Barroid and the Babe

Barry Bonds actually hit a home run Sunday, his first in 25 at bats. It was no ordinary HR, sailing 450 feet, a real no-doubter for number 713. Obviously he could tie and pass the Babe's 714 mark this week.

The steroid allegations previously swirling around him seem to have died down, along with talk of the lawsuit he was going to file against the writers of 'the book'. Maybe we can 'just get along' after all.

Bud "whiffleball" Selig has already warned Bonds that Major League Baseball will not be throwing any parties when he passes the Babe, as if they would entertain such a thing anyway when a player doesn't break a record. For his part, Bonds is already on "record" as saying he wants to knock off Ruth then stop before getting to Hammerin' Hank, leaving us to believe he's got some sort of Babe-sized chip on his shoulder. I'm also guessing Ebony and Ivory isn't his at-bat theme song.

Anyway, he's a great player, one of the best ever, and it's ashamed his legacy is tarnished just like McGwire's, a player many lost respect for after his squishy performance and subsquent cone of silence after the Senate testimony last year. The same aftertaste could bubble up for MLB in general for letting such stuff happen. "Take them out of the ballpark..." could become popular.

I'll end this rant with a clip from the New York Times story linked above, quoting the fan who caught the home run ball Sunday:

Oliveras said he did not boo Bonds and had no problems with the suspicions about his steroid use.

"Everybody does what they think is right for them," Oliveras said.

The Times made sure to tell us that the fan, a Mr. Oliveras, was an Airman First Class in the USAF before they informed us he doesn't care one whit about cheating. I can't help thinking this was intentional, in a New York Times kinda way. You be the judge.

But it would be fun to ask Airman Oliveras to take his logic one step further. If Bonds had a bionic arm installed that he could program with an electric eye to hit the ball on cue, would that also fall under his "everybody does what's right for them" mantra? Just wondering.