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When they talk about Roger maris hitting 61 home runs, then they show the quick picture of him and the fan who caught the home run ball, that fan is my grandfather , Sal Durante who was 19 when he caught Roger Maris’ 61st home run.

My grandmother was a massive Sammy Sosa fan during this era. The thoughts of this era basically boiled down to "Our juiced up guy beat your juiced up guy." Also, I believe that Jose Canseco, when asked who he knew did NOT use steroids, simply responded "Ken Griffey Jr."

To be honest. During the 1998 season of McGuire and Sosa, we, as fans, didn't know that steroids were to blame. It was just a magical season of watching two guys battling for something that many thought was one of the unbreakable records.

I have a story about Barry Bonds. I grew up in San Francisco, and won some raffle thing which resulted in a meet and greet with Bary Bonds. He was a very nice guy in that interaction. I have a signed bat on the wall.

Barry Bonds without a Bat is definitely worth a watch for how crazy Bonds was during that time

My dad used to call Sosa, when he was with the Chicago White Sox, a weak hitting journeyman player. This was an accurate appraisal. When he bulked up to the size of a bodybuilder and starting hitting more HR's than Babe Ruth, we knew something was up.

RIP Dick Butkus the Chicago Bears Legendary Linebacker Pro Football Hall of Famer one of the toughest players to play in the NFL 1942-2023

When he said Barry Bonds was an ‘all around mean person,’ I think he wasn’t saying he personally felt that way, but that was the way it was looked at by the fans & media. There was definitely some sarcasm happening there.

What I liked about this guys take on the steroid era is that he put Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens on equal footing. Some people only try to put Bonds on the spot.

It also helped that both McGwire and Sosa were in commercials on TV back then all the time! Even if you didn't watch baseball, you knew who those two were. I still remember those McDonald's commercials with Mark promoting the Big Mac lol.

Hank Aaron was a all time great player he did all in Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves/Brewers gold Goves all Star 1957 MVP and World series champion!

7:43 one of my favorite clips of all time is Shohei Ohtani hitting a ball through the roof of the Tokyo Dome 😂

I was born in '94 so the "steroid era" is what I saw first growing up. That's all I knew when I was interested in the game. It was cool hearing these massive guys hitting bombs, but I loved watching the small guys, like the every day man, like Ichiro and Lincecum dominate in there prime years they were in.

An interesting comparison can be made between Hank Aaron's late career power and Barry Bond's. Whereas as most players lose considerable power after the age of 35 (accelerating a decrease that typically begins after 32), Aaron actually experienced his peak power year at age 37 and didn't "fall of a cliff" until age 41 - that's why he hit 755 HR while Willie Mays topped out at 660. Bonds' power production curve mirrors Aaron's closely. BTW, a lot of Barry's jerkiness towards the media can be traced to how they treated his father, Bobby, late in his career. But, anecdotally, I knew well someone who grew up with Bobby and his sister (an Olympic sprinter herself) and their father (Barry's grandfather).......well, something about the apple not falling too far the tree is apt here.

At one point in Baseball history, hitting 50 hrs a season was considered harder to do than throwing a no hitter. In 1990, when Cecil Fielder hit 51 hrs, he became the first player to hit 50 or more hrs since 1961....Within a few years in the 90's, 50+ was no longer rare, and thus the steroid era truly began.....

Love seeing your guys learn more about baseball history! As to your point whether Bonds received too much hate for his role in the Steroid Era, I would give two reasons why he is still seen as the symbol of cheating. First, while his relationship with the media is understandable to some degree, he was often seen as a surly and grumpy player by casual fans (whose perceptions are admittedly shaped largely by media itself) and fellow players. Many other players who were later found to be on steroids were more charismatic and well-liked than Bonds was. The second reason is that during the early 2000's when the scandal started to really heat up, Bonds was THE guy. Many other steroid players were good -- even great -- but he was so transcendentally good that is became impossible to separate him from the substances which helped him. One thing this video doesn't really touch on at all was how this scandal helped out our perceptions of Ken Griffey Jr, who was maybe the only one of the top 5 or so sluggers of the 90s that has never been chased by steroid allegations. His reputation as a "clean" player made him more beloved than he even was before, and I wager that a lot of folks mildly inflate his perceived skills to compensate for the inflated stats of the players who did take substances. I'm sure his name has come up for you two before, but if not, you should check out Dock Ellis, who pitched a no-hitter while on LSD.

