What Does Barry Bonds Breaking the Home Run Record Mean for Baseball?

Barry Bonds will almost undoubtedly break the all time home run record held by Hank Aaron this year barring an injury. One of baseballs most cherished records will be in the hands of someone who cheated and used preforming enhancing drugs. At the time of this article Bonds is just ten home runs away from breaking the record. So what exactly does it mean for baseball?

Barry Bonds will never be able to be compared with Hank Aaron or Babe Ruth simply because they come from different eras in the game. Bonds comes from "The Steroid Era" while Aaron and Ruth come from a different style of game and a different age. We can call the time Bonds has spent in baseball "The Steroid Era" because many of the top performers in the last ten years have been using preforming enhancing drugs. Bonds is undoubtedly one of the greatest players of recent years if not the greatest hitter of the last ten years.

Bonds did hit all those home runs in a time where steroid use can be almost considered normal. Steroid use has horrible side effects on the body, so whether Bonds and other players sacrificed themselves for personal gain or the good of the fans, serious health consequences may result later on in life. So it is fair to say that Bonds may eventually pay a price for what he has done. Bonds did admit to taking steroids "without his knowledge.". He also showed an increase in production at a time where most players entire a decline and also considerably bulked up from his earlier playing days.

The drug Tetrahydrogestrinone or THG is what Bonds and many athletes have been taking. The drug is so new that adequate testing hasn't been done to determine the side effects, however the FDA remains firm in its stance that the drug is harmful and may be toxic to the liver. Reproductive side effects like sterility and balding may also result so it is generally considered safe to say the drug is harmful. Anything that makes your hair fall out and causes sterility and is toxic to the liver has to be bad for you.

Will baseball ever be able to recover? It depends on several things, one is better drug policies and testing which have already been implemented. The other is whether players can continue to play well without the use of performance enhancing drugs. Perhaps life-time bans or harsher penalties should be put in place to show players that taking steroids is something baseball will not tolerate.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Bonds