I can’t believe I about to utter the following words, especially to someone who is arguably one of the coldest people in baseball. But after what I have seen in the Roger Clemens saga and with A-Rod and his admitted steroid use, I feel I owe baseball’s Home Run King an apology. That’s right, I owe Barry Bonds an apology (sort of). I’m sorry, Barry, that I thought you were the biggest jackass in baseball. You are clearly not. I’m sorry that baseball didn’t clean its act up until after you started allegedly taking the juice. I’m sorry that we ever had to find out about the clear and the cream. Finally, I’m sorry that you may never get into the Hall, though I think of the alleged “users”, you might have the most compelling case for the Hall.
I didn’t think Barry was doing the right thing by keeping silent about steroid allegations. I thought, particularly in the latter years of his career, he was mean in how he handled the media. And yet, by keeping silent, even with a government indictment hanging over his head, Barry may yet emerge as a sympathetic character.
Amazing what the circus around Roger Clemens has done to improve Barry’s standing around people. Barry never went before Congress to testify in a defiant manner. As far as we know, he never publicly filed a defamation suit. He’s never denied taking steroids in such a vocal manner that he is ruining his lawyers’ reputation (like one Rusty Hardin). And, most importantly, he made sure his trainer, one Greg Anderson, kept quiet. I just want to know what deal Barry made with Greg, because Greg has refused to roll over under ALL types of pressure.
When Barry Bonds allegedly began taking steroids after the 1998 season, it was clear that Barry was on his way to the Hall of Fame provided that his knees held out. The numbers were projecting out to over 500 home runs, over 600 stolen bases, a career .285 batting average, over 3000 hits, and 2 or 3 more gold gloves to add to 8 he already had. In short, Barry would have arguably been one of the greatest overall players of all time. The steroids helped the home run total (obviously) and the batting average, but Barry never won another gold glove, his stolen base total went to almost nil, and it cost him a shot at 3000 hits.
Barry’s weakness was jealousy. While he was on his way to a .303 average with 37 HRs and 122 RBIs in 1998 and his 8th and final Gold Glove, the world ignored him in favor of the photogenic McGwire and Sosa. Sportsmen of the Year. Proclamations from Ted Kennedy on the Senate Floor(even if the names were misspoken). It was like Barry was forgotten, even with 3 MVPs. Barry probably thought, hey I could hit 70 HRs if I was built like a Greek God, too. Yes, it appears that Junior avoided the temptation, and, as far as we can tell, the Iron Man, Cal Ripken, had no desire. But Barry wanted more. He wanted to be remembered like his Godfather, Willie Mays. He wanted something great. It appears the temptation was too great.
For that, I’m sorry that we didn’t stop Sosa and McGwire in time. Maybe we were too consumed with cheating politicians to worry about cheating ball players. Only when a stand offish superstar, like you, started doing what McGwire and Sosa had done did we start to care. It was not your race, Barry, it was your attitude that may have forced baseball to start taking the accusations from that snitch Jose Canseco seriously. Because of you, we may have found the biggest jerk of all time in Roger Clemens. Clemens may ultimately be innocent, but the way Roger has handled this makes it clear: Roger Clemens will only be a spectator in Cooperstown and not a member of it. Pete Rose has a better chance of making the Hall of Fame.
That’s about the best apology you will likely get from anyone, Barry, about your involvement with steroids. All I ask is please don’t make me regret offering the apology by trying to out-jerk Roger.
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