15:05 - Daniel Vogelbach is a total folk hero of the every man baseball fan. Dude is the archetypical DH. Pure power hitter, doesn't field and isn't expected to run. However, the things that set him apart are he has a hell of an eye and works a lot of walks and has a good on-base percentage for a guy his size and position. Additionally, he's always hustling. When he does have to run and legs out a double or scores from second on a single, everyone loses their shit and rightfully so. He is a favorite of mine and also UrinatingTree. If you ever hear Tree spout his exploits, you'll be laughing for days. 17:47 - No, McGwire was traded from the A's to the Cardinals in 97 and set the home run record in 98. He finished his playing career after the 01 season and Moneyball was set in 02. 19:31 - Jason and Jeremy Giambi were brothers on the 01 A's which was the season that proceeded Moneyball. Jason left for the Yankees in 02 and he's the one that Brad Pitt (as Billy Beane) was trying to convince everyone that they could use more than 1 player to replace his production. Jeremy was traded in May of 02 to the Phillies. intelligence that was only turned around by the genius of Billy Beane disciple Sandy Alderson which led to them getting to the World Series in 2015 but that was ultimately pissed down the drain again in no-time. We were all SUPER glad to get life-long Mets fan and actual good hedge fund manager Steve Cohen as owner after the 2020 season which is why we've been able to spend so much the past few years. Hopefully, that gets back to translating to on field success but we actually have hope and direction for the first time in a long time.

The guy in the tub was Rickey Henderson (base stealer).

5:49 The guy in the tub is Rickey Henderson, he was saying that Rickey was the only guy who kept playing small ball when all the steroid guys took over.

In hindsight, the steroid era is probably one of the dumbest massive controversies in sports history.

In August of 1998, my friends and I had tickets to see the Cardinals at the Mets. McGwire had been stuck at 48 home runs, and got unstuck the night before. They were making up a game that was rained out, and it had become a double-header. The crowd booed McGwire mercilessly until he homered in each game, then the stadium erupted in cheers and flashes from cameras. I turned to the guy next to me when he hit his first home run, number 50, and said "You just watched history. He's the first player ever to hit 50 home runs three seasons in a row.. not Babe Ruth, not Hank Aaron..." I don't know how I feel about that today.

This is what we've been waiting for!!

Please, please, re-watch your video and pause at 17:44. Look at the middle of the video you paused. 😂😂😂 The mouth imposed on another player is CLASSIC!!! 😂😂

Slammin' Sammy still my favorite childhood Cubbie!

The guy in the tub with the newspaper was Rickey Henderson , not Cecil Fielder

5:56 is Ricky Henderson

The player from moneyball you were thinking of was Jason Giambi. His name was also thrown into the steroid ring when it became publicized

Banger!! Most of us were blissfully ignorant of what was going on behind the scenes during the Steroid Era of baseball and just thought we had the great fortune to witness a period of extraordinary increase in player development and performance. I'm from the old school and feel like the records and great accomplishments from long before there was even a such thing as steroids, need to be protected from these juiced athletes with their unnatural abilities. That picture of thin and wiry Joe DiMaggio perfectly illustrates the contradiction of the Steroid Era. In my opinion, baseball is the most skill based game we have. In baseball, you can be a very average athletically. You don't have to be in world class shape fitness wise, but you must possess extraordinary, nearly inhuman relaxes and skill. MLB players make it look easy, but baseball is incredibly difficult to play at the major league level. Its too bad that the vast sums of money at stake changed our game into one where anything goes as long as it produced a big paycheck. ♣

Jim Bouton wrote in his book Ball Four, "If you had a pill that would guarantee a pitcher twenty wins, but might take five years off his life, he'd take it."

