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ESPN.com - MLB - Big Papi skeptical steroids helped Bonds in chase

Count David Ortiz among those who isn't convinced Barry Bonds used illegal performance-enhancing drugs -- or if they really helped the San Francisco Giants outfielder make his run at Hank Aaron's home run record.

"To hit the ball, the guy makes it look easy, but it ain't. I don't know how you can have that swing, consistently. I don't know how steroids can do that," Ortiz told the Boston Herald. "There are supposed to be guys using steroids in the game, and there's nobody close to Barry Bonds. What's that mean? He was using the best [stuff]? Know what I'm saying?"

I've always been a little skeptical of the claim that steroids help ball players hit home runs. While steroids do help you recover from weight lifting more quickly, in baseball, you can become too muscular. Flexibility is a key factor in bat speed, which is what really drives the ball a distance. I can't remember the player's name, but there was someone back in the early 90's, I think with the Texas Rangers, who was playing well, bulked up suddenly (which everyone assumed to be steroids), and his performance fell off a cliff because he was too muscular. Or think of Lenny Dykstra. Yeah, he was great in 1993, but he was never the same due to injuries afterwards.

And, as Big Papi points out, Bonds is doing something nobody else does. Also, he's still doing it this now that steroid testing is in place, and he's coming off an injury. I find it much more likely that he's just a genetic freak who's taking full advantage of our nutritional and exercise knowledge.