Here is some interesting commentary on an oft-underlooked advantage Bonds has gotten throughout the years:
EXCLUSIVE: Barry Bonds' Home Run Record Tainted by Mechanical Device
By
Michael Witte
Published: August 06, 2007 10:45 AM
NEW YORK (Commentary) Beyond his alleged
steroid use, Barry Bonds is guilty of the use of something that confers
extraordinarily unfair mechanical advantage: the “armor” that he wears
on his right elbow. Amid the press frenzy over Bonds’ unnatural bulk,
the true role of the object on his right arm has simply gone unnoticed.
This is unfortunate, because by my estimate, Bonds’
front arm “armor” may have contributed no fewer than 75 to 100 home
runs to his already steroid-questionable total.
Bonds tied Henry Aaron’s home run record of 755 on
Saturday night and will go for the new standard this week back at home
in San Francisco. As a student of baseball – and currently a mechanics
consultant to a major league baseball team -- I believe I have insight
into the Bonds "achievement." I have studied his swing countless times
on video and examined the mechanical gear closely through photographs.
For years, sportswriters remarked that his massive
"protective" gear – unequaled in all of baseball -- permits Bonds to
lean over the plate without fear of being hit by a pitch. Thus
situated, Bonds can handle the outside pitch (where most pitchers live)
unusually well. This is unfair advantage enough, but no longer
controversial. However, it is only one of at least seven (largely
unexplored) advantages conferred by the apparatus.
The other six:
1) The apparatus is hinged at the elbow. It is a
literal "hitting machine" that allows Bonds to release his front arm on
the same plane during every swing. It largely accounts for the
seemingly magical consistency of every Bonds stroke.
2) The apparatus locks at the elbow when the lead arm
is fully elongated because of a small flap at the top of the bottom
section that fits into a groove in the bottom of the top section. The
locked arm forms a rigid front arm fulcrum that allows extraordinary,
maximally efficient explosion of he levers of Bonds' wrists. Bonds
hands are quicker than those of average hitters because of his
mechanical "assistant."
3) When Bonds swings, the weight of the apparatus
helps to seal his inner upper arm to his torso at impact. Thus
"connected," he automatically hits the ball with the weight of his
entire body - not just his arms - as average hitters ("extending") tend
to do.
4) Bonds has performed less well in Home Run Derbies
than one might expect because he has no excuse to wear a "protector"
facing a batting practice pitcher. As he tires, his front arm elbow
tends to lift and he swings under the ball, producing towering pop
flies or topspin liners that stay in the park. When the apparatus is
worn, its weight keeps his elbow down and he drives the ball with
backspin.
5) Bonds enjoys quicker access to the inside pitch
than average hitters because his "assistant" - counter-intuitively -
allows him to turn more rapidly. Everyone understands that skaters
accelerate their spins by pulling their arms into their torsos, closer
to their axes of rotation. When Bonds is confronted with an inside
pitch, he spins like a skater because his upper front arm is
"assistant"-sealed tightly against the side of his chest.
6) At impact, Bonds has additional mass (the weight of
his "assistant") not available to the average hitter. The combined
weight of "assistant" and bat is probably equal to the weight of the
lumber wielded by Babe Ruth but with more manageable weight
distribution.
Bonds has worn some sort of front arm protection since
1992. In '94, a one-piece forearm guard was replaced by a jointed, two
piece elbow model. In ‘95 it got bigger and a small "cap" on the elbow
was replaced by a "flap" that overlapped the upper piece and locked the
two pieces together when the arm was elongated. In '96, the "apparatus"
grew even larger and so did the "flap."
It seems to have remained relatively the same until --
interestingly— 2001, the year of his record 73 home runs, when an
advanced model appeared made (apparently) of a new material. It had
softer edges and a groove for the flap to slip into automatically at
full arm elongation. More important, the upper half of the machine was
sculpted to conform more comfortably to the contours of Bonds' upper
arm. Since 2001, the apparatus seems to have remained relatively
unchanged.
Several years back, baseball was rightfully
scandalized by the revelation that Sammy Sosa had "corked" his bat. The
advantages conferred by the Bonds "hitting machine," however, far
exceed anything supplied by cork. Ultimately, it appears the Bonds
"achievement” must be regarded as partly the product of “double
duplicity" -- steroidal and mechanical.
