Sitting in Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night as the Dodgers took the field against the Giants, I couldn't get something out of my mind. Do I really hate Barry Bonds?
When Bonds stepped foot onto the field at Chavez Ravine he was showered by boo's and possibly booze if a fan could get close enough. However, when he stepped to the plate the place went silent and everyone held their breath as the pitch was released from the pitchers hand. If contact was made and the ball did not travel over the wall, everyone in the stadium exhaled at once. It was the first time to my knowledge that I exhaled along with Paris Hilton - that is, of course, assuming she knows who Barry Bonds is. After he made contact, it was if everyone in the stadium wanted to watch the ball sail over the wall as a sort of guilty pleasure.
I am one of those people who says that they hate Barry Bonds and says that they hope he never breaks Humble Hammerin' Hank's rountripper record. Although another side of me thinks that I might like to be alive when that record is broken and can't wait for Alex Rodriguez to break it in 2012. It hurts to know that it will be the steroids breaking the record and not the player but we still hold Mark McGwire in such high regard and he was caught red handed with Andro.
I have also noticed another tradgedy within this comedy, We hate Bonds more on TV than we do in real life.
It is easy to sit at home and scream at the TV when Bonds comes up, but you want the Giants to be on TV every night. You want to know Bonds' line for the night. But, you see him step to the plate and waggle his bat with that arrogant look on his face and that fat chew in his mouth and he is much easier to hate than when you are sitting in the second deck of Dodger Stadium or Petco Park or Coors Field or Chase Field.
When you see Barry take the field and everyone is boo-ing and shouting profanities at him you have to feel for the guy. If you don't, you might lack a soul. People shout such off-the-wall dumb things as well. At Dodger Stadium I heard the following from fans:
1. "Barry Sucks, Barry Sucks, Barry Sucks" - Let's get serious. Does Barry really suck? If he sucks so bad why does Pedro Gomez from ESPN follow his every move? Does your neighbor who sucks at softball get stalked by the media?
2. One guy yelled, "Steroids". One word. Are you attempting to clarify the pronounciation of the word to Barry? At least make it a part of a sentence.
3. "BALCO Sucks" - If BALCO sucks than why did it make Barry hit so many home runs?
4. "Ba-rry Cheat-ed clap, clap, clap, clap, clap" (repeat) - Is it really cheating if your sport is too dumb to make it illegal? Putting weights in a Bobsled is cheating because it is against bobsledding rules. If nobody told Barry not to take roids (outside of the laws of this country of course) then why not?
Does it bother me that one of the biggest jerks in the league is going to be on top of the coveted all-time home run list? Of course. However, I do think that it is about time that we start ignoring Bonds distance from the record. Don't you see it? Barry wants you to boo him. Every time someone boos they are acknowledging that Barry might become the all-time leader in home runs. We need to be silent during Bonds' at bats so he gets to the point where he says, "Why doesn't anyone care that I am about to break the record?" If you REALLY hate Barry, that would be the best thing to do.
After this record is broken - and it WILL be broken - generation after generation will pass down the story of the great slugger who used drugs to become a superhero. Whether or not we give him an asterisk in the record books or deny him from the Hall of Fame he will never, ever feel like he has the record. He will always know how he got it. He has to live with that. What a depressing life this home run king leads.
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