With
or without steroids, Bonds is still the best in the game
By Savie
Maneen
Magis staff writer
As it
stands now, Barry Bonds is in third place on the all-time
home run list. By the end of this season, he'll have taken
over second place and be right on the heels of Hank Aaron.
Wow, the
greatest player of our generation is going to contend for
the unbreakable record.
What strikes
me as odd is how just a few weeks ago, in the midst of BALCO
and numerous steroid accusations, Barry represented all that
was wrong with baseball. Now he's a hero, savior, and the
next home run king.
How Barry
went from speedy Juan Pierre-like outfielder to big bopper
is for another time. Steroids, weight-training – believe what
you will.
The fact
of the matter is that Barry is still one of the single greatest
players to ever play.
For instance,
last week, as the world held its breath waiting for Bonds
to pass Mays, Barry, rather than chase a pitch to send over
the fence, noticed the defensive shift the Brew-Crew had on
him, and doubled the other way.
That is
what a good player does - gives his team a chance to win.
And that is what Barry did. He still remains the most disciplined
batter at the plate and can drive a ball to any field. He
is one of those guys you plan an entire game strategy around.
He stays in amazing shape and trains harder than anyone in
the league. With or without steroids, he's one of the best.
So maybe
I'm just too naïve to admit that our generation's Babe
Ruth is juiced up more than a SAGE egg roll, but I'll give
Barry the benefit of the doubt. Until the MLB does something
serious about drugs and some empirical evidence is shown,
let's sit back and watch history unfold.
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