As the conversation about steroids revolves around baseball like the juice flowing through Jason Giambi’s veins, America’s favorite pastime continues to get hit, just as spring training begins. First, was Giambi’s admission to taking the muscle-enhancing drug. Then José Canseco surprised the sports world with his book that says it all about steroid use, swinging a syringe with greater precision than ever with a bat. Now, it’s baseball’s home run king, Barry Bonds, who makes us look down on the sport’s most talented player, with his bizarre ramblings at a preseason press conference, mixed with cursory glances at interviewers, unconvincing defenses from his own lousy image, along with distracting accusations directed at various targets.
Man, this guy is easy to hate. “I don’t know what cheating is,” he says of the possible help that steroid use can give baseball players. How can adding tens of pounds of muscle increase production, Barry wonders? This comes from a guy who entered the league weighing roughly 180 pounds before adding 46 pounds to his body in just over three seasons. Plus, in his first seven years in the league, Bonds never hit 35 home runs. He was a 19-25 HR guy, except for two seasons of 33 and 34. Now the bloated Barry, the one who doesn’t think steroids can help hitters, hits 45 or more home runs every season, like he’s hitting. big balls. But he’s not cheating, he claims.
In addition to the lamentable statement of “I don’t know what cheating is,” Bonds managed to blame all his troubles on the media and, of course, on racism. “Babe Ruth was a great player,” says Bonds, “but he wasn’t black. I’m black and it’s harder for blacks.” Just a few tears would make her act more incredible. Again, I say, this guy is easier to hate than cancer. First of all, what problems are you having? Millions and millions of dollars in your pocket? Play a game for a living? Incredible popularity? Any questions from the interviewers? This is the life of Barry Bonds, and does this guy have the audacity to pull the race card? All African Americans and baseball fans should join me in hating this racist crybaby. “But I’m not a racist,” Bonds says. I wish I had a dollar for every person who ever made a comment like this and then followed it up with “But I’m not a racist.” He would probably have as much money as Barry.
Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, harassed every moment by the media, never made such a ridiculous statement that blacks in sports have a harder time. Jerry Rice, the best wide receiver in NFL history, arguably never complained that discrimination made his life harder than his white predecessors. It’s because these guys weren’t using steroids, and these guys were true professionals, hard-working, and they didn’t cheat. Not to mention the fact that they were gentlemen.
This is not to say that racism does not yet exist in the United States. Obviously it does. In fact, it can even exist in some sports. But it doesn’t exist to the extent that Barry suggests. Does Barry deal with death threats, like Hank Aaron did throughout the season he got close to the Babe Ruth brand? Of course not. In fact, for some strange and inexplicable reason, there is a huge contingent of Bonds fans who really support this jerk in breaking Aaron’s record. It is hard to imagine. Aaron never complained about racism and walked into the batter’s box every night, fearing for his own life. And now, 30 years later, he’s one of the most revered leaders the game has. Aaron, like Jordan, Rice, and Ruth and a myriad of other great athletes, has a legacy. What legacy does the infidel racist Barry Bonds have? I think the answer is within the question. He will be remembered as a baseball player, who might have been one of the greatest of all time, had he not been a cheater, a liar and a racist.
Meanwhile, the more Bonds and others like him talk, the bigger baseball’s black eye becomes.