Barry Bonds: The Great Destroyer

 

The first time I ever wrote for a publication was in high school. A local paper from Inglewood California asked the journalism staff at my high school to write stories that celebrated Father’s Day. Imagine my excitement when I found that my article was chosen. The article I wrote was about baseball, and how that magical sport was the binding force in my father and I’s relationship, that no matter what had gone on in our lives, how much we might change, there was always the love for baseball that my father and I shared. Nothing I’ve written since that day has felt as honest and pure as that. Now more than ten years later, for maybe the first time in my life, I feel like baseball is lost to me, right in the middle of one of baseball’s ‘greatest’ moments. Barry Bonds broke the all time homerun record, and while it pains me to say it, I could give a rat’s ass. Baseball used to be so special, but Barry Bonds and the men like him, took that away from me and countless other fans with their selfishness, and lack of true sportsmanship.

For years I thought there was nothing greater than seeing the best players play at the highest level, marveling at the amount of hard work, perseverance, and dedication it took to be successful at such a great sport. Father’s could take their kid to the game and say, “See that guy over there son? That’s Sandy Koufax, he works hard every day to be the best, and if you work hard like him, you can be the best.” That’s the example that athletes provide for children and adults the world over. They display dedication, fair play, and sportsmanship. Despite what Charles Barkley might think, athletes are role models, they are walking, talking, living, breathing examples of all the things they went through in order to get where they are in the sports world, each and every professional athlete (from the starters to the bench warmers) is an example of personal triumph over adversity that can and does serve to inspire people the world over. Thanks to men like Barry Bonds, those examples will be forever tainted, and most athletes will forever suffer from speculation every time they accomplish anything.

I can’t wait for Sportscenter to begin a broadcast with, “As soon as the test results are in, we’ll know if tonight’s perfect game counts.” I can’t wait for the endless litany of ‘tell all’ books that will slowly destroy professional sports until they have about as much credibility as the WWE (if that hasn’t already occurred). I can’t wait until we just skip right past the game itself and get right to the press conference, that way the players will be fresh and have plenty of energy to deny rumors of womanizing, and drug abuse, because apparently that’s what we really care about. Let’s just leave the actual spectating of the game to Bill James fans, and rotisserie league organizers (if they even still care).

So, what are we left with now that Barry has broken the record? Maybe a dad can say this, “Hey son, see that guy over there? That’s Barry Bonds, a bitter, useless old man that got fed up with his lack of recognition and popularity so he cheated, and because baseball is nothing more than a soulless money machine he got away with it, so no matter what you do, don’t be like him”. That doesn’t seem as powerful and uplifting as it could be, but it’s all that’s left to us thanks to the Raphael Palmero’s, Jose Conseco’s, and Barry Bonds’ of the sports world. Selfish men that forgot something very important, that despite the riches and the fame, they play the game for one important reason, us. They play the game for my dad, and for fathers and sons everywhere. They play in ballparks all over the world for people who live and die by their favorite team’s success, for people who hope against hope that this year will be their team’s year. It was our great game, and we loved it. Then people like Barry Bonds took that away from us. Baseball has been hijacked by selfish, despicable, low class players who took something grand and turned it into something vile. Enjoy your record Mr. Bonds, it hope it means a lot to you, since all it cost you was destroying any and all of the credibility that baseball had left, I hope you’re proud.