William F. Buckley Jr., who died Wednesday morning, once called the Beatles "so unbelievably horrible, so appallingly unmusical, so dogmatically insensitive to the magic of the art, that they qualify as crowned heads of antimusic."
I mention this quotation as a reminder that not all people look at things in the same way. Just as “one man's junk is another man's treasure,” no two people look at the steroid cloud hanging over major league baseball in exactly the same manner.
For I must admit that I have three words to describe my general feelings about the subject: I don't care.
That's right, I don't care that Robby Reliever ingested something that allowed him to throw a baseball 5 mph faster. Or that Billy Batter was able to suddenly win that improbable MVP award. Nope. I just don't care.
You want to know a little secret? Shhh, come close so I can whisper this to you: Lots of people cheat. They cheat on their taxes, they cheat on their spouses....heck they even cheat death on occasion.
Recognizing that, you don't think baseball players have always cheated? According to some estimates, as many as 50% of baseball players may have used some kind of PED (Performance Enhancing Drug) during their career. I say it's really no different than the sandpaper, Vaseline, corked bats and amphetamines that players have used to gain a competitive advantage since the sport was conceived way back when.
So I don't care. Well, except for one person, and that person is Mr. Barry Bonds. Now before you go thinking that there is some sinister reason that I'm targeting him, please understand here and now that it has absolutely nothing to do with the color of his skin.
In fact, it really has little to do with the man at all, although I am willing to admit that his often grouchy temperament won't win him any Man of the Year awards with me. The simple reason that BB is on my exception list is that he (allegedly) used a competitive advantage to break the most sacred record in all of sports, in my opinion.
Baseball's home run record is just so magical to me, in a sport where statistics are so important, that I cannot accept Bonds as the holder of that record, and I despise the man for that reason.
Maybe I'm hopelessly naive, but I want to stand at the HOF in Cooperstown with my son and tell him, "son, that there plaque belongs to Henry Aaron, the Home Run King." And, wiping a tear from my eye, stand there in awe at the brilliance of the man's accomplishment.
But I cannot ever imagine looking at Barry Bonds that same way. For unlike others, he didn't cheat to simply become a better ballplayer—heck, he already possessed five-tool greatness—I firmly believe he wanted that home run record and wasn't going to stop at anything to get it. And for that, I cannot forgive him.
For when he stole that record, he stole some youthful innocence from me. And that's why I hate Barry Bonds.
11 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
But Clemens get a pass. You want Black folks like Hank, not like Barry. Nice and polite. Sorry your fragile childhood memories depend on a home run record for meaning.
Bonds has lost millions in endorsements, and gets heaps of abuse for his actions. He has major legal problems.
The other 50% of cheating players get a pass.
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Bob Warja about 1 year ago
Anonymous, you missed the point of my article. It's not the cheating that I dislike so much (although wouldn't it be great if all of sport was pure?). It's that his cheating resulted in breaking the most sacred record in all of sports. Clemens didn't break any records that I care about. And I don't think everyone else has gotten a pass. For one, the names are just coming out. and two, I think you'll agree that it looks like Roger Clemens is headed for some serious trouble of his own. Some of Bonds' legal problems are his own fault - not only did he take the stuff, but he lied to Congress. And, just like Clemens, he may have to pay for that. But in the long run, it isn't us as fans, or the government or anyone on earth that he should be afraid of. We all have to answer to a much bigger "judge" one day and He will know the truth.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
don't worry, when you're dead and gone, what's left of your youthful innocence will be gone too. So too will your hate. If I doubled up on whatever Barry supposedly took, I sincerely doubt I could achieve a quarter of what he did. I suppose if viagra was around when the Babe was at his finest, I probably would not be be able to bed as many women as he did. Share that with your son.
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Bob Warja about 1 year ago
You're absolutely right that steroid wouldn't make you a great baseball player. And that's what is so maddening in all of this - bonds didn't need the stuff to be a great player or a Hall of Famer. He wouldn't have been both without the juice. But the steroids did obviously allow his to capture that HR record, because nobody has his peak years starting at age 37, nobody. And if you are already a great player, like Clemens too, the stuff wil help your body recover which is critical as you get older. One fact remains and that is Bonds wouldn't ever have achieved the record without cheating, plain and simple.
