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MLB General

Leave Bonds Alone?

Barry Bonds is the new home run king. He has hit 758 home runs in his career and hasn’t stopped. Hank Aaron hit 755. 755 is less than 758 thus Bonds is the home run king. Of course, we all know Bonds cheated to get there so that means his home runs don’t count. Right? Let me start by saying that I don’t like Barry Bonds. I think he’s got a bad attitude. I feel like he doesn’t appreciate the fans of the game. I’m not even sure if he cares about anyone else on his team. And I think he used steriods.

I’m not trying to defend Bonds’ attitude or style of play. I’m trying to say that despite all that Barry Bonds still has hit more home runs than anyone else in Major League Baseball. Like I said before: 758 is greater than 755. It’s pretty simple. It doesn’t matter what I think about Bonds, or what I think Bonds may have done to get to that number. There is no definitive proof that Bonds used steriods, and so there is no asterisk added to that number.

If definitive proof is found, and I’m not talking about authors or ex-girlfriends trying to get famous with “he said, she said,” then that changes things. However I still think it would be hard to find a way to change that number. Would we wipe all of Bonds’ home runs from history? Do we get rid of the number of home runs he hit after using steriods? Maybe we make disappear only the home runs that were hit less than 7 feet over the fence on a day game on every second wednesday of the month in which Bonds used steriods immediately prior to the game. Even if we KNOW Bonds used steriods, it’s impossible to know how it affected the final number of home runs.

There are a few other athletes that have been in situations similar to the one Bonds is in now. Their numbers have not been changed despite the suspicion surrounding them. Gaylord Perry is thought to have used the illegal spitball often in order to win 314 games and two Cy Young awards. There is also the case of Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt scored a total of 31,419 points over the course of his NBA career. Wilt also liked to grab his teammates shots as the were at the rim and then score the bucket himself. This is now known as offensive goaltending. Offensive goaltending was not illegal during the first three years of his career. The rule actually came about in order to stop Wilt from dominating the game, but the NBA never took away the points he scored before the rule went into effect.

I agree that steriods are a bad thing and should not be a part of baseball. I understand that it raises questions about the past. However, Major League Baseball did not raise these questions themselves until 2003 so I personally find it hard to fault anyone including Bonds that took advantage of the MLB’s silent stance on steriods up to that point. I know they are trying to “make up for their mistakes,” but I think they should leave the past alone. Major League Baseball should focus on keeping steriods out of the game now and in the future. That way when the next home run king comes along there won’t be any questions hanging there.

Barry Bonds is the new home run king. With steriods or without them, he has hit a ton of homeruns. He has done something over 750 times most people will never do. Barry Bonds is the home run king because he has hit more home runs than anyone in the history of baseball…..unless that person is named Sadaharu Oh.

– M. P.

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