining Greg Anderson's role in this as more than just the "drug dealer" is worthwhile and some interesting ideas are presented in this column. Interesting in that I had not considered them.
It raises this question for me: how many of the big-time home run hitters of the "steroid" era were smarter cheaters and how many did it au natural?
23 - sal m
i don't give bonds any pass whatsoever. when people get on this subject they invariably focus on bonds to the exclusion of everything and everyone else. this item is nothing more than an attempt to get people to look at this story from a different perspective.
of course bonds is ultimately to blame, but the amazing thing about this story that has not been discussed deals with how anderson got access to the best ballplayer of our time, and in turn how he greatly contributed to bonds downfall.
24 - DJRadiohead
The link between Bonds and Anderson is they knew each other as children/young people. That relationship has been reported.
I do agree with you on the "to exclusion of everything and everyone else."
25 - MCH
Sal;
I appreciated your comment re Hank Aaron's size in his relation to homer-hitting. You are correct, Aaron, a sinewy 6-0, 180 lbs., generated most of his bat speed and power with his incredible wrists.
In fact, the guy who holds the record for the longest documented homer ever hit was really not that big. Although Mickey Mantle, at 5-11 and 198 was bigger and stronger than Aaron, he was no where near the size of guys like Ruth, McGwire, Bo Jackson and Bonds.
The term "tape measure home run" was necessitated by Mantle, whose 565-foot blast out of Washington's Griffith Stadium in 1953 is the longest recorded ball ever hit. Plus there was another of Mickey's shots in Yankee Stadium once that was still rising when it hit the upper facade in right field, which has been estimated would've traveled 600 feet if unobstructed.
And remember, this was way before the baseballs (as well as the players) were "juiced."