Barry Bonds Is Back (Yawn)
Robert Paul Reyes
September 24, 2005
Growing up in San Francisco, my idol was Bobby Bonds, my mood in the spring time of my life, depended on the fortunes of Bonds and the San Francisco Giants.
I now live in Lynchburg, VA, a long ways from the City by the Bay -- taxes, relationships, bills, the price of gas and the steroid scandal have relegated baseball to a dark corner of my mind.
But I still glance at the standings every now and then, to see how Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants are doing.
Bobby Bonds was an outstanding player, but his son Barry Bonds, is perhaps the greatest player of all time.
But Barry Bonds should have an asterisk instead of a number in his uniform. His superhuman accomplishments are tainted by the steroid allegations that continuously swirl over him.
Barry Bonds, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the Michelin Man, came back after almost a year off. He hit home runs in each of his first four games.
But fans aren't hailing the return of the great Bonds, the greatest baseball player of our generation, hears cheers only in his hometown.
Barry Bonds is a walking billboard for the ineffectiveness of baseball's steroid policy. For Barry Bonds to deny that he takes steroids, is like Cher denying that she's had plastic surgery. When I see the ESPN highlights of Barry Bonds hitting another dinger, I'm not struck with a sense of awe, but with a feeling of nausea.
The game that I loved so much as a youth, has become a circus where the biggest draws are sideshow freaks. I loved baseball because I could identify with the players, most of my favorites looked pretty much like I did. I couldn't connect with a 7'2" basketball star or a 300-pound football hero, but there were plenty of 160-pound shortstops I could relate to.
In order for baseball to be saved, it must once again become a field of dreams that is not populated by steroid-enhanced behemoths. Baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, has proposed a 50-game suspension for first time steroid offenders, followed by a 100-game suspension, the next time, followed by a lifetime ban.
It is imperative that Donald Fehr, head of the players' union, agree to this stricter steroid policy.
Baseball will forever be relegated to a dark corner of my mind, until steroid-enhanced giants become as scarce as a Barry Bonds smile.
I now live in Lynchburg, VA, a long ways from the City by the Bay -- taxes, relationships, bills, the price of gas and the steroid scandal have relegated baseball to a dark corner of my mind.
But I still glance at the standings every now and then, to see how Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants are doing.
Bobby Bonds was an outstanding player, but his son Barry Bonds, is perhaps the greatest player of all time.
But Barry Bonds should have an asterisk instead of a number in his uniform. His superhuman accomplishments are tainted by the steroid allegations that continuously swirl over him.
Barry Bonds, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the Michelin Man, came back after almost a year off. He hit home runs in each of his first four games.
But fans aren't hailing the return of the great Bonds, the greatest baseball player of our generation, hears cheers only in his hometown.
Barry Bonds is a walking billboard for the ineffectiveness of baseball's steroid policy. For Barry Bonds to deny that he takes steroids, is like Cher denying that she's had plastic surgery. When I see the ESPN highlights of Barry Bonds hitting another dinger, I'm not struck with a sense of awe, but with a feeling of nausea.
The game that I loved so much as a youth, has become a circus where the biggest draws are sideshow freaks. I loved baseball because I could identify with the players, most of my favorites looked pretty much like I did. I couldn't connect with a 7'2" basketball star or a 300-pound football hero, but there were plenty of 160-pound shortstops I could relate to.
In order for baseball to be saved, it must once again become a field of dreams that is not populated by steroid-enhanced behemoths. Baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, has proposed a 50-game suspension for first time steroid offenders, followed by a 100-game suspension, the next time, followed by a lifetime ban.
It is imperative that Donald Fehr, head of the players' union, agree to this stricter steroid policy.
Baseball will forever be relegated to a dark corner of my mind, until steroid-enhanced giants become as scarce as a Barry Bonds smile.
Print
Email
