Remember when guys strated hitting 60 homers a year around '97 right before the big '98 summer when McGuire and Sosa were in a race for the HR title? There was a big debate in baseball about home runs and why all of a sudden so much more were being hit than at any other time in history. We heard things like "The ball is wound tighter", and "The pitching talent has been diluted because of expansion". Now we know that this was all bull**** misinformation put out by the MLB to cover up the reality which was that all these guys were on ****ing steriods!! I just thought about this today and it pissed me off. I know that MLB must have known there was an issue with steriods, but instead of doing something about it and preserving the records that were in place, they leaned back and put up there feet while we all watched freaks like McGuire and Sosa pound 70 Hr's a year. The MLB laughed all the way to the bank. Nothing would have been done about this if it wasnt for this BALCO scandal. There have been lots of articles about the steriod controvesy, but I havet seen anyone mention the bull**** excuses that MLB used to give us for all the HR's being hit. They basically took us all for morons and lied to our faces. The lied knowing damn well that nothing about the ball had changed, and pitching is probably better today than it was back when the Babe was in the majors.

What are other opinions on this subject?

So the whole cork in that bat thing is a myth?

So the whole cork in that bat thing is a myth?

Corking a bat is something that has been around long before people were hitting 60 Hr's a year on a regular basis so that wouldn't be the cause of this new phenomenon. What corking a bat does is lighten the bat, therfore increasing the bat speed. Basically, it allows you to swing the bat faster.

The worst thing is that nobody from back then is going to be held accountable for what they did, unless some more concrete evidence comes out. You can't retroactively test McGwire's blood from when he was breaking the record. It's too bad, but because of MLB's greed they've ruined the home run record forever. It would be nice if we could asterix the numbers from the last ten years but it probably won't happen.

I couldn't believe all the B.S. last year when Bonds turned 40 and everyone was talking about what great shape he was in. Duh! We all knew why he was in such "great" shape but MLB and the sportswriters that kiss its ass were playing a game of deep denial.

Who knew that baseball could screw Roger Maris around more than it had? Along with asterixing his record until after he died, they looked the other way while juiced-up players cheated and broke it.

There is some truth to the ball being wound tighter, the watering down of talent due to expansion and also the smaller ball parks having a hand in increased home runs. But obviously performance enhancing drugs play a huge role.

As for the record books, Maguire, Sosa, and Bonds records will always be questioned and doubted by knowledgeable baseball fans.

So the whole cork in that bat thing is a myth?

The funny thing is that Bonds got caught corking bats and taking roids.

For the record, baseball is far from alone on this steriod issue. Roids were rampant in the NFL for decades, Olympic athletes and even cyclists and tennis players have been accused and proven guilty of "dopping". Hell even Shane Mosley is involved in the BALCO scandle.

i dont care about the steroid use in baseball. at the time they were not illegal in the mlb and whoever was taking them were only getting a head start on the competition.you cant break a rule that was never in place. if a player were to do it now they should be punished.

i dont care about the steroid use in baseball. at the time they were not illegal in the mlb and whoever was taking them were only getting a head start on the competition.you cant break a rule that was never in place. if a player were to do it now they should be punished.

Yeah, that's true, but records are meant to be broken...How can these guys break some of these records without "THE POWER OF THE ROIDS"

What I think sucks is the whole "growth hormone" thing. Sounds like its going to be loophole for a lot of these guys. Because I dont think they were actully illegal in baseball. I fell there needs to be huge asteriks in the record books. Im sure the fans wont forget.