Elite Company: Bonds won't stand with Aaron and Ruth
As Barry Bonds approaches 715 homers, there seems to be a bit of restraint:restraint from the fans, restraint from the media, and restraint from Major League Baseball.
I won't play dumb here and pretend to wonder why. In fact, I'll make my opinions known: I believe Barry Bonds used steroids. I believe the media in general is all but certain of it. And even though the MLB will play the whole "We don't celebrate second place" game, it's probably something more than that. More likely, the sport feels Bonds cheated and wants to stay as far away from him as possible.
Still, baseball's fearless leader, Bud Selig, has given no indication Bonds' records will be ignored by the books. So, unless something changes, Bonds will sit, very soon, ahead of Babe Ruth in home runs.
Bonds will likely be in elite company someday, though it may not be what he expects. It may not be fair to single out Bonds as the biggest cheater in the steroid era. There's little doubt there were countless others who cheated as well. But Bonds appears to be the biggest benefactor of the era.
Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' single-season homer record in 1998, certainly with the help of andro. If you saw his disgraceful performance in front of congress 14 months ago, you're likely to believe he had more to hide. Still, his record, in normal times, would not be quite as impressive as Bonds.
Of course, it's apples and oranges.
What is clear is Bonds has become the most maligned player in baseball since Pete Rose and the gambling scandal that broke some 17 years ago.
Bonds is destined to end up in very elite company. If he cheated (and anyone who reads Game of Shadows will find it difficult to believe otherwise), he won't be remembered with Babe Ruth, a man who saved baseball from itself in the 1920s, or Hank Aaron, who is remembered not only for his clout but also for his class.
No, Bonds will be remembered with Rose, and Joe Jackson. Rose played the game like no one before or since. He was on three teams that won the World Series, won the World Series MVP, and oh yes, banged out 4,256 hits, a record that will not soon be approached.
But you can't have a conversation about Rose without gambling coming up. He's not in the Hall of Fame. Rose is never discussed in terms of "greatest hitter ever." Instead, the arguments focus on whether he should be in Cooperstown, in light of the damage he did.
Jackson has been romanticized by the films Field of Dreams, and immortalized in Eight Men Out. What is lost is Jackson was one of the best hitters ever.
Five times in his career, Jackson had more than 200 hits. He finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .356. It was also rumored Babe Ruth copied his swing. Yet Jackson is synonymous with 1919, with the eight players who sold their souls, and with gambling. He's not in the Hall of Fame either.
Unlike those two, Bonds will probably never be banned from the game for life. It's also difficult to imagine him not being enshrined in Cooperstown. But mention Bonds' name, and steroids will come up. It will follow him wherever he goes. No one will be able to talk about his career without a mental asterisk. Bonds will pass Ruth, and may one day pass Aaron. However, he will never pass the unending controversy of drugs, scandal and cheating.
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