Barry Bonds is a villain. A straight-up bad dude, a nasty man who broke the rules of baseball by using performance-enhancing drugs and lying about it and broke the rules of decency by becoming one of the most unpleasant men in the history of the sport. I met him once, and, even more than Roger Clemens, he gave off an air of superiority and selfishness. I asked him to take a picture, and he told me to "fuck off". Not enough to write a guy off- I'd have to keep in mind his constant attitude, his poor interviews and mistreatment of the press, his bald-faced lies to the Grand Jury and his continued ignorance of the situation involving his jailed trainer.
But this is the greatest record in all of sports, and he's gotten to it with strength, patience and extreme skill. If there were no human element here, than he'd have far more company. Lest we forget, have there been any steroids that immediately give you 500 home run/500 stolen base skill? Because last I checked, Bonds is the only member of that group. By far.
Steroids should be illegal in baseball, and Bonds, to my estimation, is guilty. But fuck if I'm a scientist. Major League Baseball should be taking the fall on this. Their attitude on steroids has been nothing but passive-aggressive bullshit, and the only "cheaters" they've caught have been a few do-nothing scrubs and one Hall of Famer obviously on his way out (Palmeiro). They've rewarded one of the few honest users, Giambi, with threats instead of clemency while sitting back and allowing assholes like Jose Canseco to be the foremost experts on the subject.
This happened on Major League Baseball's watch. A lot of things did. Ty Cobb's racism and clubhouse violence happened on Major League Baseball's watch. Pete Rose's betting happened on Major League Baseball's watch. And guess what? Those men have records that stand as two of the greatest to play this game. You can't erase history. Why would I try? Why would the assholes who paid good money to go see Bonds on this HR tour just to boo do the same? A few steroid allegations, most likely true, but suddenly everyone's a scientist. Say, what steroid is Bonds on, anyway? Can you name it? Then shut the hell up, because MLB can, and they are letting it become a part of baseball history.
Baseball's too old and too great a game to be affected by what Bonds may have been injecting. The true fans have long accepted it. For me, personally, the struggle will come when Alex Rodriguez obliterates the record in the next ten years- Bonds at least was a villain. Rodriguez is a market-tested loser who's doomed to be the overpaid would-be legend on bad teams, a phony with delicacy issues who doesn't have the stones to let his nastiness leak into the public conciousness.
I'm sick of people suddenly becoming steroid experts just because Bonds' body has become some sort of freakshow, as if steroids makes people automatically grow actual muscles. I'm sick of the media, particularly the Post, getting on their high horse about Bonds, as if they had some sort of stake in baseball, as if this was the final straw in a game that has become a pivotal part of the nation for better or worse. I'm just sick of the whining. It's baseball history, and I'm not ashamed about applauding.
But this is the greatest record in all of sports, and he's gotten to it with strength, patience and extreme skill. If there were no human element here, than he'd have far more company. Lest we forget, have there been any steroids that immediately give you 500 home run/500 stolen base skill? Because last I checked, Bonds is the only member of that group. By far.
Steroids should be illegal in baseball, and Bonds, to my estimation, is guilty. But fuck if I'm a scientist. Major League Baseball should be taking the fall on this. Their attitude on steroids has been nothing but passive-aggressive bullshit, and the only "cheaters" they've caught have been a few do-nothing scrubs and one Hall of Famer obviously on his way out (Palmeiro). They've rewarded one of the few honest users, Giambi, with threats instead of clemency while sitting back and allowing assholes like Jose Canseco to be the foremost experts on the subject.
This happened on Major League Baseball's watch. A lot of things did. Ty Cobb's racism and clubhouse violence happened on Major League Baseball's watch. Pete Rose's betting happened on Major League Baseball's watch. And guess what? Those men have records that stand as two of the greatest to play this game. You can't erase history. Why would I try? Why would the assholes who paid good money to go see Bonds on this HR tour just to boo do the same? A few steroid allegations, most likely true, but suddenly everyone's a scientist. Say, what steroid is Bonds on, anyway? Can you name it? Then shut the hell up, because MLB can, and they are letting it become a part of baseball history.
Baseball's too old and too great a game to be affected by what Bonds may have been injecting. The true fans have long accepted it. For me, personally, the struggle will come when Alex Rodriguez obliterates the record in the next ten years- Bonds at least was a villain. Rodriguez is a market-tested loser who's doomed to be the overpaid would-be legend on bad teams, a phony with delicacy issues who doesn't have the stones to let his nastiness leak into the public conciousness.
I'm sick of people suddenly becoming steroid experts just because Bonds' body has become some sort of freakshow, as if steroids makes people automatically grow actual muscles. I'm sick of the media, particularly the Post, getting on their high horse about Bonds, as if they had some sort of stake in baseball, as if this was the final straw in a game that has become a pivotal part of the nation for better or worse. I'm just sick of the whining. It's baseball history, and I'm not ashamed about applauding.
