Barry Bonds and the home run record

I'm really saddened but not surprised by the hostilities aimed at slugger Barry Bonds. Whatever happened to due process?

As a baseball fan I'm more than a little interested in this. On one hand there seems to be a preponderance of circumstantial evidence to suggest that he juiced up but I'm holding off judgment until the facts are in and we have indisputable proof that he took steroids (though I do know that taking steroids does not enhance hand-to-eye coordination or bat speed, both of which are integral to power hitting--if they did we'd all be home run hitters).

On the other hand, methinks this is all part of a larger issue: the erosion of the game by the owners to entice fans. They did everything they could to expand the fan base. They wanted home runs and high scoring games. But in doing so, they played a little fast and loose with their own rules and my guess is that this dance with the devil allowed the steroids thing to happen and thus bit them in the ass big time.

They lowered the pitching mound 6 inches in 1968. They've been bringing in the fences for years. God knows how many homes runs Ruth, Aaron, Mays or Mantle would have hit in these smaller ball parks. They added teams, expanding the leagues but diminishing the talent pool. They probably juiced up the ball--I have no proof of this but it would be impossible to prove if it were a systemic (officially sanctioned) problem which it no doubt was. And they really had no drug policy until recently. Mark McGuire, who seems to have escaped most fans wrath, was taking androstenedione, an over-the-counter muscle enhancement product. While legal for use in MLB, it had been banned by the NFL and IOC.

To be really clear, the game has always had players who pushed the boundaries of acceptable behavior from drugs (amphetamines including greenies), alcohol, gambling and so on. Baseball has always turned a blind eye towards these miscreants until the damage becomes too severe for even them to ignore. For example, there was officially sanctioned cheating with the spitball which was only outlawed in 1920 only after Ray Chapman was killed by an errant spitball (though certain pitchers like Burleigh Grimes were grandfathered and allowed to continue using it) and I think it safe to say that doctoring the baseball in some way, shape or form (I hear sandpaper is the tool of choice) is still prevalent today.

So for me, this focus on Barry is sort of a non issue. I suspect there are a few things going on here, none of which I find attractive or meaningful. One, a lot of this is because he is black, fairly intelligent and his own man--"an uppity black man" at that. For many this is nothing more than an excuse for the closet bigots among us to take aim at an important sports figure.

Secondly, this is an opportunity to take part in America's favorite blood sport--eviscerating an icon. One of the great American themes is that this is a land of opportunity which allows one to determine one's own destiny. We celebrate those who rise above us. Our popular culture wills us to put people on pedestals and then allows us to relish the opportunity to rip them apart and bring them back down to earth with us mere mortals.

Real baseball fans know the record was compromised years ago--not by Barry Bonds or any one player--but by the leagues and team owners themselves.