SamSaid!

BONDS

ON AUGUST 7TH, BARRY BONDS HIT HIS 756TH HOME RUN AND BECAME THE ALL-TIME HOME RUN HITTER IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL HISTORY. HE BROKE THE RECORD PREVIOUSLY HELD BY HENRY AARON OF THE ATLANTA BRAVES AND HE NOW BECOMES THE RECORD HOLDER…. WELL, SORT OF. IT SEEMS THAT THERE IS A HUGE QUESTION ABOUT BONDS AND HIS HOMER HITTING —— THAT BEING HIS USE OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS FOR SEVERAL YEARS. A SIMPLE TRANSLATION IS THAT BONDS CHEATED TO GET HIS HIGHLY SOUGHT RECORD.

BY VIRTUALLY ANY YARDSTICK, BONDS IS ONE OF THE TOP TEN HITTERS IN BASEBALL HISTORY. HE DIDN'T HAVE TO CHEAT TO WIN THAT STATUS. BUT BEING THE HOME RUN KING IS ANOTHER MATTER. AARON HAS BEEN GRACIOUS, BUT THE BASEBALL MOGULS HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM ON THEIR HANDS. DO THEY IGNORE THE CHEATING BY BONDS AND RECOGNIZE HIS RECORD, OR DO THEY NEGATIVELY LABEL A BLACK ICON AS THE DRUGGIE THAT HE IS?

BONDS IS STILL PLAYING AND WILL NO DOUBT HIT MORE HOME RUNS. BUT NO MATTER HOW THE DRUG ISSUE IS SETTLED, THERE WILL ALWAYS
BE A DARK CLOUD HANGING OVER BONDS AND THE WAY HE INGESTED DRUGS TO GAIN HIS OBJECTIVE. HE CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT. THAT DARK CLOUD WILL NOT GO AWAY AS LONG AS BASEBALL RECORDS ARE KEPT AND DISCUSSED.

LITERATURE HAS THE “SCARLET lETTER” — “A”. NOW BASEBALL HAS IT'S OWN “SCARLET LETTER” — “C”.