Since I was a kid, I have had something of a fascination with baseball. Well, more like an obsession. Basically, baseball is about my favorite thing in the world - and as all you baseball fans know, the postseason is rolling around. That is the time of year when my homework is least likely to get done.
As you also might know, this week marks a major turning point in the world of baseball: the return of Barry Bonds.
Bonds, who spent all of this season on the disabled list with knee problems, is expected to return to his position in the San Francisco Giants' starting lineup. I can't say I'm excited.
First, I had a bet going that he wouldn't play this season at all - a bet I was sure I would win until last week.
Second, Bonds' absence this season, I suspect, has less to do with his knees and more to do with the BALCO steroid scandal that has been following him. I'll add a disclaimer right now: I believe Bonds to be completely and willfully guilty of steroid abuse.
As a baseball purist, I am more than offended by cheating, especially when said cheating has led Bonds to be glorified as one of the greatest ballplayers in history. I think I could forgive the steroid use, if only he'd been a man and owned up to it. But no, Bonds and others - including All Stars Gary Sheffield and Rafael Palmeiro - continue to deny willful use of steroids. Sadly, they will most likely be given a slap on the wrist and their trainers will take the fall for them.
Yet, the question of the validity of their achievements remains for the purists. As Bonds closes in on baseball legends Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, one is left to wonder: What are the implications of his cheating? Will his name be denoted in record books?
While many people already did not like Bonds before the steroid scandal, some are still willing to believe his claim that he didn't know he was using performance-enhancing drugs. He didn't know what his trainer and dietician - who he pays thousands and thousands of dollars - were giving him. Please. These players are paid to perform - I find their stories a little hard to swallow.
In any event, the question of the Baseball Hall of Fame, which Barry Bonds seemed certain to be a shoo-in for, is now back up in the air - especially in light of Rafael Palmeiro's failed drug test. He, too, was bound for the Hall of Fame.
There certainly is precedent for what should be done with cheaters. Pete Rose has been barred from the Hall of Fame. Then there's the "Black Sox" scandal of 1919, when eight members of the White Sox were banned from baseball for life for throwing the World Series to Cincinnati.
Admittedly, bribery and gambling are a little more serious then steroid use, and I'm not going to suggest that Bonds and others be barred from baseball. I am going to suggest, however, that they be barred from the Hall of Fame.
Let me take a step in a different direction for just a moment. When I was a kid, baseball stars were my heroes, people I looked up to.
What kind of hero doesn't take responsibility for his actions? I wish I could say that is what has happened, but it just isn't. Bonds, Sheffield and others have certainly lost much more then just their status as baseball stars. I know a lot of people will be excited to see Bonds back in action, but for me, the return of the San Francisco slugger marks a sad day in baseball.
Write to Andrew at
apbalke@bsu.edu
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