Bonds a product of 'Steroid Era', By: Kevin Roberts
Monday, May 8, 2006
Barry Bonds didn't worry about the fans here.
"Dodger Stadium was worse," Bonds said, after he spent three games at Citizens Bank Park and left with one home run -- number 713 of his career. "This was nothing. L.A. beats them."
That doesn't mean Bonds didn't hear some of the taunts from the crowd. He did.
"They're supposed to be mature people," Bonds said. "But sometimes people act like children. And they bring kids, and say things in front of their kids. Your kids look up to you. You've got to deal with that on a personal level. If that's how you want your kids to be raised . . . "
This is the way the circus left town Sunday night, amid booing and ugliness. In the sixth inning Sunday -- after two homerless games -- Bonds did hit a home run. Bonds hit a 2-1 pitch from Jon Lieber off the facing of the upper deck (a positively Ruthian shot) for his 713th career home run. The crowd got a chance to take the moral high ground, booing loudly -- although some actually stood and cheered.
Bonds said he didn't care. His mom was in the crowd, making a trip here Saturday, and after a lengthy talk with his mother, Pat, Sunday Bonds found himself in a better state of mind.
"I'm just happy I didn't miss my mom's trip," Bonds said. "It was good to have my mom here. I had a chance to talk to her and get into a better mindset, focus on the things I needed to do. She helped me twist my head back on straight."
Bonds also responded to Cory Lidle's statements for the first time. Lidle was sharply critical of Bonds before the series, saying he hoped Bonds would not break any records and considered his numbers to be illegitimate.
"I don't really have a reaction," Bonds said. "I was told about it. I don't like to talk bad about anybody else. That's not my style. It never has been, and it never will be. If you're going to say something to me, say it to my face."
Now Bonds will pursue Babe Ruth, and said he was looking forward to "giving someone the opportunity to better their lifestyle."
"I might not show it all the time, but it's overwhelming," Bonds said. "Babe Ruth started it all. It's larger, I think, than the single-season record for home runs. It's big."
He'll do it in presumably more friendly venues. The locals here were fairly hostile, to no one's surprise.
The crowds here were excellent. Big in number and voice, people booed Bonds at every turn. But for the most part they kept it clean, and in front of a national television audience this area's sports fans did nothing to add to their shaky reputation.
In left field when Bonds jogged out, fans unfurled three giant banners:
"Ruth did it with hot dogs and beer, Aaron did it with class, How did YOU do it?"
Well. Everybody pretty much knows the answer by now, huh?
And this is how what should be a fantastic spectacle and wondrous achievement has become tawdry and ugly.
The greatest hitter in a generation is slugging his way into history . . . and it's horrible. Crowds are booing, the cops are closing in and the every game is a circus. Bonds has no one to blame but himself for this nonsense. It's an awful thing for him to endure, if we're to believe the way he breaks down in tears for his Bonds on Bonds reality TV series.
But it would be horribly short-sighted and wrong to make this all about Bonds. He's at the forefront because he's the only guy who's topped 700 home runs in the last 30 years, which is kind of a big deal. And he gained weight and got better after the age of 36 like no other player in history, except Roger Clemens (who we're totally not accusing of something, or anything). But Bonds is hardly the only player to face steroid accusations -- he's not even the only MVP to be ensnared by the BALCO grand jury.
He's just a product of his times. Bonds played in the Steroid Era, just as Babe Ruth played in the Segregated Era.
It didn't have to happen this way. Bonds is a great player, a first-ballot Hall of Famer even before the steroid mess.
