I'll start by saying that I feel a sense of awe and history when imagining the moment when Barry Bonds' 756th home run will sail over the outfield wall, sending him into the history books with the most career home runs, surpassing Hank Aaron. But unlike my colleagues David Kuo and Patton Dodd--call it their Christian forgiveness vs. my Jewish sense of justice--I feel myself overcome by a deep sense of sadness and more than a little outrage when contemplating Bonds's achievement.
I'm not some unforgiving absolutist who refuses to ever look past a person's faults and misdeeds. If Bonds was some rookie yearning to keep his spot in the big leagues, or some minor-leaguer desperate to get ahead, I'd feel sad but perhaps not angry, and be more inclined to understand and forgive the temptation to give into the weight of pressures, the unwillingness to see lifelong dreams die and the desperation to hold onto them at any cost. For that wayward act, I'd argue strenuously for a second chance, a way forward paved with mercy and understanding.
But that's not Bonds.
Some of you are thinking, Bonds is innocent is proven guilty, but I am neither prosecutor nor jury member, and to me, the evidence is clear. According to the reporters who've relentlessly pursued this story, Bonds's steroids use began in the late 90s, when Bonds was already a great player, a sure Hall of Fame inductee, albeit in the twilight of his career. At that time, a prodigious home run hitter--he had more than 400 at that point--became an astounding one. His body grew and he went up in cap size, which is apparently a telltale sign of steroids. (No matter how much we work out, we're unlikely to see our hat heads suddenly expand noticeably.) At a time in his career when he could expect his production to tail off, it grew--a lot.
Since then, Bonds has hit over 300 home runs. Yes, he's about to enter the history books. And yes, the game of baseball is riveting like it hasn't been in while, thanks largely to his pursuit of Aaron's record. And I do believe a record is a record, and it would be silly to put some sort of asterisk or qualifier on his achievement.
Yet I find little sympathy inside myself for him. Starting to inject oneself with performance-enhancing steroids so late in an already-amazing career strikes me as just craven, a self-loathing act of desperation, a statement that being great isn't good enough, that nothing less than the history books--nothing less than god-like perfection--will suffice. Bonds wasn't--isn't--some striving rookie, he was already an established star, a role model, a leader. He could have become one of baseball's elder statesman, retiring gracefully with one of the best careers ever. Instead he chose to artificially prolong it, making a mockery of the natural aging process and his God-given body, as well as his opponents and teammates, and the game itself.
I believe strongly in redemption and forgiveness, but in my mind those are earned by remorse and repentance. I've seen no evidence that Bonds has acknowledged his sins, let alone repented for them. I celebrate his achievement as historic, and part of me is excited by him. But I hope he at least has the grace to walk away from the game now.
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Also the Controlled Substance Act does not make it illegal to use drugs, including steroids. It makes it illegal to manufacture, possess, distribute or sell them. The courts have upheld every time that POSSESSION is not the same as USE. The lawmakers who wrote the law were very clever to leave the word 'USER' out of the statute. They would have to have their own family members arrested or themselves impeached if they were caught using illegal drugs. This also is one way that they can pat themselves on the back for helping drug users try to get better. Now they can spend our hard earned tax dollars to help the drug users, because it is not illegal to use drugs. They would not be able to do this if drugs were illegal to use.
Bonds did not break any laws. Why is it that Babe Ruth is revered when he not only broke the law off the land by drinking alcohol during prohibition, but flaunted it. 20,000 people a year die in this country by drunk drivers who have ingested a legal substance. How many people have died from using steroids? How many non steroid users have died because somebody else used steroids? I do not condone the use of steroids, but it is far less harmful to society than the legal substance of alcohol which ruins hundreds of thousands of lives a year in this country.
Steroids don't help you hit the ball farther, they were not illegal to use by law and they were not against baseball rules at the time of Bonds' suspected use. He has never tested positive for steroids.
Sounds like he is being condemned for no reason at all. Why. because the masses believe the rhetoric of a few others without taking a step back and thinking for themselves? Shame on us.
I mean no disrespect, but can we please leave the race card out of this? If it had been Ken Griffey, Jr. hitting the record long ball, I don't think anyone would be complaining. I also don't think the race card is an issue, because I think there are also many African Americans who are raising a suspicious eye-brow. If bonds had not been mixed up in the whole illegal substance controversy to begin with, no one would have raised an eyebrow, regardless of ethnicity.
Additionally, we need to be honest about one other thing. Bonds is just a guy that everybody loves to hate! His perpetual air of arrogance just turns people off. It has even turned his own team mates off from time to time. His very arrogant lawyer doesn't help things, either. The gloating about outmaneuvering MLB and the government courts stinks to high heaven (per a recent issue of Sports Illustrated). Did he use steroids? The jury is still out. Is there a great deal of suspicion that he did? Certainly. Does it de-legitimize his record? Not at the moment. But, even if he is never proven guilty, the air of suspicion will always remain. And that has nothing to do with ethnicity. It has everything to do with integrity.
One final note. The dark cloud probably won't last long; the wicked will not always prosper. There are two players who are currently capable of eclipsing Bonds, and, barring severe injuries, one of them probably will. Come on A-Rod and Pujols!
Bo - you are a blessing and a true example of one who has a "Christian" spirit. It always amazes me how we love to proclaim our religious beliefs patting ourselves on the back that we are "different" to the one we are eLet's look in the mirror.
Remember the same men who were stoning Mary Magdelene were the consumers of her services. And some of the women who also stoned her were probably wives, mothers and sisters of those men, but because of the time and place it was acceptable for men to behave this way. Women just had to "bear it." Most of us are not in the public eye - but I wonder what crutches we lean on in our private lives? What pretense are we living?
Many in the media have written articles on this subject and have said that Hank Aaron's congratulatory speech has helped to legitimize Bonds record somewhat. What they always conveniently to point out that in his speech Aaron said that it required "SKILL, perseverance," etc..They always leave out the "skill" part. Years after his record we have rightly annointed Aaron as the homerun king. We have conveniently forgotten the name calling, the death threats as he approached the breaking of Ruth's record. Ah memory.
We need to look in the mirror. Bonds, if he did take steroids (he stillhas not been proven guilty) was swept up not so much in his quest to prolong his glory as Mr Kress suggests, but in society's perennial need to look for greatness, beauty, and love outside of ourselves. We are all guilty of collective narcissim. Just look at the ads - even on this website - for products to make us feel good, look good, etc. Do we have the same reaction to the thousands of men and women who have undergone cosmetic surgery or even surgery to help them loose weight? Is there not a falseness, a deception going on here? After all the person did not loose weight with their own skill and discipline!
Until the collective society can turn away from ALL FORMS of artifice and the need to have heroes OUT THERE, we will always probably need to put asterisks everywhere.
There are a lot of mixed emotions about Mr. Bonds success. The great players of baseball history that worked hard to improve their talent and were gifted and did not take what they had for granted are still held in high esteem. If he used steroids in the past and part of what Mr. Bonds achieved was tainted by this that is all to sad. He is they only one who knows the truth and he is the one who has to live with himself
I am not really sure of how you can be sure of someone else's dealings with God, when that is so personal it is between them and God. So how do you determine wether or not Barry has atoned for his steroid use, something only god can be consulted for. Another point is that after the baseball strike, baseball attendance and television rates plummeted, wether for a good reason or not I will let you judge. Steroids added some more fuel to a dying fire that needed stoking severely. To those who state that maybe an asterick should be placed next to Barry's name in the Hall of Fame I have one question. What difference does it make that Barry Bonds used steroids when it is apparent that the whoje of baesball has been flooded with steroids!
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