You need to hear Vince Scully calling the play of Hank Aaron's breaking Babe Ruth's record.

3:30 McGwire wasn't secretive about the bottle in his locker. He wasn't hiding it. o

Because organized baseball has been around for so long, a certain amount of its own history always ask "Why now?" When baseballS (with a capital S) are leaving the park at unprecedented rates and distances, a lot of fans tended to ask "Why now?" You've had about 150 years to do this, why now? We heard all kinds of theories and conspiracies, including they are wrapping the ball tighter so it spins less from the pitcher, and flies farther when hit. BECAUSE of this era, a lot of American fans start to get leery of ANY player in ANY sport who just starts smashing records out of nowhere.

A good summary - thanks for posting this.

The homerun record chase was so much fun. Everyday people were checking in or asking if either hit another. At the time I didnt know about steroids until all of this was brought out into the open. That definitely changes things in my eyes and cancels out those new records for me. Especially everything with Barry Bonds. He was such a great player before, its a shame. It may seem unfair but I do hope none of them ever make it into the Hall of Fame.

5:46 That's Ricky Henderson, who continued to play and be successful at small ball when homeruns were all the rage.

Wow! You guys produce some long videos. Thanks for putting in the extra time to keep your fans entertained!

Some guys who we have reason to believe didn't do steroids during the era you should cover: Chipper Jones Ken Griffey Jr. Fred McGriff Tom Glavine John Smoltz Tony Gwynn Jim Thome Cal Ripken jr. Frank Thomas Eddie Murray Vladimir Guerrero Sr. Barry Larkin Craig Biggio

Frank Thomas never used steriods. He was huge when he played football and baseball at Auburn.

Been waiting on this one ! Great as always Guys, Keep it up

small footnote, you mentioned players hitting home runs through the roof- Ohtani did that in Japan lol, you should check it out

i don’t know the man but in clips following his career barry seems like a rather soft spoken guy that just didn’t like the media intruding on him doing his job

Great reaction video guys. . Please do more baseball history. How about one that encompasses from the beginnings in 1840s to.present.

I just went to Cooperstown in late august! There is some stuff from Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa, like equipment and things but no plaques

check out Ronald Acuna Jr from the Braves, MLBs first ever 40/70 man this season

Two guys that are a definite must react for you gents, tyrann mathieu LSU highlights and deanthony thomas

keep em coming! love it

Jose Canseco has an identical twin brother named Ozzie Canseco who did not juice and was also a major league player. You can look up Ozzie’s career to get a glimpse of how much the roids helped Jose

I don't know if anyone else has answered this, but Barry was hated by his teammates everywhere.. and I think he wanted you to hate him. All the athletes usually have a regular, folding chair at the locker, Barry had a Sharper Image recliner. When I was younger, I had a software update at the company I was at. I worked with their onsite support for a couple of weeks. He was a college teammate of Bonds at Arizona State University. He was hated then. He had a gold Trans Am, and would sometimes go home for the weekend, and then accuse his teammates of taking out out while he was gone. He was right. They hated him, and hated how good they knew he was.

Your Spanish is so excellent you couldn't pronounce WAH-keen an-DU-har. :) Great video!

17:46 Maguire and Canseco were with the A's in the late 80s. Moneyball was early 2000s.

mcguire was long gone from the As in 2001

As much hate as Barry Bonds gets, during the 1993 all star game, my mother met him. She was standing near the field during warm up. Barry Bonds walked over, out of no where and said "Would you like an autograph miss?". Before he finished speaking people were mobbing and pressing her so hard against the barricade she couldnt breathe and started crying. Barry then yelled "Get the F*ck Back! The lady cant breathe!". She said everyone moved back he signed her hat and jogged off. I was only 5 and was not there when it happened, but I remember later on when he was getting alot of heat for steroids my mom would always stick up for him and tell people how nice he was to her.

