The moment almost every baseball fan has dreaded for the past few seasons has come to pass. Barry Bonds has tied the illustrious all-time homerun record held by Hammering Hank Arron.For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you will know I am by no means a fan of Barry Bonds. I said it when he hit his 715th homerun to pass Babe Ruth, and now I am going to say it again. The man is more than likely a cheater who will always have a dark cloud over his record and his career.
Bonds has been accused of having an attitude problem, and rightfully so given some of the comments he's made over the years. The media loathe him, and with good reason, he does in kind as well.
I can live with that - it doesn't effect the way he swings a bat or the records he sets.
What I can't accept are his blatant attempts to get around the rules. Although Bonds has been widely accused of taking steroids, he refuses to talk about it. His long-time trainer won't talk about it either.
Talk or not, the change is pretty stark. Look at the picture accompanying this post showing Barry Bonds when he broke in to the league, and Bonds today. It speaks for itself.
Bonds is not the only one who has been accused of taking steroids, but he is currently the most visible in that role. He's the poster boy for steroid use, the same way Hank Aaron was for hard work, dedication and sportsmanship.
In my books, and in the books of many other baseball fans, his record won't be worth the paper it's printed on. But it will stand nonetheless.
I can only hope one of the homerun machines like Ken Griffey Jr or Alex Rodriguez catches Bonds one day.
Someone with a little bit of integrity deserves to have that record, and Bonds isn't that player by a long shot.
