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07/03/2007: "Champ, Champ* or Chump"
OK, all you Barry Bonds haters out there - time for a reality check:
Some time in the next couple of weeks, a pitcher will leave a ball a little too far out over the plate. Barry Bonds will stiffen his right leg, rotate his hips, and drive that chunk of horsehide 400-feet plus into the stands - or the bay. He'll jog the bases and the moment he touches home plate will become the MLB all-time career leader for home runs with 756.
It's inevitable. Short of a house falling on him - or a career-ending injury in the All Star Home Run hitting contest - Bonds will smash the record and go on to add another 15 or so by the end of the year. You can call him names, you can throw needles on the field, whatever - the facts are the facts.
Let's be clear (no pun) - I dislike Bonds as much as any professional athlete I've ever seen. To me, he represents everything that is bad in pro sports: he's a self-centered primadonna in a team sport, he's a documented cheater, and he's a world-class asshole. But he's also probably the best to ever lace up a set of baseball spikes.
History will regard the years from 1995 to 2002 as baseball's "steroid era", a time when unnatural acts occurred that are out of line with the other baseball statistics. It's not the first time, though - the mid-sixties saw the "dead ball era" when pitchers had an incredible advantage (remember Denny McClain's 30 win season?). And don't forget the impact that changing the season from 148 to 162 games had. There's no question in my mind that the best baseball story of the 90's - the duel between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa to unseat Roger Maris as the single season HR record holder - was steroid fueled. It was Bonds own jealously over the attention the two received that lead him to BALCO and the cream and the clear. But it is what it is. You can no more excise the "dirty" records from baseball than you can find an particular grain of sand on the beach. It is what it is, and we have to live with is. All that remains now is how to react to it.
Henry Aaron has said that he won't be at the game when Bonds sets the record. That smacks of petulance, but it's Hammer's call. Major League Baseball doesn't have that luxury. Record-breaking events of the past have set the standard for how to behave, and Bud Selig and Co have no choice but to stick to the script, no matter hot unpalatable.
Remember back in 1984 when the Los Angeles Raiders won the Super Bowl? NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle had been trading lawsuits with Raiders owner Al Davis for nearly a decade over Davis' desire and eventual decision to relocate his team from Oakland. Rozelle would have rather stuck his hand up a dog's ass and pull out a steaming handful than have to shake the hand of Davis, but Pete understood his role. He bit down hard, put on his best smile, and handed the Vince Lombardi trophy to a gloating Davis.
That's exactly what Selig needs to do. His waffling on whether he will attend the game or if MLB will even recognize the event makes him look like an ass. Sometimes, the job requires difficult actions, and this is one of them. Suck it up, Bud. Grow a pair and do the right thing. Show up at the game, applaud politely, and acknowledge the magnitude of the event. History will provide all the judgement that Bonds requires and deserves - for now, respect the traditions of baseball and do your job.
