Don't Hate the Player; Hate the Game!
May 24, 2006
By
David Newby
Sometimes we tend to misplace blame, or perhaps simplify it, especially when we feel threatened (or perhaps guilty). If we are concerned about the price of gas, we can blame the oil companies instead of addressing the real problem (our wanton addiction and overuse of fuel). If a kid shoots up a school, we can point the finger at gun laws or video games or music in lieu of taking responsibility for failed parenting or inattentive and insensitive school leadership. In the case of Barry Bonds, we can ignore the fact that he followed an entire generation of ballplayers in using performance-enhancing drugs (allegedly), and that we sat on the edge of our collective seats in awe of the subsequent barrage of long-balls, simply because he is the only one to approach the career home run total of the revered Babe Ruth (or is it something more sinister, like his attitude, or race).
To make ourselves feel better about it, we can make it simple: He cheated. But is it really cheating when many, if not most, of his co-workers were also doing it? Is it cheating if his bosses knew about it but looked the other way, all the while promoting the results of it? Is it cheating when the hot babe gets by with a warning from the traffic cop? Is it cheating if your accountant finds a loophole in the system to squeeze you into a more favorable tax bracket?
Everybody knew Michael Jordan could take an extra step without being called for traveling, so he took advantage of it. Was he a cheater? Did Wayne Gretzky, while in the midst of another end to end rush, ever stop along the way and say, “Let me give up the puck, because any other player in the game would have been knocked into the third row by now, but everybody knows nobody is allowed to touch me”? Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux made careers of working just off the plate, knowing they would get the calls while lesser pitchers would not. In the name of good sportsmanship, shouldn't they have stopped throwing those pitches, or at least demanded they be called balls?
If The Game itself is permitting it, if not encouraging it, how can it be called cheating? In the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s players like Mickey Mantle were staying out partying all night and then popping “little greenies” the next day to get up for the game. To this day I haven’t heard a single call to put asterisks by any or their statistics. There’s no way to determine to what degree amphetamines aided those players. If they didn’t help, why was the usage so widespread?
By most accounts, Bonds started juicing after the McGwire/Sosa assault on Roger Maris’ record in 1998. By that time he had already established himself as the best player of his generation. Unlike many “stars” of his time, he didn’t make his career off of the juice. By 1998 he had already won three MVP awards and eight Gold Gloves and reached the prestigious 30/30 club (for homers and steals) 5 times (equaling the record of his father Bobby), including a 40/40 season (one of just two such seasons ever) in 1996. In 1999, based on statistics through 1997, The Sporting News ranked Bonds at number 34 in their list of The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time with the next closest active position player being Ken Griffey Jr. at number 93.
Let’s imagine that Barry never let the “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” mentality take hold of him. He has played seven seasons since his alleged steroid use began, so let’s erase those years from his stat-sheet. Let’s take the seven seasons starting with 1998 and going back and then add them to his totals through that last “pure” season, assuming that he would have proceeded at that same pace to this day. The totals might surprise you. He would have played in many more games, as steroids have been known to cause injury, and likely would have continued stealing bases and winning Gold Gloves, parts of his game that fell off dramatically after the ’98 season. Through 2005, the results find Bonds with his lifetime totals of 2,078 runs upped to 2,165, 2,742 hits to 2,997, 1,853 RBI to 1,979 and 506 stolen bases to 678. His career .300 average would have dipped to .296 and his home run total of 708 would be 680, still giving him a shot at catching The Babe and certainly in range of becoming the second player in Major League history with 3,000 hits and 700 Home runs. Do you still want to keep him out of the Hall of Fame?
Chances are, nothing I can say will change your mind, because you want to sentence Bonds for the crimes of his entire generation. But I say if you are to keep Bonds out, we should keep the entire generation out, or at least have as thorough an investigation into the past of each candidate as Barry has been subject to. Even then, the players that weren’t guilty are guilty by association. If you were clean but the guy hitting behind and in front of you were juiced, clearly your stats benefited. So, in essence, to belittle Bonds’ accomplishments in the slightest are to condemn the entire generation of players and stats.
