Give the American sports media points for tenacity. They want Barry Bonds and they mean they will get Barry Bonds. Well, you are entitled to your beliefs/opinions. But there is a thing called fairness. There are few, far too few sports writers/commentators in America who give the whole picture. Here are a few points the American sports media chooses to ignore while discussing Bonds’ achievements.
· The baseball game played today is different from the one played during the Hank Aaron era. In Hank’s time baseball pitchers pitched “whole” games. The bullpen was not the feature back then as it is today, so in the late innings a batter could feast off tired arms. Back then if you had a good arm you were a starter. Now you have men like Gagne and Wagner and Cordero trotting out in the late innings who have better arms than the starters.
· Strength training was not as high a science as it is today. It was argued in the old days that a baseball player shouldn’t build his muscles too much or he would become “muscle bound”…clumsy. Today’s athletes might not be naturally more talented than those of yore, but physically they are far better trained/developed.
· The comparison with Alex Rodriguez is not valid. The designated hitter rule in the American League makes their brand of baseball different, way different from that in the National League where Bonds plays. Rodriguez is a great, great player, but in sprinting parlance you would call his slugging achievements “wind aided.”
· The accusation that Barry is much bigger than he was in his youth, is spurious. If I remember correctly, Barry came into the major leagues weighing 185. Twenty years later he weighs 220. So, the man started pumping irons. And there is natural weight gain over time. As for his head size, many types get fat on the head as they get older.
· If Barry did knowingly take steroids, baseball literally forced players like him to “get with it” by turning a blind eye to the new strength training methods introduced in the last two decades.
· Baseball pays for homeruns.
This is not to detract from the achievement of Hank Aaron. His success actually aided the Civil Rights movement in America, and people of color everywhere, so we are indebted. His decision to stay away while Barry assaults his record should be ignored, because Hank was never one for rocking boats.
The problem for a certain section of America in respect to Bonds is that while Aaron endured, Bonds was spectacular. Aaron passed Babe Ruth in number of homeruns, but he didn’t do things on the field that made your eyes pop. Heck, he wasn’t even the best player of his era.
One of the reasons put forward for the savaging of Bonds is the race thing. “Race” in sports cannot be denied. Race actually adds excitement to sports, especially in individual sports like track and field and lawn tennis and boxing. In team sports we generally embrace anyone who makes our team better. Thus, a man blacker than night will love a blond Curt Shilling, if he is riding with the Boston Red Sox; and a man whiter than chalk will love Barry to the bone if he is riding with San Francisco.
Boy, one of my favorite players a while back was a man named Rusty Staub. The Canadians called him Le Grande Orange. Rusty’s picture had equal status on my wall of fame in my room, alongside Bobby Bonds (Barry’s dad). I mean, when Rusty played for the NY Mets along with Willie Howard Mays, he, Rusty, was ma main man. Some time ago one of my brothers, who wanted to “hurt” my feelings, told me that everyone in America knew that my old Rusty was a flaming you know what! I just stuck a couple fingers in my ears and told him: blank you! Don’t ever tell me anything sordid about my Rusty! He could get me a big base hit when I needed it most.
Anyway, back to the Barry thing. It is not that these savage sports writers don’t have a valid point. But sometimes people go overboard. Okay, I guess by now you’ve figured out that I am a big Giants fan, and Barry is my boy. If this piece upsets you I’m damn well sure you are not riding with San Francisco. Hatred in sports is good, but you have to give the devil his due. If you love baseball, thank God that the devil Bonds is such a proud man. And hot shot American sports writers should too. If Barry had crumbled under the unfair pressure, a lot of those fraud sports writers would now be covering…bingo.