Well as anyone in their 40s can tell you, that headline belongs in Duh magazine. But it's a very good article in this morning's Chronicle by Leonard Koppit, if not the best baseball writer there is, then one of the best. He takes on the "he looks bigger" argument about Bonds, etc. and how they bulked up in their later years. Many thik that's because of steroids, but Koppit says it happens to everyone (duh) and provides plenty of concrete examples.
I do know that Babe Ruth, in his peak home-run years, was 30 pounds heavier than when he broke into the majors as a star pitcher.
That Nolan Ryan, still setting strikeout and no-hit records in his 40s, was 45 pounds heavier than when he pitched in the World Series at 22.
That Ted Williams, just missing a batting title in 1956 at age 37, was 23 pounds heavier than in 1941, when the "Splendid Splinter" hit .406.
That Rogers Hornsby, greatest of all right-handed hitters, weighed 26 pounds more at the end of his career than at the beginning.
...Roger Maris hit 39, 61 and 33, and never reached 30 otherwise. Davey Johnson suddenly hit 43 in Atlanta in 1973 and never more than 18 before or after in a 14-year career. Darrell Evans hit 41 and 40 eleven years apart, averaging less than 20 in his other 20 seasons.
I don't know what they used, either.
I do know that if taking something was the secret of hitting 60 homers, more than only three players would be doing it.
That's the most sensible thing I've read yet about the steroid issue.
