Well, it's one of the two or three biggest stories in baseball, and this is one of the two or three biggest moments in the development of that story. Far from there being too much Bonds talk, there isn't enough. We've all been culpable in letting him get this far by acting like his side of the story can be taken seriously. It can't. Journalistic objectivity carried to absurdity is a substantial cause of the current mess.
I'm not some rabid player hater for bringing this up. It's a
mainstream position. I think it's even a majority position at this point. There are few things more important in baseball than rejecting Barry Bonds and everything he stands for.
Gene Wojciechowski wrote:
Bonds is finished. He might play again, but there is only a chalk outline left around his integrity and home run totals. And the only way he gets into Cooperstown is if he spends the $14.50 for a Hall of Fame admission ticket.
I agree.
And as Wojciechowski also points out, the saddest part is that Bonds would easily have been a Hall of Famer without illegal substances. No, he wouldn't have hit 73 home runs in a season, and probably would not have challenged Hank Aaron's record, but he still had a legitimate shot at being considered one of the dozen or so best players ever to play the game. That wasn't sufficient for him, and for cheating he should forfeit even that to which he would otherwise have been entitled.
But I say all of that only by way of defending the proposition that discussing Bonds is important. I posed a bona fide question to start this thread, and it's still on the table: Do people think Barry Bonds will play in a Major League Baseball game this season, now that this book has been released? If so, do you think he'll play the whole season?
My money is on him retiring by the All-Star Break at the latest.