Trout v. Legendary cards

[GeoPoto]

The argument that Bonds walking a lot makes him the best is hard to swallow since most of that came after he started cheating. The better argument, it seems to me, is that in 1998 Bonds became the first player in history to have 400 home runs and 400 stolen bases (it might be 300, I'm not looking it up). But, instead of being celebrated for it, McGwire and Sosa got all the attention.

That was also the year that a St. Louis reporter wrote about seeing PEDs in McGwire's locker, kicking off a storm of protest not about PEDs, but about breached locker room privacy. LaRussa said the reporter should be banned from the club house, etc. It was an understandable, though not admirable, reaction by Bonds to feel that PEDs were an acceptable approach to becoming the most celebrated (and highest paid) player in the game. The rest is history and I am not condoning Bonds' behavior, but saying that his position as the best player of his era (at least) was arguably well in hand before he "got dirty".

Whether Bonds would have aged well without PEDs seems likely, but admittedly, is clouded by the drug use. At the same time, we don't yet know how well Trout will age.