Earlier this month, former Dodger's manager Tommy Lasorda gave the Atlanta Journal-Constitution his take on alleged steroid users such as Barry Bonds: "People say to me, 'Well, they still have to hit the ball.' No doubt about that, but those fly balls that were on the warning track are now flying into the seats, and that's the difference. It's just not right." Even in his criticism, though, Lasorda may be giving Bonds too much credit.

Bonds, the 41-year-old alleged steroids user who is chasing Babe Ruth's career home run mark, has hit just eight home runs in 83 at-bats since a tougher drug-testing regimen was put in place at the start of last season. It's still an enviable home-run rate, but it's not as good as his homer every 8.2 at-bats over the prior five seasons; more fly balls that were flying into the seats are now caught on the warning track. (You can see for yourself on MLB.com's nifty hitting chart for Bonds.)

But beyond helping sluggers knock balls out of the park, steroids might also be helping them simply get hits in the first place. Here's what Lee Jenkins reported in the New York Times in June 2004:

Scientists say they do not believe steroids improve hand-eye coordination, but because they agree the drugs help build strength, some extrapolate that steroids would also quicken bat speed. Better bat speed gives the hitter more time to wait on a pitch, to read it and follow it. The player most likely has an extra split second to decide what pitch is approaching and whether he wants to swing at it.

The canard that steroids can't help hitters because "they still have to hit the ball" is no straw man invented by Lasorda; it's been repeated dozens of times by ballplayers and columnists over the last couple of years (including current and former players Carl Pavano, Shannon Stewart, Mike Jacobs, Matt Williams; and columnists Bob Matthews of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle and Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer). Bonds himself said in February 2005, "I don't know what cheating is. I don't know if steroids is going to help you in baseball. I just don't believe it. I don't believe steroids can help you, eye-hand coordination, technically hit a baseball." (San Francisco Chronicle)

It's not just home runs: Bonds hit .339 from 2000 to 2004, and he's hitting .265 over the last two seasons. Age and a lack of juice are conspiring to unmake a great hitter before our eyes, and in its unfolding, it's an ugly sight.

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