Cheater

You and me and Barry Bonds have one thing in common. We’re all parents.

I’ll be blunt. I hate Bonds. Hate everything he represents, from his “fuck you” attitude towards the game, the media, the fans and most of his fellow players, to his pathetic attempts at blaming racism for his unpopularity, to his cheating. Yes, cheating: those of you who say that form, not power, is what sends a deep fly ball over the wall – you’ve never played the game. Form gets you 3 out of 5 homers. Form plus power gives you that fourth. And sometimes that fifth. Cheating: those of you who say that because steroids weren’t against “the rules”, Barry wasn’t a cheat – well, there are rules, and then there are Rules.  Barry’s apologists can say it makes no difference, or place the blame elsewhere (as Scoop Jackson does), but now that the truth is out there, Barry’s done. I predict he’ll leave the game in disgrace, and the records of those who didn’t need “help” to get their numbers will remain intact.

What really gets me, though, is this: Barry Bonds is a father. 

You’d never know it, though – he’s known for his introversion, and my Googling didn’t reveal the names of his children (free Bonds autographed syringe to the first commentor that provides these!). Now, his desire to keep his family out of the spotlight would be commendable, but I seem to recall him trotting out his son sometime last year and telling the press how much they are hurting him with their “stories”. So it’s not like his children are a well-kept secret.

No, what I think is this; that on some level, the idea that this man, this very public figure, would be so callous, selfish and amoral in pursuit of his place in sports history would conduct himself like this with his kids watching from the sidelines…somehow, we choose to ignore that. Maybe, to most of us, it’s just too hard to fathom. So we don’t bother trying. It’s too hard, to think of this man who was raised among some of the game’s greats, whose children idolize and trust him, turning his back on that.

History and science tell us what will most likely become of Barry. If he’s lucky, very lucky, he’ll live a long life, and one hopes that he’ll eventually regret the decisions he made. But given what’s been said about Barry’s usage, odds are he’ll be the next Lyle Alzado. His kids will get to watch him deteriorate, physically and mentally, and will no doubt ask, “Was it worth it, Dad?” And when that happens, there may still debate about whether or not Bonds cheated others out of their records, but surely no one will question the fact that he cheated his children out of so much more.