So he’s done it, gone long into centre field and finally smashed the record. It’s a sunny Wednesday lunchtime here in Dublin as I type this, just been watching the mayham that was AT&T park last night on MLB.com and am sitting here wondering how I feel about it

I remember many moons ago watching on TV as Ben Johnson smashed  the 100m record and being awe inspired by the time he ran. Some things in life just do that to you. What Bonds has done is equally amazing. Next time you are at the Oriels or Phillies, go and stand by the bullpen, where you get a great view, watch the pitchers warming up from just a few feet away, hear the ball whizzing through the air and then think that Bonds has hit that out of the field 756 times. Truely amazing

Any yet………… confusion in my mind

Bonds has never failed a drugs test, never been convicted of any wrong doing, what happened to the great American tradition of innocent until proven guilty.?? Some people have said his record should have an asterisk next to it, why?? he’s innocent isn’t he? Truth be told if we put an asterisk next to Bonds, should we not put one next to Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb or Cy Young because they never played against black players, or an asterisk against Maris becuase he played more games in a season then Ruth did.?

And yet, why don’t I feel comfortable?. Is it because of Bonds attitude and the way he comes across in the media, in fairness, if he has done no wrong, would you blame him for being a bit surly. Look back over the decades, how many players were racist pigs?, how many were obnoxious clowns?, Babe Ruth was not exactly an example of decorum and restraint was he?.

More confusion………….

Maybe my issue is not with Bonds, maybe my issue is with baseball itself. I love this game, love the history and love the effort to compare a modern players achievement with his predecessors. Maybe I also feel a little guilty. How many of us can truthfully say that our team never had a juiced player over the last 10 years, never looked at some guy on opening day and thought, hmmmm? Let’s be honest, we don’t expect ESPN to put ground outs to first on the highlight reel, we want to see the ball going long and deep into the night. Did we as supporters fuel the steroid era with our desire for the quick fix of a home run, rather then the 3 hour patience of a pitching duel?

As an outsider, maybe I have a different view of American sports. To be honest, the US is the East Germany of the 21st century. If it is not baseball, it’s football, athletics, cycling, the list seems never ending of athletes and teams that cheat to improve themselves. The reality is that over the last 10 years baseball, most American sports have made little or no effort to eradicate the scourge that is steriod abuse. Only now, is some progress being made. Regardless of what Barry Bonds has or has not done in the past, let it now ignite the debate within the game about what needs to be done about steriods and let’s drive this cheating out of the game once and for all. We have a responsibility to mind this game for our children.

Maybe the asterisk therefore is not so much an asterisk over Bonds, more an asterisk over baseball itself and how the game has abused itself, the history of the game and us as fans and the many non juiced players over the last 10 years.

And as for Barry Bonds?? steriods or no steriods, I couldn’t hit one home run, not to mind 756 of them.!!!