If he passes Aaron, it was the drugs, and if he doesn’t, it’s
proof he used banned substances
Without a single home run to date and a batting average that’s
below his own weight, it’s pretty clear what Barry Bonds can’t do
when he’s off of the juice, or at least that’s what all the
hypodermic-needle throwers will now say.
If he passes Aaron, it was the drugs, and if he doesn’t, it’s proof he used banned substances
Without a single home run to date and a batting average that’s below his own weight, it’s pretty clear what Barry Bonds can’t do when he’s off of the juice, or at least that’s what all the hypodermic-needle throwers will now say.
A month ago, I predicted that the Giants slugger would be surpassing Babe Ruth on the all-time homerun list right about now. Instead, he’s putting up numbers that would make an A-ball rookie nervous to answer the phone.
And it’s too bad because Bonds really blew his chance to come out swinging and knock a few out of the park, which would have quieted down a lot of the people who are now second-guessing his brilliant career.
All he had to do was hit a few taters into McCovey Cove or blast a few out in some other hostile park and the naysayers would shut up because everyone now knows that he’s not taking any steroids this year. He’d be crazy too. As it is, his trip to Cooperstown isn’t guaranteed anymore, but his one-way trip out of the Hall would be with another illegal shot in the ass.
It would have been so much different now if he were batting .333 with a couple homers. Then people would have said something to the effect that the steroids may have helped propel more balls into the San Francisco Bay, but even without them, those same blasts would still have managed to reach into the first three rows beyond the homerun fence.
Instead, people are now wondering if he’s capable of hitting more than 15 a year without them, which is making the steroid allegations stronger with each passing day. If Bonds had come out looking like, well, Bonds, instead of an American League pitcher batting during an away game in the World Series, Bonds would have more of a case.
In Bonds defense, it’s pretty hard to focus on a moving 90-mph fastball with 30,000 fans booing your every move and others throwing hypodermic needles at you. And then there’s the specter of a possible perjury indictment coming his way.
Then again, he’s a professional and should be able to block most distractions out, at least during the times when he’s in the batter’s box.
Hank Aaron was able to fight off constant racial slurs, which were probably more trying than any boos Bonds has received.
Hopefully, Bonds has got thick skin because unless he’s at AT&T Park, the boos are going to get more grotesque the closer he gets to passing the Bambino and ultimately Aaron.
In a sense Bonds can’t win for losing.
If he breaks Aaron’s record, people will always question its validity since he did so with a banned substance in his body for a number of seasons. If he winds up retiring without breaking the record, the people will say that this proves he did take steroids during his best seasons and without them he was just a slightly better than average player.
Either way his career is tarnished.
And what’s most sad is that obviously he’s a capable athlete. Just look at the numbers he put up in the years prior to those in question. Bonds wouldn’t have ever been drafted if he didn’t have Major League Baseball talent to begin with.
And sadly that raw ability is all for naught, for now …
