You Guessed It. Another Barry Bonds Blog

By now, people are probably fed up with the continuing Barry Bonds saga, but I’ll give my opinion on the topic anyway.

With the Grand Jury investigation continuing, with an indictment sought against Barry Bonds, and with the presumption of guilt that the media has fed the public with, I will try and put a more rational spin on the story.

Let me address the term “cheating” which is being applied to players who have been alleged to use performance enhancing substances. First of all, baseball history is full of players and managers trying to get an edge on the competition through dishonest means or trickery. With corked bats, pine tar, spit balls, hidden ball tricks, signal stealing, mound raising, and many other tricks or manipulations used in baseball, the idea of gaining an advantage through health supplements appears to be quite innocent to me. So why all the fuss, especially surrounding Barry Bond’s potential use of performance enhancing supplements? What’s wrong?

Is it that the substances used by Barry Bonds and other players were illegal? Well, since no steroid or hormonal supplements were banned from baseball when the alleged use took place, and the vast majority of known supplements were legal at the time, no. In light of this, how do we determine which substances qualify as legitimate and which ones are illegitimate or “cheating”? We’d have to narrow our criteria to the illegal steroids and drugs that players were tested for since the allegations surfaced. Barry Bonds has tested negative time and time again from 20003 onwards, and continued to knock baseballs out of the ballpark all the while. So what’s the problem?

I feel that it’s the media’s desire to create a big story. With the value that people place on baseball’s history, it’s legends and it’s records, and with an uncertainty about the effects of newly discovered health supplements and products, this leaves open an area for journalists to delve into . That if an allegation or even hearsay evidence suggests a dishonest method was used in reaching and breaking records of baseball legends, readers and viewers will feed on it and respond. That’s journalism ignoring the real facts and using hearsay to prey upon the weak and sensitive areas of the readers or audience.

We are in an era of discovery, of medical breakthroughs, with so many new health supplements entering the market each year, that the full effects and status of these new products are unknown. Major League Baseball is just now discovering the fine lines that must be drawn to separate the good and beneficial health products from the bad ones. Could it be that the sports media has used this uncertainty in order to create and sell a phantom story with allegations which has lead to a Grand Jury investigation? That’s where I’m leaning. That where the facts are concerned, thus far, Barry Bonds appears to be innocent of any type of “cheating”.

Check out Barry Bonds Career Stats.

Mark C. - (Baseball Etc.)