My biggest problem with this era was the 755 from Bonds. Its not the 73 home run season but the amount of homeruns he got during this era to beat the all-time record. And I grew up a Cubs fan watching Sosa :(

Not necessarily true about the old guys saying it used to be a pure game. One of the oldest sayings in baseball culture is "if you aint cheating, you aint trying"

How Great were Atlanta's big 3. Maddux,Glavine and Smoltz.. They are all Hall of Famers that had to face these monsters day in and day out. They should have that they did this in the steroid era added to their Cooperstown plaques. Rick Charleston SC

Matt Williams did not have 54 home runs ever

My disgust and disappointment with MLB over the steroid scandal was equal to the excitement I felt during the Babe Ruth/Roger Maris single season home run record chase. I walked away from MLB for over a decade because of this. I felt betrayed by my favorite sport, but I came to realize that baseball is larger than MLB.

The thing that they left out, and this is in partial defense of those players, is that weight-training--real weight training, got accepted and much more widespread so that these players were not just getting all of that muscle from PEDs, they had to work really hard in the weight room to maximize that effect. Muscles don't grow like that without hard weight training. Look at the players now--many are really jacked-up but are not using illegal PEDs as they did in the 90s, because lifting weights for strength is now widely accepted. The shame is that those players of the 90s could have done great things--maybe not what they did, but still great-- just by doing the weight training and requisite appropriate diet. One can find clips of those players from the 90s working hard in the weight room back then.

Have you guys done "Field of Dreams" yet? Amazing movie and also kind of covers the black sox scandal. I gotta get on your Patreon... you guys may be the first to get me to do that! Thanks for the reactions gents!

Great reaction, gents. The hypocrisy of the steroid era is the thing that pisses me off the most. The whole thing was just stupid. Everybody was doing it. Hitters and pitchers. So, was it really cheating if both sides were doing it and those in power didn’t care to do anything about it?

If you don't know Hank Aaron he's also an important part of baseball history. Just like football in England, baseball in America has a long history and not all of it is good. I'm just happy it's finding new fans as time goes on. I wasn't great as a child but I knew everything because I studied the game and the players through books. The history behind it all I feel is important. I don't know much about the Premier league's history past 20 yrs. I don't have the opportunity to consume content in real time. But I love the game. I know the history of the game! I'm unfortunately more of a world cup/Olympics viewer, meaning team USA men's or women's! I would love to become a QPR fan, but I won't be able to watch a single game this season. I chose an old favorite I suppose, if I were to become a fan. I've also just learned being a Bill's fan that getting into a premier league game is rather time consuming for an American nube. You guys could literally walk into the country illegally at this point, not that you would....and go to any stadium in the country and buy a ticket at the window if it's not already sold out. I understand hooliganism. We have it to an extent but it's not the same. Just to get from one city to another can take hours. NYC to LA is gonna be about 5 hours by plane! And that's just air time! I love that you guys have gotten deep into this sport as well as the other 3 major leagues in North America! Keep learning the history! Then you guys will start getting frustrated and making complaints because you'll be a complete fan! Love the content!

Okay. LOL! As a long time SF Giants fan, Barry Bonds never did himself any favors. He was aloof. He was distant. Especially to the media. But that does not mean he was a bad person. He just had the misfortune of playing in an era in which production meant everything. Bonds still belongs in the HOF. But I do agree it comes with an asterisk.

When most players are using steroids, it only makes sense for the rest to use them as well in order to remain competitive. You fall behind if you don't. More players in the minor leagues use PEDs than the majors, its where they need to separate from their peers.

Daryl Strawberry said on coke the baseball looked like a basketball lol

Why Barry was hated- 1. Barry was the A-Rod to teammate Jeff Kent, who was SF’s ‘do no wrong’ Jeter. 2. Barry didn’t even try to endear himself to fans. (Not in videogames) 3. Barry simply took it one step too far. - Akin to if Ronaldo took something today. Suddenly outpaced and outclassed Prime Ronaldo in all facets of the game, leaving Messi in the dust as the 🐐.

