Barry Bonds hit his 755th home run last night...
...off a pitcher who had previously been suspended 15 games for using steriods back in 2005.
How's that for ironic?
When Mark McGwire hit number 62, we were all pretty much excited for him... at least if you go by the ratings and the fannies in the seats. That's because he was a likeable guy. A likeable, acne scarred guy whose body was freakishly bigger that it had been ten years prior. His head didn't seem to swell in proportion to the way Bonds had (literally and figuratively), but we knew what the deal was, and frankly we didn't care.
Last night, Barry Bonds was that nice guy. He carried his son, dodged any questions about the controversy, and even pointed the spotlight on A-Rod and Tom Glavine during his press conference. He was even gracious about the Bud Selig hubbub.
As a fan, I'll tell you right now, I could seriously care less whether or not Selig's ugly mug is at the 756 game and I don't think Bonds cares either.
We all know what the deal is with Barry and not only would he have been a first ballot Hall of Famer regardless of the steroids, but A-Rod will likely break his record. So, in the grand scheme of things, Barry is going to be a blip, and hopefully, so will Selig. I don't know how someone gets to be elected commisioner or if they can be fired, but Selig has acted like a first class jerk this whole time. Baseball never had drug testing before very recently, and benefitted greatly from the juicy home run chases of the late 90's. Now we're "clean", but lets not pretend that Buddy boy wasn't looking the other way to protect the bottom line.
So, now that we're on the verge of history--a history like all other history, clouded by human fallibility--the least Bud can do for baseball is to sit back and watch another ball fly like the rest of us and allow us to move on. Smile and clap or stay home, Bud. I don't like Barry Bonds... I almost did last night... ok, I sorta did... but this is my game and I'm behind it, and looking forward to the future. Unless you were bashing McGwire out of the side of your mouth nine years ago, you have no right to muddy this moment now.