Easy as it is to despise Barry Bonds, although most of the world doesn’t know him beyond the surly image presented by media interviews, he is merely one more alleged cheater in a long line of cheats in the world of sport.
Who knows what Major League Baseball’s in-house investigation led by former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, now a Boston Red Sox’ director, will reveal — likely not a whole lot — in the weeks and months ahead. And whether it’s that every player or only a few in the major leagues has juiced up, it matters really only that they have operated outside the rules.
All sports have cheats. It is human nature to cheat. No, that doesn’t mean everyone cheats, but in situations where an edge is possible, someone will come up with a way to circumvent the intended rules of a game.
Bonds, right or wrong, happens to be the highest-profile ballplayer under suspicion of using steroids. Look at the guy now and 10 years ago and it’s easy to see why he would be suspect. Having a surly, miserable attitude toward the media hardly helps his cause.
Until injuries have slowed his progress, Bonds was moving toward the revered all-time home run record held by Hank Aaron who played in an era when cheating technology was more about a scuffed baseball or watering down basepaths to slow the base-stealing rabbits on the other team’s roster.
Baseball happens to be a sport in which cheating is accepted as standard practice. The lords of the game tend to turn a blind eye, accepting it as almost a time-honoured part of the sport.
Cheating is cheating. Isn’t the player who grabs on to an opponent’s soccer jersey to slow him down not breaking rules as surely as the sprinter who bulks up by juice or injection to turn in a world record performance?
Oddly, cheating is a multi-layered beast. It can somehow be categorized as having varying levels ranging from nudge-nudge, wink-wink acceptance to international scandal and disgrace.
Even though steroids is presently the ultimate sin, it can also be determined that hooking an opponent on a breakaway to the ice on the hockey rink is also cheating, as identified by the resulting penalty. Yet it is accepted as part of the game, a penalty is paid (usually) as the game proceeds.
Cheating a little bit seems to be okay. Cheating to any degree, for that matter, seems acceptable until the cheat is caught.
Babe Ruth, who held the major league single season home run record before Roger Maris came along, also used a foreign substance.
And that was long before alleged juice-men such as Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Bonds started racking up homers.
In the case of the Bambino, however, it was more likely the resultant hangover caused him more hindrance than help.
It’s tough enough hitting a baseball, without having to decide which of the three coming at you is real.
What foreign substance are you talking about? Used it where, how? Do you have a source that you are citing?
I would appreciate, and will anticipate your response.
Posted by: Mike Murphy | February 06, 2008 at 03:00 PM