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Heather Stidham about 1 year ago
I appreciate your opinion and I also want the steroid talk to quit overshadowing the game. However, I think that a major problem with baseball fans is their dependence on stats. Why is one stat more important than another? If you are going to hate Barry Bonds then you should hate every other "cheater" that has broken a baseball record. Clemens holds a few records and is accused of doing the same thing as Bond. The problem with your opinion is simply that it is inconsistent. If you had titled this article, "I Hate All Steroid Users," then I think people would be more inclined to agree with your analysis.
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Bob Warja about 1 year ago
Heather, I didn't write the article so that people would agree with me. So I don't find that inconsistency, as you called it, a problem. Yes, Clemens has broken some records but he didn't break THE RECORD. In fact, I don't really "hate" anyone - hate is a strong word. But I do hate that he is the owner of a record that means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to other people who are truly into the game of baseball. Unless you really love and follow the game, you wouldn't realize the impact of the home run record and what Henry Aaron had to endure to get it from Babe Ruth. He receoved death threats and a lot of REAL hatred from ignorant fans who didn't want a black man taking the Babe's record. I find it ironic that many black people think whites who don't like Bonds are racist, when in fact it is a black man's legacy (Aaron) we're trying to uphold.
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Heather Stidham about 1 year ago
I love and have followed the game since birth, but I also am not willing to praise one record and say forget the rest. All I meant was that I think your point is great, THE RECORD, as you call it, is one of the most important things in baseball to a lot of people. I did not in any way mean that it was not important and I never mentioned anything about being black or white. (But you seem to think that it is very important to note that you are not racist...point taken!) All I said was that you opinion is inconsistent and it is, but you are entitled to your own opinions. I will make a suggestion to you though...don't write articles that you don't want people to agree with you on and then get all shook and shaken when they don't. You didn't want people to agree with you and we didn't so your mission was accomplished. On the flip side, I actually liked anecdotes and thought it was a well-written piece.
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Bob Warja about 1 year ago
Thanks for the kind words. And as for getting "shook and shaken", I'm not sure why you think that, but no, I wasn't shaken by any of the disagreement at all. And I certainly didn't mean to imply you haven't followed or loved baseball, from your other posts and articles I can see you are very knowledgeable and quite a fan. And actually I do think a lot of people will agree with me. Bonds is the poster child for steriods, like it or not.
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Shari Toomey about 1 year ago
I casually knew Barry Bonds when he played for Pittsburgh in the early 90's, and the man was a conceited ass then.
Anon., why does race have to come into it? It is possible to dislike Barry Bonds based upon his personality and transgressions. He broke an important record the WRONG way. I will not defend his actions based upon the fact that he is black. Black people do wrong things, too.
Roger Clemens' Cy Young Awards and other personal records and stats will be tarnished as well. The difference is, he didn't spend his career turning his nose up at the world. So maybe he'll be hated a little less. Not because he is white, because he's less of an ass (but after the hearings-just barely).
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Heather Stidham about 1 year ago
No harm done Steve. Keep up the good work! I always appreciate a good debate and chat about baseball!
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
"Some of Bonds' legal problems are his own fault - not only did he take the stuff, but he lied to Congress."
Bonds didn't lie to Congress. Clemens may have lied to Congress. Sosa probably lied. Palmeiro probably lied. Bonds has been a target of federal prosecutors for several years now. His lawyers apparently have a pretty good case that the perjury indictment is grossly flawed.
"Unless you really love and follow the game, you wouldn't realize the impact of the home run record and what Henry Aaron had to endure to get it from Babe Ruth. He received death threats and a lot of REAL hatred from ignorant fans who didn't want a black man taking the Babe's record."
Hmm. Bonds also received death threats. And, if you think he wasn't the object of "REAL hatred," you haven't been following his career. (Fans throwing syringes on the field in San Diego was surely a low- water mark in his career. The Marc Ecko branded ball is another nice chapter in the history of the sport.) Ironically, you use the word, "hate," in your very own essay. Later, you clarified that don't actually hate Bonds, you only hate what he's accomplished (and the way he presumably did it). I guess you've already established his guilt. If you don't think there's an element of racism surrounding the treatment of Bonds, you're not as observant as your article suggests. (Not to muddy the issue, but I'd bet that many of the pitchers he faced in his later years were using some sort of PED. Isn't it interesting that the latest rash of names associated with these PEDs are pitchers from the same era?)
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