Well, it’s over. And just in time, because I was starting to get
sick of it. If the Barry Bonds Saga was an insect, it’d be
gnat.
Well, it’s over. And just in time, because I was starting to get sick of it.
If the Barry Bonds Saga was an insect, it’d be gnat.
If the Saga was a person, it’d be a child having a temper tantrum. Or, if you find children annoying, just a child would probably suffice.
The annoyance of the home run chase is complete, and while the majority of the country won’t remember where they were on Tuesday night – or what they were dreaming about, for that matter – it’s a Saga that those of Northern California, and displaced fans around the nation, will, for the most part, cherish.
For a player whose been connected to steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, connected to rude and crude behavior toward the media, connected to being an overall bad teammate, it was an absolute best-case scenario on Tuesday night at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
Supportive San Francisco fans? Check.
Bonds’ family? Check.
Willie Mays? Check.
Hank Aaron? Shockingly, check.
Bud Selig? Shockingly, not present. OK, that’s not that shocking.
But I will say, for a person like myself who’s never held Bonds in high regard or with much admiration, the tears that were shed after he smacked the 435-footer to right-center field were actually quite refreshing.
It actually made him human, something he’s never been compared to.
While the media has transformed Bonds into a steroid-riddled monster, seeing Bonds break down on Tuesday put the whole Saga into perspective for this East Coast Red Sox fan.
After Bonds threw his arms into the air, after he trotted around the bases, after he hugged his family, high-fived his teammates, and shed a tear to his father, the chase was over.
It’s truly unfortunate for one man to carry the load of a time in baseball entitled The Steroid Era, especially considering Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro have all been linked to The Era, with none of them receiving much of the blame.
With one swing on Tuesday night, Bonds will be able to, for the most part, be a normal person once again.
With time, one by one, baseball fans will move on. They may not necessarily accept the record, but I don’t think Bonds cares that they do.
Bonds is only human, and for any one man to shoulder the load of ridicule that has come with hitting this many home runs is beyond me.
We know Selig can’t shoulder it. The season-long will-he-or-won’t-he-be-present story line was simply an act so he wouldn’t be connected to The Era. Nice try, Bud. Very un-Herculean.
Clearly, Bonds wanted to break this record. A man at his age, with his legs, wasn’t sticking around this year for the Giants to win a World Series.
But he was clearly sick of the Saga as well. Hopefully, we can all return to some sort of normalcy in baseball, with the players, the fans and the media.
Of course, the Saga provided endless fodder for any and all columnists, so what we’ll write about now, now that the Saga is complete, is anyone’s guess.
My vote is the media will unite against Neifi Perez.
Nah, that will never happen. Much like how it didn’t with McGwire, Sosa and Palmeiro.
