#1. Steroids were not banned by baseball except for one year Bonds is accused of using steroids
#2. Bonds won three MVP awards prior to supposedly beginning to use steroids
#3. At the rate he was hitting home runs prior to supposedly using steroids, he would be well over 600 home runs in 2006.
#4. Bonds received votes for MVP in 15 consecutive seasons, he is accused of using steroids for 5 years of his 20 year career.
#5. Bonds became the first player to achieve 400 career home runs and 400 career stolen bases in 1998. He isn't accused to have began using steroids until 1998.
#6. In 1999, The Sporting News using only stats up to 1997 ranked Bonds as the greatest active player in baseball history.
#7. Many of the players of his era as well as pitchers of his era used steroids. He would be at a competitive disadvantage to not use them.
#8. Many former players such as Willie Mays, Bob Gibson, and Mike Schmidt have openly admitted that they would have used steroids if they were available to them.
#9. Babe Ruth had the advantage of not having to play against African American competition. Playing against watered down talent obviously benefited him in a way Bonds and Aaron were not able to.
#9. Owners and MLB officials were very aware of the fact that steroid use was rampant and all but sanctioned the use of steroids in order to attract fans.
#10. Mark McGwire openly used andro, a substance that was not banned. Just like anabolic steroids. That product was banned at the same time as steroids.
#11. During the era Hank Aaron played, baseball was riddled with use of performance enhancing amphetamines. No one seems to care about this or event point it out.
#12. The 1919 White Sox actively threw the World Series and lost on purpose. Baseball has not even placed as asterik on this World Series.
#13. Bonds has passed every single steroid test administered in the past two years.
While it is extremely likely that he has used them, it has never been proven that he knowingly took them. I understand that this is naive, but in America you are innocent until proven guilty.
This issue is entirely overblown. Had the same circumstances surrounded McGwire or Sosa as they passed Ruth or Aaron there would not be the same outrage. The outrage comes from the hate-hate relationship between Bonds and the media. The media will continue to portray Bonds in an entirely negative light because he has always acted as a jerk toward them.
