Tonight I purchased tickets to see the San Francisco Giants play the Milwaukee Brewers next month in San Francisco. I’m excited about this for many reasons. 1) Buying the ticket forces me to stick to my desire to visit SF. There’s no backing out now. 2) I’ve never been to San Francisco, so I will get to visit a new place. 3) I get to go to — from what I have heard — one of the nicest facilities in major league baseball. For these three reasons, I am very excited about my purchase. What doesn’t matter to me in the least is the fact that I may see Barry Bonds play during the season in which he broke Hank Aaron’s record. Truth is, by the time the game rolls around at the end of August, Aaron’s record will most likely have been demolished, and Bonds, with his deteriorating knees and increasingly codger-like state, will probably not even take the field that night. And that doesn’t matter to me one bit.

I read this article which gives a few excuses as to why it is okay to root for Barry Bonds. One such excuse is that he was a hall of fame player before the steroid controversy ever darkened his door.Yes, but the steroid controversy did darken his door. Such a controversy, especially on the eve of achieving immortality, is pungent in the stench that it leaves in its wake. Bonds was one of the purest hitters the game has ever seen, and on top of that, he was quite proficient in the outfield, winning eight golden gloves. But he won’t be remembered for that. Perhaps if he had retired after passing Willie Mays or even Babe Ruth, the criticism wouldn’t be so searing. But he doesn’t want some of the glory. He wants all of it. And as a result, he must pay the price of compromising his integrity.

The article also suggests that Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron had advantages given to them as well. Ruth need only hit the ball 295 ft. to homer out of Yankee stadium during his day, and the pitching mounds were lowered during Aaron’s time, giving batters a better advantage. Can’t argue with that. Only…Ruth didn’t build Yankee stadium and Aaron didn’t lower the mound. If (and in my mind WHEN) Bonds injected or applied or ingested performance enhancing drugs, he did it on his own or told someone to do it for him. Bonds was in control. Ruth never played black pitchers. I hate that. We will never know how truly great he was because not all men were allowed to play the game during his time. Aaron had to endure the indignities thrust upon him by bigots and Neanderthals. One can only imagine what it must be like to play with the cloud of hatred and potential physical harm following you wherever you go. But again, these things were out of the control of the men who played the game. Bonds was and has always been in control.

Bonds’ fans in San Francisco are like the little kids who are constantly neglected by their deadbeat dads but refuse to accept the fact that the man ain’t no good. How they could vote Bonds into the All-Star game is unfathomable to me?

Most of us struggle with our integrity from time to time — with making the right decisions, the most ethical decision. I’m not above sin. But for some reason, the hubris of this one man really bugs me. I am especially bugged because this man is placing a stain on, in my opinion, the greatest sport America ever created, as well as devaluing the greatest sporting record. Hank Aaron will not be there to celebrate Bonds’ feat when 755 becomes the second best number of homers hit in a career. My only other hope is that Barry is on the road when the record is shattered. Circling the bases beneath a deluge of boos would seem to me to be the most appropriate moment for a sham.