No Safety in Bonds

So Barry Bonds gets booed loudly during hist first spring training at-bat, after allegations of steroid use are actually published.

Why?

Who DIDN'T know that he was on the juice? All of those fans cheered when he was hitting his 73 home runs a couple of years ago. Come on. Suddenly the fans have their panties in a wad now that any home run record he sets might be tainted? They all saw the king parading naked for years now.

And would the record be tainted? I am aware of no evidence that Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, or Hank Aaron were not on steroids. Except that, in reviewing photos from old baseball cards, their hat size did not double in the last 10 years of their careers.

But, here I find myself talking about this as if it matters. This is baseball, it's a game. Are records really that important? In the big picture, no. Baseball players and other athletes are simply paid entertainers, there to amuse the masses. Nobody complains when an actress gets a boob job. Isn't that cheating? Ah, but the kids look up to them (I'm talking about the ballplayers here - well, OK, the boobs too). From that perspective, it's deplorable, as more young folks take the example that using steroids are the fast, easy way to athletic success.

Further, don't forget the role that capitalism has played. Baseball entertainment is big business. And it's steroids that put fans back in the seats after the labor dispute in the early 90's, the same way that Babe Ruth's performance brought it back after the Black Sox scandal in the 20's. Perhaps the fickle fans just need a reminder about reasons that they are there to begin with.

So you don't like it that Barry Bonds allegedly used steroids? Talk with your wallet. Stay home from the games, don't watch Fox Sports or ESPN, and don't drink Budweiser or Coors. Tune in to PBS instead, read the Washington post instead of the Sporting News, all while enjoying a nice glass of merlot instead of a lager. Yep, sounds much more fun.

As for me, I'll get my fill watching Thing 1 out there on the T-Ball field this spring. Playing for love of the game.