The main ‘steroid’ guys were obviously Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Clemens, and ARod. With the exception of Sosa, the others were likely HoF players. Sosa was more or less an average player before the juice. McGwire hit 49 hrs his rookie year and would have been a generational power guy without steroids. Bonds and Clemens were first ballot players long before the late career steroid usage. ARod, in my opinion was a bit different than those guys. I feel like he juiced because of insecurities. He was a much hyped player in Seattle, and signed what was at the time a historic contract of something like 10 years for $300 million. A contract that put pressure on him to feel like he earned it…and when he had a few mediocre seasons, he started using PEDs to live up to expectations. His problem was he felt he had to stay on them to perform, and is probably the biggest player to actually ‘fail’ a drug test. Several other big names failed a test (Manny Ramirez), but he was probably the biggest. In fairness to the juiced bombers of the era, I may be wrong, but I think more pitchers failed the tests than any other position. The last thing I want to say is that one all time great hitter played during this era, and is untouched by the accusations of PEDs…Ken Griffey jr…the all time sweetest swing

I still love all these ball players. I don't care what drugs you take, you try and hit 102 mph fastball. It takes talent and Love of the game. And it was fun to see 70 home runs in a season LOL.

Cheating is as traditional in baseball as base stealing. But there’s cheating that’s just smart play-like sign stealing-and there’s cheating that cannot be allowed, like using some kind of tech to enable sign stealing. Chemical enhancement of players is one of those "cannot be allowed" kinds of cheating.

Jose Canseco not only outed other players for roids but called out Alex Rodriguez for cheating on Jennifer Lopez… on Twitter!!

When this was happening, I always thought they juiced the ball to make it travel farther. Steroids never entered my mind. I can see how steroids can make you stronger, but you still have to be able to see and hit the ball. Does it strengthen your eyes and timing. These players were great players, but the league has always kept cheaters out of the hall like the Black Sox players and Pete Rose so I respect that.

One of the reasons that fans (like me) resent Bonds so much is that he's one of the few (like Roger Clemons) who absoliutely refuses to to this day to admit that he ever used streroids. And we all know that he's totally full of shit. He had no respect for the game, then or now

No McGwire was already gone from the As by the late 90s hence 98 he was a cardinal during the homerun race. The Moneyball As were the 02’ A’s team

It was a nickname for McGuire x Canseco who played for the A's, The Bash Brothers.

It's a bit tedious and time consuming, but not difficult. If you research players' hitting statistics, you can get a strong idea of the percentage of players on PEDs during that era. If, in 1991, they were power hitters, managing 25-30 home runs per season (not crazy, but respectable), and by 1999 were cranking 45-50 per season, they were juiced to the gills. Those 15-30 extra home runs on steroids would have been fly outs at the warning track in earlier seasons. Likewise, a pitcher whose velocity improves dramatically in his late 30s, or a base runner who suddenly doubles his stolen base output, is almost certainly on gear. I have no idea what the true numbers were. Like you, I've heard a wide range of estimates. My guess would be that the percentage was pretty high amongst those who remained at the highest level for a long stretch of years. Steroid use was common enough that it filtered down through the lower leagues, college, and even high school - in any number of sports. It begs the question: if everyone is cheating in the exact same way, is anyone actually cheating?

Since this was a steroids video 1 guy who waa caught was Manny Ramirez. You HAVE to watch a video about him. There was a quote called manny being manny because his fun and mistakes he made on the field. Probably the beat pure right handed hitter in the past 50+ years. Also had a cannon for an arm you did not want to test him.

I thought it was a "Complete Breakfast" that gave them their powers? I feel better after even just a piece of toast and some coffee. Imagine what 2 eggs with bacon, ham, androstenedione and potatoes would do for you.

There's a video of Shohei hitting one "through the roof" literally.

In the Black Sox scandal, Shoeless Joe played the best stats out of either team. If batting .400 is throwing, I want every player on my team to throw.

