Steroid Stars: Bonds, Clemens, Ryan

The perjury trial of home run king Barry Bonds will finally start March 21, 2011.

The perjury trial of Roger Clemens may start in July 2011.

So when will someone other than me finally catch on that strike out king Nolan Ryan was probably as into performance enhancing stuff as Bonds and Clemens?  See my post:

TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2010

More on possible steroid use by Nolan Ryan.

Why has Ryan remained immune?  The basic data is pretty overwhelming.

Obviously, race is a factor with Bonds, that and the fact that Bonds is as obnoxious a sports figure as we have seen in the last 50 years.  In the U.S.A. race is always a factor.

Politics is also a factor.  When Clemens testified before a House of Representatives committee many members, mostly if not exclusively Republicans, were fawning all over Clemens publicly and having private sessions with him.  They also excoriated his main accuser.  Clemens work ethic seemed to resonate well with many committee members of both major parties.  Since Clemens is a sort of Ryan protegee, Ryan also benefits from that good will.

However, once Clemens was indicted on August 19, 2010 and some Republicans backed away from their support you would think that someone, anyone, would finally examine the record of Nolan Ryan that has been sitting there for twenty years.

Ryan is now president and part owner of the Texas Rangers.  Ryan was the face of the Rangers during their unsuccessful appearance in the 2010 World Series.  That should make any possible improper conduct during his playing days (1966-1993) of special interest.  How can Ryan be expected to enforce the MLB policy on performance enhancing stuff if he is hiding his own use?

Ryan retired about three years before performance enhancing stuff became a big issue when batters started hitting 50 homers in a season at record rates.  Pitchers were and still are not suspected nearly as much as batters. And only the home records, both season and career, are of concern to the writers.  No football or basketball records are of concern.  Neither are pitching records such as strike outs, both season and career.  All that helps to explain why writers have not considered the strange case of Nolan Ryan.  But that was a while ago and by now someone, anyone, should have caught on.

Unless of course MLB, Inc. is not interested in exposing anyone still in a position to generate revenue.  Both Bonds and Clemens have yet to be tried.  Their seasons as active players: Bonds 1986-2007, Clemens 1984-2007.

Ryan was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, the second consecutive season in which the season home run record of 1961 was surpassed.  Bonds and Clemens may have to wait a long time for election, maybe forever.  Ryan was elected by the writers, so they have an interest in not looking foolish.  But there should be someone, anyone, other than me who would finally examine the record of Nolan Ryan.