Spring Break
Barry Bonds: Why his cheating matters
Robert Zaller
Issue date: 8/24/07 Section: Ed-Op
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Last June, I went to two games in the San Francisco Giants series. Barry Bonds, then still in quest of Hank Aaron's home run record, started both of them in left field.
Even for Philadelphia, the booing set some kind of decibel record. It rolled like thunder down a hill from every quadrant, all of it aimed at the bejeweled and rather delicate ears of Mr. Bonds - the only visible part of his anatomy seemingly unaffected by the chemical cocktails that turned an ordinary baseball superstar into sport's first android.
There is booing and there is booing. Some of it can be quite personal, but the booing of Barry Bonds had a kind of fixed, impersonal quality to it. It went beyond dislike, or even hatred. It was a solid wall of rejection, pure and simple.
Bonds gets this treatment everywhere he plays on the road, night after night. Each night, forty thousand different throats pour out their rejection of him. He is booed when he bats. He is booed when he takes the field, where a security guard is stationed to protect him, looking up grimly at the stands. He was cheered only once, when a catchable fly ball glanced off his glove and he looked momentarily exposed and foolish, as a baseball field makes you when you are alone with your misplay.
Give the Devil his due. Barry Bonds feeds on hatred, and thrives on rejection. As he sullies America's pastime, he is clearly enjoying every moment of it. And why not? He's the one walking off with baseball's crown jewels, not you. He's the one making the commissioner of baseball squirm at the heist, and making the man he robbed, Henry Aaron, show up on a telescreen to congratulate him. He's the baddest dude around, and he isn't about to apologize for it. If baseball has always been a game of heroes, it has now produced the purest villain in sport.
Bonds has had his defenders. Steroid use is rampant in sports. Baseball has been no exception. Why, then, single out Bonds? Is he the African-American athlete white America is licensed to hate?
Even for Philadelphia, the booing set some kind of decibel record. It rolled like thunder down a hill from every quadrant, all of it aimed at the bejeweled and rather delicate ears of Mr. Bonds - the only visible part of his anatomy seemingly unaffected by the chemical cocktails that turned an ordinary baseball superstar into sport's first android.
There is booing and there is booing. Some of it can be quite personal, but the booing of Barry Bonds had a kind of fixed, impersonal quality to it. It went beyond dislike, or even hatred. It was a solid wall of rejection, pure and simple.
Bonds gets this treatment everywhere he plays on the road, night after night. Each night, forty thousand different throats pour out their rejection of him. He is booed when he bats. He is booed when he takes the field, where a security guard is stationed to protect him, looking up grimly at the stands. He was cheered only once, when a catchable fly ball glanced off his glove and he looked momentarily exposed and foolish, as a baseball field makes you when you are alone with your misplay.
Give the Devil his due. Barry Bonds feeds on hatred, and thrives on rejection. As he sullies America's pastime, he is clearly enjoying every moment of it. And why not? He's the one walking off with baseball's crown jewels, not you. He's the one making the commissioner of baseball squirm at the heist, and making the man he robbed, Henry Aaron, show up on a telescreen to congratulate him. He's the baddest dude around, and he isn't about to apologize for it. If baseball has always been a game of heroes, it has now produced the purest villain in sport.
Bonds has had his defenders. Steroid use is rampant in sports. Baseball has been no exception. Why, then, single out Bonds? Is he the African-American athlete white America is licensed to hate?
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 6
Abner Lope
posted 8/24/07 @ 1:48 PM EST
Thank you very much for the article on Barry Bonds. Thank you for acknowledging the character and skill of Hank Aaron; also, thank you for taking notice that Willie Mays may have very well broken Ruth's record first had he not been in the military for 2 of his prime years. (Continued…)
Russell Jones
posted 8/24/07 @ 4:25 PM EST
Bonds averaged 33 home runs a year from 1987 to 1998. Assuming he kept that pace for 20 years, he would have had 660 home runs. It is safe to assume that with steroids or no steroids, that his home run production was increasing, averaging 40 homers from 96-98. (Continued…)
Ray Huffman
posted 8/24/07 @ 8:53 PM EST
All I hear about Barry Bonds is the alleged sin. Where is your proof and where did you get your info. Did you smoke Pot in your life time? Do you still? Prove it!
forevertj
posted 8/25/07 @ 12:25 AM EST
Cheating? What cheating? Would you mind posting incontrovertible proof? You don't have any. All you are doing is speculating and my guess is, it's racism. (Continued…)
Jordan
posted 8/26/07 @ 11:56 PM EST
Forevertj,
I think its ridiculous that you would accuse him of being racist. Its been everything but proven regarding Bonds. Even if it hasn't, it hasn't been proven that he didn't do it, and there are thousands of players that that fact IS true for. (Continued…)
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