Say what you will about the Yankees and/or Judge. He finally did it.
Iām not a Yankees fan at all but Judge is the real deal, and he did this clean, unlike Barry Steroid. Good for Judge and good for baseball.
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You all know how I feel.
If heās not named the Yankees Captain in the offseason (along with that massive contract he has earned) I will be distraught.
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If the Yankees let him go, they may trigger a 100 year curse like the Sauks did when they traded the Bambino to the Yankees (though I understand this loss is likely to be to the Mets).
Make him the Captain and pay him.
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what is he worth errrrr what will he be paid in Free agency ?? ( not sure if they are worth what they are being paid but that is another discussion).
None of them are worth what they are paid. But thatās the world we live in. Meanwhileā¦teachersā¦
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Barry Bonds is bent out of shape, and heās coming back.
This time he has his pharmacist and Lance Armstrongās pharmacist, theyāre all highly motivated.
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Heās from the bay area and grew up a Giants fan. It will be great to see him sport the Orange and Black next season. 
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Funny that you mention those 2. I know, from tests prior to Armstrong going pro, that his VO2 max was off the charts. Meaning that he didnāt need drugs to win, he had the natural ability and biology. He just needed to lose the upper body mass to increase his power to weight ratio. Post cancer he had all of that. I remember Bicycling Magazine raving about Armstrongās VO2 max tests, I think Road Bike Action did too, all while he was a Junior racer.
As for Bonds, Iām pretty certain he had the necessary attributes to be a HR king prior to all his steroid use. Since MLB didnāt test weāll never really know I suppose.
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Armstrong was / is a valiant warrior in the fight against cancer. My bad for pulling him into a joke. Heās like everyone else: imperfect. Now as a recreational hiker who notices the positive difference, even I have an interest in VOx. 
Bonds is one of the best hitters in history, with or without the āroids. He was right in defending himself that the strongest man on earth canāt hit homers just because heās strong. They may have given Barry an extra 50-100 homers, or whatever, but it was fun watching just how good he was. I remember seeing pitches and exclaiming āin the cove!ā before it got to the plate. His ability to wait on a pitch and the stupid number of intentional walks - sometimes bringing a run in during a bases loaded situation - were unique. He was an elite athlete at 185 lbs, and at 230 he was the most dangerous hitter in BB.
I saw a kid I went to HS with a couple of years after graduation. He looked like he had balloons under his skin. It was a crazy era.
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Armstrong is a very imperfect person. Just as we all are. But he had that āitā that just drove him to win. That can be seen in most champions. Look at Jordan, Bonds, Brady, back to cycling Hinault, Merckx. They all just had this need to win regardless of the cost.
I remember watching Bonds and he was wow. McGwire was similar but didnāt have the charisma, and ultimately didnāt have the same results.
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Funny story about McGuire - I worked with a guy who grew up with him. He said he was kind of this dopey kid with a red-headed perm that they had fun with, his friendās annoying little brother. āNobody had any idea he would amount to anythingā.
Youāre right about the athletes with the drive, how itās kind of borderline psychology. I look at Brady and keep thinking heās doing a Joe Montana, starting to eat into his own legacy with this OCD-like drive that wonāt leave him alone. But heās still pretty damn good. Probably not going to get another ring, butā¦
I remember George Blanda, back in the early 70s, when he was kicking straight-ahead FGs and playing some QB in his forties (back when Biletnikoff couldnāt fall down like everyone else because he had so much stick-em on his hands, he would have come up with giant grass paws if he did.) Blanda looked like they drove him over from the retirement home, by comparison to how todayās athletes take care of themselves.
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Bonds was a great hitter, but before he ābulked upā he was hitting 35-40 home runs, back when he was with the Pirates.
Thatās going back a ways. I remember him being with the Pirates. They had a decent squad with him, IIRC.
They ought to just give the Tour de France Trophy to the lab that created the drug the winner took.
Ok, WADA has a long way to go to catch up with this problem.
WADA will never catch up. Doping, and other means of cheating are always a step ahead. Itās amazing how creative people can be.
Armstrongās biggest issue wasnāt the doping, it was his dickish attitude and personality. He made enemies that found a way to finally get him. If he had let his ego get the better of him, he would have stayed retired instead of trying for another Tour win after taking a year off. His NEED to win did him in, it gave people a reason to dig further and find more dope on him.
In the spirit of clarity, I have met Armstrong, a couple of times. I knew some of his inner circle in Austin. Armstrong himself was aloof. His inner circle was good at running interference to keep LA away from the rabble. I also knew Dave Zabriskie, who was āpushedā into doping by LA and Johann Bruyneel. Z was the face of the victims of LA to me.
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Could not agree more! I got to know him a little a couple of decades ago when he was a high school aged local amateur rider in SLC.
Edit to say: that he was a very young, naĆÆve, (perhaps somewhat goofy kid - and I mean that in the kindest sense), I fear he had no idea what he was getting himself into, and a lot of people took advantage of him.
You know why I hate steroids? Because look at whatās happened to Judgeās accomplishments.
Everybody should be ranting and raving about this generational, special baseball talent. But instead all they can do is say āwhat ifā and compare steroid-laced competitors to him and wonder what could have been.
I donāt begrudge anyone from doing it - hell, I do it just like everyone else, I freely admit it.
I just wish it didnāt have to be that way.
Stupid PEDs.
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