Bill James begins:
First of all, I have absolutely no doubt that, had steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs existed during Babe Ruth’s career, Babe Ruth would not only have used them, he would have used more of them than Barry Bonds. I don’t understand how anyone can be confused about this. The central theme of Babe Ruth’s life, which is the fulcrum of virtually every anecdote and every event of his career, is that Babe Ruth firmly believed that the rules did not apply to Babe Ruth.
It’s a provocative essay really more about crime and America than it is about baseball.
Highly recommended.
I love Bill James, but 1) That was a different era. The players today knew better but thought they’d never get caught, 2) Ruth and his contemporaries didn’t use steroids, 3) Players, coaches, agents, management, & owners knew Bonds and the others were putting up drug-inflated numbers and did nothing about it.