A federal grand jury charged baseball home run king Barry Bonds on Wednesday with a felony. Unfortunately, the obstruction of justice guilty verdict has provided little if any new information into Bonds’ connection with performance-enhancing drugs in the latter stages of his career. Had Bonds been convicted of knowingly taken performance-enhancing drugs, another chapter would have been closed in one of baseball’s darkest and dirtiest periods. Instead, questions will loom until it is time for the Hall of Fame to make its ruling on Bonds. There, and not in a courtroom, is where a decision will ultimately be made on Bonds because to him, that’s where it matters most.
Barry Bonds is unquestionably among the most elite players the game has ever seen. His rare combination of power and speed made him major threat both at the plate and on the base paths. With seven MVP awards, including four consecutive, eight gold gloves, and 14 All-Star appearances, he is among the games most decorated players. Oh, not to mention, he’s the games all-time leader in home runs and holds the single season record for long balls (73). Not only that, but he could also be the games biggest cheat.
Beginning in 2000 there was most certainly a noticeable change in Bonds’ physique. He looked like he had added 50 pounds of muscle and was hitting home runs at a mind-blowing frequency. This is a guy who looked like he should have been playing linebacker in the NFL, not swinging what looked like to be a twig in the major leagues. In 2001 Bonds would go on a tear that would etch his name into the record books for all time. He hit 73 home runs that season. For a guy who had never hit more than 49 in a season, 73 was quite a leap. In a five year span from 2000-2004 Bonds hit 258 home runs. The question must be asked though: Were they all clean hits. Did this man, who had grown to the size of the Hulk do this naturally? Just look at him now. Slimmed down and he doesn’t look like half of the man he was when he left the game in 2007.Understandably though, Bonds could not be convicted of knowingly have taken performance-enhancing drugs without ample enough evidence. The testimony was not convincing enough and credibility certainly had to have played part in the jury’s decisions. Maybe though, this decision was the best outcome possible. It is now up to the Hall of Fame to decide Bonds’ fate.
In one of the most damaging era’s in baseball history, players’ numbers and accomplishments will be scrutinized much more critically than in years past. Hall of Fame voters in the next ten years will be faced with their toughest task yet and that is to weed through who they feel benefited from performance-enhancing drugs. No longer will the numbers speak for themselves. The writers who vote have made it clear how they feel about any known steroid users or anyone whose name has been tossed into the conversation. In the 2011 voting both Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire’s votes went down and not before long will they find their names removed all together. There is no reason to think that they are going to be going up anytime soon.
Look at those two players who have already been eligible and have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Rafael Palmeiro, who denied ever using steroids in front of Congress, has become the poster boy for this new generation of “dirty players.” After testing positive for steroids, Palmeiro found himself out of the game faster than he could make that damning statement. Had it not been for the steroids, his 500 plus home runs and 3,000 hits would have made him a surefire hall of famer. Mark McGwire is another prime example. After denying and dodging questions about his alleged steroid use for some time after he left the game, McGwire finally admitted to using. Though he may never get into the HOF at least he has come clean and gotten a second chance from baseball. He is currently the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The list goes on and on. Former Boston Red Sock great Manny Ramirez just retired because he would not serve a 100 game suspension for his 3rd time testing positive for performance-enhancers (okay, that might have just been Manny being Manny). Roger Clemens is now awaiting his own trial in connection to steroids. With some of the games most elite players for the last 20 years being suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs it is hard to believe that anyone was clean during that era.
Respect. That is what is lost when players are found to have used performance-enhancing drugs. They lose the respect of their teammates, and maybe the most important, their fans. Barry Bonds, whether he is innocent or not, will be linked to the dirtiest era in baseball history. Just the fact that he holds the record for the most home runs in a career diminishes the reputation of the record as well as the game baseball itself. His fate will be decided in Cooperstown, New York in 2013 when he comes up for Hall of Fame eligibility.
written by Shane McFarland
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