I am a baseball purist myself, and I hate what happened to the game since the early 1990’s. First, we had the strike that cheated us of a World Series. Then, in an effort to win back support, Baseball as an institution let down a generation of players and fans, and turned its back on Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and all the greats that built the game by exploiting the long ball. By way of advertising and the big contracts handed out to the juiced players, they encouraged the steroid era. The fans kept buying tickets and merchandise at unprecedented rates. Now the same people, including King Hypocrite Bud Selig, want to act as if Barry Bonds is a villain, unworthy of recognition for his amazing feats. If you’re one who needs to place blame, how about looking at the owners, League Office, Player’s Association, and maybe even the mirror. Perhaps then you can take a moment to appreciate possibly the best all-around baseball player of all time.
Somewhere, I bet The Babe is toasting a beer to him. It’s okay. Unlike the famed drinking he did through much of his career, that’s legal now.
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what a jerk..... did you really sign up just to make that post?
I don't hate Bonds because of steroids. I dislike him because he like John P does not care about other people. He is short with the media, behaves poorly to fans, and is a general jerk. He earned a spot in the HOF even before he kicked the juice up to Venice Beach standards. Luckily neither he, Sosa, or Big Mac's cheating won a World Series.
Note: I believe when you mention about Bonds had one of two ever 40/40 seasons, you forget either A-Rod or Canseco to make it 3.
The answer to all of these is a resounding yes. Cheating is cheating.
Are you familiar with the phrase social sin, because it definitely applies to this situation.
If I (a white adult male) were living in Mobile, Alabama in the 1960s, would it be okay for me to practice racism? After all, I'd be living in a culture of racism. White people around me are practicing racism, does that mean it's okay for me too as well?
If I'm a teenager growing up in the projects, is it excusable for me to become a drug addict if a large portion of the population within the projects consisted of drug addicts?
The answer of course to both of these is no, though they are products of social sin. And while social sin may make it difficult for people to overcome the wrongs and evils around them, it doesn't make it impossible.
Though I certainly understand why Bonds (and others) took steroids, it doesn't mean for one second that I have to forgive it. Anyone who knowingly took steroids cheated (and please do not talk to me about the lack of hard evidence on Bonds; we all buried our heads in the sand in 1998, and I'm hoping that most have pulled their heads out by now). Just because players around them were doing it does not mean that they had to do it.
I will agree that Bonds is perhaps unfairly scrutinized because he is clearly the most prominent figure in this whole farce. But guess what? If it weren't him, it'd be someone else who took on the brunt of this whole steroid mess (and likely, unfairly so).
I'm mad that baseball turned a blind eye on this problem, and like you wrote, even encouraged their players to become mutants who could probably bench press my truck. But I don't forgive players who succumbed to using steroids either. They know what they did, and the fact of "everyone else was doing it" is a straw man argument.
You say "Don't hate the player, hate the game." In this instance, can't I hate them both?
what a jerk..... did you really sign up just to make that post?
I don't hate Bonds because of steroids. I dislike him because he like John P does not care about other people. He is short with the media, behaves poorly to fans, and is a general jerk. He earned a spot in the HOF even before he kicked the juice up to Venice Beach standards. Luckily neither he, Sosa, or Big Mac's cheating won a World Series.
yes I did.....when I read this article, it was so oblivious to reality that I felt I had to respond to hopefully set the record straight. I think that the writer of the article probably wrote with some intention to cause a reaction from the reader. if you think he is that sensitive to some good natured criticism, then he should stop writing opinionated articles.
the problem that no one seems to care about is that our sacred baseball records are falling to use of steroids. I have a problem with that because the game I love is never going to be the same. I wouldn't have a problem with steroids (legal or illegal) if it didn't give a player mad-power. the fact that its bonds (why do you care if he is a jerk or not - you are obviously a very sensitive and feeling person) breaking these records is not the issue. would everyone feel better if brady anderson kept juicing and it was him that was hitting 715? he was a nice guy and treated the fans well and got along with the media. its bonds who is breaking these records so it should be bonds who gets crucified.
the writer of the article seems to be trying to get past the 'jerk' that everyone perceives bonds to be and gives him a free pass because guys in the 50's were taking uppers and selig was turning his back to the problem (not proven). he is totally going into denial to what is really happening, the sport of baseball that we knew and loved is gone, and its because of greedy people like bonds, mcguire (by the way, he did win a world series and he was probably juicing at the time) and sosa. so, instead of adding bonds' gigantic head to mt. rushmore, fans and writers need to a little bit more passionate about what our kids are going to miss out on. hate the problem, not the blogger.
*wipes forehead*