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He hit 755 and then 756. Now he'll leave and the controversy will die down. But this calm is merely the eye of the storm. Because a man like Barry Bonds will bring lots of questions and controversy when his name comes up for consideration 5 years after he retires for entry into Baseball's holy elite--Cooperstown.

But before Cooperstown, there will be a Riverside. Riverside? What's that about you say? Riverside, CA is home to the Bonds clan. Bobby Bonds, Barry's father was born and raised here in Riverside, CA (before the smog moved in of course). Bobby is a graduate of Poly high school in Riverside and also an inductee in Riverside's Hall of Fame before he died.

In fact, there is a park named after Bobby Bonds--the Bobby Bonds Sports Complex.

The question is, will his son's name come to adorn this tribute to athletic prowess in Riverside, CA? But if not Riverside, then where? Surely there must be some local community that is willing to champion the cause of this controversial athlete? And there will be. The question is where? And to what result?

Where?
How about Riverside? The setback will be the lack of a strong local connection to this community. True he does have relatives in this area, but will it be enough? Probably not. Barry Bonds has shown little affinity for the community that raised his father. If not Riverside, there will surely be a community in Northern California, perhaps San Francisco, that will take up his cause.

To what end?
The next question is the question on everyone's mind. Granted, if it is San Francisco which chooses to place him in its sports hall of fame, they will simply look the other direction when it comes to his scandalous past.

Why the controversy?
The main issue for Barry Bonds is that he has not apologized. In Bonds' eyes he has done nothing to warrant an apology. His stance is that he never knowingly took steroids. His statement may indeed be true. But the problem with that statement is that the general public simply does not look kindly at the "stick your head in the sand like an ostrich and ignore the obvious" defense. Even the law would refuse a defendant to argue this position to a jury.

No doubt, there will be lots of controversy surrounding Bonds entry into Cooperstown. His entry into any Hall of Fame prior to Cooperstown will probably garner substanial attention. But based on recent voting, it is still not likely that Bonds will see his name in Cooperstown--(outside of course the record for most career HRs).

Mark McGwire, a player with a steroid tainted past, garnered only 1/3 of the votes necessary for entry. Jose Canseco, a player who has come out and admitted his use of steroids and also fingered others, had a mere 5% of the votes on the ballots. Both these players tout incredible records (perhaps not as impressive as Bonds) but have failed to garner the votes necessary to enter the Hall.

If Barry Bonds does make it into Cooperstown, he won't be the first player to have used illegal drugs to reach baseball's holiest of places. At least one other player fits the profile of Barry Bonds. Despite heavy usage of illegal drugs, this player still had no problems when it came time to etch his name in history.

This player too was a heavy hitter. Home run after home run. Babe Ruth was a heavy user of alcohol which was illegal during the Prohibition Era (1920-1933). But Babe has no stint attached to this name. Why? Well, most likely because acts making alcohol consumption illegal ultimately were repealed.

Babe Ruth is in the Hall of Fame. His place in history is already etched in stone as one of the greatest to ever play the game.

It is Barry Bonds who is yet to see what how the history books will discuss his accomplishments. But this is quite sad. The problem with this is that it is Major League Baseball that dropped the ball on steroid use. It failed to come out with prescribed rules regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs.

An athlete will assume that he is allowed to act in any way that is not prohibited by the rules of baseball. For example, if an athlete felt hitting with a metal bat would be more advantageous for him, then he would be perfectly entitled to use a metal bat--assuming the rules of baseball did not prohibit this.

Regardless of whether or not Barry used steroids in the past, he is not using them now. He has never failed a steroids drug test. The general public is punishing Bonds because he used steroids in the past--before they were illegal. Because the use of steroids has now been deemed illegal, the public looks at Bonds with a leary eye.

And Bonds? Bonds suffers because he had no idea that using steroids would be illegal. Regardless of whether or not he used, because of the highly negative stigma associated with the use of steroids, Barry Bonds name will forever be tainted.

Jose Canseco...Rafael Palmeiro...Floyd Landis...Barry Bonds.

Regardless of whether they used or not, their names have already been associated--permanently--with intentionally giving themselves a leg or "syringe" up on the competition.

Any athlete wants a leg up and will take it no questions asked. It is only when the sport rules--often retroaactively--that a certain behavior, substance, or equipment is illegal that athletes suffer.

This is why Barry Bonds is MLB's #1 Victim. (Please note: I'm not a Bonds fan. I don't like the guy at all. I just think he's gotten a "bum" rap)

Labels: 756, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Cooperstown, Floyd Landis, Hall of Fame, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro