Mighty Barry did not strike out.
Barry Bonds ties Babe Ruth's record, but there is no joy in Mudville. Mercury News:
...maybe that's the one positive we can take from this whole sordid steroids scandal. If nothing else, Bonds is a living, breathing, tortured, tormented illustration we can point to when we tell our kids, 'You know, when you cheat, you're only cheating yourself.'NYT reports: "As Bonds crept closer to Ruth's No. 714, fans have heckled him and waved critical signs. One threw a syringe in San Diego. Another dressed as a syringe in Houston."
Bonds has cheated himself out of the adoration and adulation that should have been his Saturday. He cheated himself out of the respect and reverence that traditionally is reserved for our greatest athletes. He may have even cheated himself out of the Hall of Fame.
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3 Comments:
Besides the fact, Bonds has always been a real jerk.
Boooo to the Asterisk!
We can stipulate that Bonds is a jerk and a juicer. Personally, I can't stand the man.
But those home runs did not hit themselves.
Whatever number Bonds ends up hitting, the number should stand in the books, without an asterisk.
best,
Flea
Barry has always been a great player, but a complete failure when it comes to media relations. The thing that everyone who likes to call him a cheater should remember is that most of the "greats" themselves were cheaters, too. Many of history's universally-recognized greatest pitchers cheated all the time using prohibited pitches like the spitball. We don't villify them -- we revel in their greatness.
So I give a big hearty "meh!" to anyone who suggests that Barry is a poor player and a cheat. Cheating's part of the game, part of what makes baseball interesting. And it always will.
For further reading, I would suggest Chapter 1 of Who's Better, who's Best in Baseball by Elliot Kalb. It puts quite a few things from the world of baseball into perspective. (And it also talks about why there are such huge differences in batting averages between then and now -- and who is really "the best."
That said, Bonds is surely a complete tool -- but he is also one of the best players to ever swing the bat, steroid use or no.
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