Henry Rowengartner Is the Reason Barry Bonds Started Taking Steroids

Embarrassed by a 12-year-old pitching phenom, Barry Bonds had no other recourse than to dive into the world of performance-enhancing drugs.

In 1992 - his last season with the Pittsburgh Pirates - Barry Bonds hit .311/.456/.624 with 34 home runs, 36 doubles, 39 stolen bases, 103 RBI, and a mind-boggling 127 walks, rightly earning himself his second MVP award (with five more on the way).

During that season, Bonds was also completely and utterly embarrassed by Henry Rowengartner, the 12-year-old pitching phenom for the Chicago Cubs. Though he was already well on the path to a Hall of Fame career by 1992, I believe that striking out against Rowengartner and flailing so helplessly at the boy’s 102 mph fastball (if not faster) is what ultimately tipped the scales towards Bonds taking steroids in the latter half of his illustrious career.

In the video footage of the strikeout, one can see Bonds flail helplessly at Rowengartner’s seemingly superhuman pitch. And though he does strike out, Bonds appears to give Rowengartner his due, impressed at the pitch itself.

But inside the man, there had to be such raging turmoil.

The next season, Bonds would sign with the San Francisco Giants and begin his march to the all-time career home run record, full of controversy and eye-popping numbers. As his head size continued to balloon with each passing season right in the thick of the steroid era, the home runs would follow, culminating in Bonds’ controversial record-breaking 73 homers in 2001.

But even as Bonds was already arguably the best player in baseball in 1992, striking out against a preteen had to eat away at him, gnawing at his soul until the temptation to avoid performance-enhancing drugs was inescapable.

A lot of people will try to tell you that watching the 1998 home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa from the sidelines was ultimately what sent Bonds over the edge, but I think we have to look further into the past for the true motivation. The humiliation of striking out against Henry Rowengartner was simply too much to bear for Bonds, and at the end of the day, he likely wasn’t alone; who knows how many other National League sluggers Rowengartner pushed over the edge?

How many other exceptional hitters, embarrassed by this 12-year-old pitching phenom, felt they had no other recourse than to dive into the world of performance-enhancing drugs?