Irie, thats pretty lame...i mean that super bowl win started a dynasty up there...obviously they weren't that good of a team right?

Hit a nerve did we! We know Andy, just had ta throw a bone!

it's interesting that HGH and anabolic steroids don't actually create natural ability, they promote cell growth (muscle mass) and thereby strength. they do not promote hand/eye coordination, speed and agility, all the best qualities to have as a baseball player. they do help players recover faster from injury, day to day wear and tear, so they are an advantage in that respect. they also can destroy your liver, among other things.

i would argue that bonds and mcguire had the natural ability to hit baseballs, but they may not have had the longevity to reach records without steroid/HGH use/abuse. i am more concerened about roger clemens using HGH and steroids because he had a much greater advantage from gaining strength and longevity as a pitcher - 300+ wins, 7 cy young awards, who knows?

it's still cheating, no matter what sport they are playing.

Nerve? What nerve?

I would argue that hitting a baseball is as much a mental game as it is hand eye coordination. Yes you have to have great hand eye coordination but even with these skills people will get into slumps and once that type of thing happens they are difficult to get yourself out of.
Now that said, steriods not only alter your physical mass, they alter your mental state. I played ball through high school and college and know lots of people that have juiced. Never tried it myself but they have told me multiple times they felt great when using. If you are playing ball and feel like you can do anything then you often can.
People with increased amounts of testie in the blood stream have been shown to feel better/more confident about themselves. This could also help the mental game of hitting. Just putting that out there.

My family is close friends with the Killebrew's (Twins, HOF '84), and just last year Harm gave me a ball with a message written on it. It's on my fly tying desk.

All my other autographs/memorabilia, from modern era losers, sits in a box in the garage. I'll hock it someday, and buy a spool of pencil lead, or a couple plugs...

When we talk performance enhancing drugs I think most folks ignore the mental aspect of these drugs otherwise know as "roidrage." It is that aspect that upsets me so much. If they only helped people get bigger and stronger it wouldn't bother me so much.

Baseball is essentially a game of anxiety. To be all alone in the batters box or all alone running after a fly ball in deep center is not supposed to be mentally easy. The great ones are those that can come up big in TOUGH situations! ie. Jeter!

I was 5 rows off of 1st base the night McGwire took RJ deep twice into the upper deck. He was so "raged" out both in the batters box and running towards first that it was embarrassing. A normal human being, including Mark McGwire, would have some bit of anxiety stepping to the plate against RJ. It is those who can overcome that anxiety at a big moment and succeed that deserve to be in the HOF. That night Mark McGwire was not a normal human being. He was a drug induced [censored] freak!!!!!

I was also in the 17th row behind home plate during game 5 of the ALCS when Clemen's threw a one hitter. I commented to my brother that he had taken a double shot of roids prior to that game. We could see it in his face even before the first pitch. My brother commented we would probably see our first no hitter. He was almost correct. We new the moment that he took the mound that with 116 wins and a great lineup that the Mariners would not win that game and thus would not be playing in the World Series. That night is probably the main reason for my total disgust for steroids. The M's had one of the best teams in history (I concede that Brett Boone was also on roids) yet with Clemens and Petite winning the 4 games in that LCS I and all other Mariner fans should feel cheated! For the simple reason we where cheated!

Steroids changes the anxiety and the stress of a big game to "bring the motherfuckers on. No one can stop me. I'm the greatest thing alive. ARRRRRRRGH!

It is this aspect of steroids to me that destroys the very foundation of human competition!

If I was running MLB steroids would be added to the lifetime ban, one strike your out rules just like gambling as it strikes right at the heart of the integrity of the game.