Bonds

Personally, I'm happy for Bonds. He's been as dominant as he is for the past twenty years. It's too bad that when approaching a great feat such as passing Babe Ruth on the all time homerun list, he became the scapegoat for the entire sport's steroid problems. This is one of the saddest moments in baseball history. Because he was the best from his time, Bonds will unfortunately always be remembered as the "Steroid Guy," and not get the respect that he deserves. Even if the official record books don't include it, an asterisk will forever accompany his name. Unappreciative fans need to recognize that Bonds still had to hit against pitchers on steroids. What other player on steroids did what he did? None. Personally, I feel sorry for Bonds and his legacy.

Now, Bonds serves as the ill-fated victim of an era of problems, of which Major League Baseball, the Players Association, and Bud Selig should suffer the blame. None of these parties allowed for sufficient steroid policies. This ultimately leads to players feeling the urge to keep up with the new par set with steroid standards. Although these drugs were officially banned, unofficially, they were accepted, thus encouraged. Bonds solely played within the rules as they were actually used. Sports reporters claim that players should be held responsible for their actions. But these reporters also neglect to place blame on those governing baseball.

Bonds may not have achieved his goals ethically, but he did reach the Babe in the record books. He should be celebrated, not booed. Bonds hit 714 homeruns to tie for second all time and the commissioner’s office and MLB did not even host a celebration. To me, this is a sad moment in baseball history to witness an icon like Bond have his great legacy tainted and ultimately ruined by a scapegoating asterisk.

Bonds