In a story that should surprise absolutely no one, ex-MLB slugger and poster child for steroid use in sports, Barry Bonds, has come to the defense of Lance Armstrong after the cyclist was stripped of all his achievements in his career and forever blacklisted as a doper. But not only did Bonds defend the cyclist, he called him the greatest cyclist of all time.
“I think if it wasn’t for him, U.S. cycling wouldn’t even be here,” Bonds said when he was mobbed by paparazzi leaving a steakhouse. “He was the greatest cyclist of all.”
It’s no surprise that Bonds is sticking with Armstrong, after all there’s no one who understands this sort of scrutiny better than the man many believe is responsible for single handedly ruining baseball’s modern era. But although Bonds is largely regarded by those who follow baseball as a cheat, one aspect he can’t fully understand in Armstrong’s battle is the total loss of all accomplishments.
Despite the fact basically everyone openly acknowledges that Bonds used PEDs during his magnificent 2001 run to 73 home runs, and throughout a career that ended with more home runs than Hank Aaron, Bonds still has his stats asterisk free. He’s not in history books, he’s not in video games but those number have not been stripped form the back of baseball card.
But still, everyone and their grandma can recite 714 home runs and 755 home runs but not many know how many Bonds ended up with in his career (he finished with 762 home runs for the record*).
Bonds himself has been subject to the legal system just like Armstrong was, as Bonds was convicted of felony obstruction of justice earlier this year, a ruling he is actively appealing.
In Armstrong’s case not only does everyone openly suspect he took PEDs when he won seven Tour de France titles, he has now been striped of those titles, unlike Bonds and his home runs. But the two are sticking together in a truest of true “us against the world” situations. The steroids and the stripping of his titles hasn’t hurt Armstrong’s cancer foundation (rightfully so), but his persona has.
And there’s no better expert in that department again, like ‘roids brother, Barry Bonds.
