Bonds

My main reaction to what Bonds is doing is sadness. Growing up a baseball fan, I'd never thought I'd see someone break Aaron's record, and I always envisioned it as something quite exciting. The cloud over Bonds (we know he cheated, but how much, for how long, and how much did it actually affect his play will never be known) diminishes the event, no matter what.

I don't condemn him as much as others do, because excluding him from the record books, etc, would require going back through history and doing the same to all of the myriad cheaters throughout the history of baseball - Gaylord Perry, Whitey Ford, every player in the 60's and 70's who took amphetamines, and so on and so on. That's not realistic (and we don't know who did what exactly).

I won't celebrate the accomplishment the same way I want to, and might if ARod gets there someday. If I had a vote, I'd still vote him and Sammy and McGwire into the HOF, although not with joy.

Barry Bonds will hopefully retire at the end of the year as the all-time HR leader (although there's an interesting article on Baseball Prospectus about how, in today's game, Babe Ruth's 714 are equivalent to over 1000 dingers). Rather than being perceived as the truly great player he was, however, his legacy will be that of doubt and anger and sadness.