Finally - A Book That DEFEND Barry Bonds

"Asterisk" by david ezra came out this year. He feels the case
against Bonds using steroids is pretty weak and debunks many of the
roid statements made about bonds

1. "How could he hit 73 HR in one year when he never hit more than 46
in any other year". ----- Many pre-steroid players did something
similar. Maris had 61 one year but in his next best year only 39.
Davey Johnson had 43 one year but his next best was only 18!!

2. "Bonds gained 40 pounds of solid muscle in one off-season and that
proves he was juiced". ---- This is what Canseco has said for years
but author says it's simply false. Bonds got into weightlifting while
still in his 20s and was up to 220 pounds by 1997, a year before the
critics say he got into PEDs. His transformation from lithe speedster
to gorilla took years and may well have been due to just hard
weightlifting.

3. "Bonds was great into his 40s and that proves he was on something."
--- So why did Mr Steroid Jose Canseco retire at 36?. And Mcgwire at
37 and Caminiti at 38?. Sosa hasn't had a good year since he hit 35.
Fans have been told and told that steroids lengthen a player's career
and so they accept it, but there is no evidence for the theory. Bonds
takes care of himself and has an exemplary work ethic and that may be
the explanation for his longevity.

Author also has a couple of anecdotes about Bonds i hadn't heard. Says
he writes numbers on tennis balls and has a pitcher throw them at him
and bonds reads the numbers and hits only those with an odd number!!
And when he played college at ASU he would take BP against an 85 mph
pitching machine while standing only 30 feet away.