Barry Bonds Home Run Watch: Hank Aaron's Asterisk

As Barry Bonds creeps ever closer to Hank Aaron's career home run mark, the baseball world is going to pieces.

Fans are haunted by the prospect of steroids staining the game's most hallowed record. Commissioner Bud Selig is exploring expansion opportunities in Asia and Latin America so he'll have a good excuse to be out of the country when the big day arrives. Even the Giants brass is mulling how to low-key Number 756.

All because Barry did what many other top players were doing around the turn of the century: He used un-banned substances to improve his performance.

What has gone mostly unmentioned in the post-BALCO era is the fact that Barry hit his "tainted" homers off of JUICED PITCHERS. That's right: Major League Baseball turned a blind eye to steroids, and you can bet that many of the game's top hurlers were getting the performance edge right along with the sluggers.

 

In fact, you could probably make the case that performance-enhancing drugs do more to help a pitcher than a hitter, because a hitter's success depends on vision as much as strength...and I've yet to see evidence that steroids have ever improved anyone's eyes.

 

Which begs the question: Why are all the so-called journalists out there giving pitchers a free pass while they rush to crucify the guys in the batter's box?

 

Of course, there's no evidence against the pitchers of the Steroid Era—but then again baseball's absurd no-testing policy means there's little evidence against the hitters either. 

 

My take? Yes, the hitters were juiced...and so were their nemeses on the mound. It was an even battle fought under the prevailing rules of the day.

 

Like they say: All's fair in drugs and war.

 

By acknowledging the truth as it was, we can say that Barry Bonds didn't cheat—he competed on equal terms against the pitchers of his generation.  We can also say that he deserves the record he's about to break. Actually, if it's true that hurlers gained a more significant edge than hitters in Bud Selig's drugged-up game, then maybe we should think about putting an asterisk next  to Hammerin' Hank's precious record:

 

*No home runs were hit against performance-enhanced pitchers.