To be fair, the Andro pills found in McGwires locker were in fact legal. At the time, it could be bought at any Walmart. A buddy of mine bought some and gave it a try.

Growing up I was a huge Cubs fan. I lived in Chicago in the 90's and went to games all the time. That 98 season you could still go to the field and buy a ticket cheaply and get great seats. I loved Sosa, had no idea he was cheating. I just assumed he just worked out a lot. One of my close friends at the time said, do you think they are using steroids how are they so big? It had never even crossed my mind at the time. Also, around the same time people were saying the ball was "juiced", and that was why so many home runs were being hit. After it all came out I stopped watching games, haven't watched one in about 20 years, since the 04 season when the Cubs let the wildcard slip away from them because of horrible managing by Dusty Baker. Just ruined my love for the Cubs, and being a fan for over 30 years at the time. People warned me growing up, don't be a Cubs fan they will break your heart. It proved true.

1998 was the first time that I remember watching baseball and it was very exciting, but of course steroid era will forever have a huge dark cloud over it

No one ever talks about the benefits that pitchers would have gotten by recovering from starts quicker?????

Ok, second thing I need to comment on, because it's crazy, it's relevant, and it just happened! The Black Sox, if you guys didn't know were found to have thrown the World Series, at least 8 of the starting 9, and it became a huge scandal. To this day, they're banned from baseball and they're all deceased. During this series, it was apparent and obvious that it was happening, you have to remember that no one but the owners made real money at that time. Attendance to the games diminished as the series wore on. Tampa Bay just set the lowest attendance record for a play off game since the Black Sox! 2023/1919! The difference, no one in Florida cares about the Rays! It's sad actually.

I have a hard time believing the author of the piece was around during the steroid era. I'm in my 40s and I was a kid/teenager at that time. I believe the fallout from the controversy severely hurt baseball's popularity over the following decade.

You guys paused the best starting pitching group of the 90's ! Worth a watch as well if you don't know them! Idk if they did steroids? They never got bulky if they did.

6:40 p.m. Mark McGwire hit 49 home runs in his rookie season before he used steroids and ballooned up in size. That was a record for rookies at the time. o

Have we done Doc Ellis's no hitter on LSD here yet?

No one really knows how many players were juicing. Best estimates are "probably more than half" but yeah we'll never actually know for sure. The incentives, at least at the start, certainly encouraged players to abuse the system until an example was made out of them.

Surely you need to do the Barry Bonds without a bat video

By most accounts, Barry Bonds is an “All around mean person.” If you want further insight, watch his beef history with Jeff Kent.

This ERA ending my watching baseball(18 at the time) until 08 when the Phillies made the world series.. still really don't pay attention until August then I start to watch again. It is still just so slow(will listen as background noise as I play video games). It's playoffs I really care about.

Welcome to the late 90's and early 2000's guys!

This is still a very controversial topic for today's baseball fans. I've actually seen a lot more people defending Barry Bonds lately and say he deserves to be in the HoF, especially because like the video mentioned, other players rumored to use performing enhancing drugs like David Ortiz made it, or players that cheated in past eras. In my personal opinion, I don't think Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, or Sammy Sosa should be in the HoF, because it wasn't like they used steroids to stay in the league - they had enough talent without drugs to be potential Hall of Famers. It is understandable that a player who might not be in the MLB wants to take steroids so they can keep up with everyone else, but for these superstars to selfishly use steroids to pad their stats and for more fame is in my opinion, enough to exclude them from the Hall.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the steroid era

Moneyball took place during the Athletics' 2002 season, five years after McGwire left for the Cardinals and ten years after Canseco went to the Rangers

Selig didn’t care, the owners (his buddies) were making money hand over fist, and that’s all that matters: owners raking it in. How many did them? I just assume all of them.

If you guys are readers, highly recommend reading "Juiced" by Canseco. Great book

About the 1919 Chicago Whotesox scandal aka "Blacksox" see the 1988 Hollywood movie "Eight Men Out" pretty good film you may enjoy

And to think they put an asterisk on Roger Maris' home run record.