It’s that special time of year again, and I can’t help but be excited. No, it’s not just holiday season, but baseball controversy season. However, due to the most recent years in sports, we should call it something clever, like “Cheating.” Oh, I guess that’s a little more true than clever.
Current inmates have already placed an asterisk next to Bonds' future benchlifting record at the prison
But as controversy season starts up and we’re waiting for Jose Mesa to be accused of his next sexual assault or stabbing, the Bonds indictment can keep us entertained. Four years after the initial BALCO trial, the government decides Bonds was lying about his steroid use. In the last four years, they’ve gotten no real evidence and the only person who could testify against Bonds, his trainer Greg Anderson, already said he’s willing to go to jail instead.
Anderson is out of his mind. He’s already been to prison twice: once because he was guilty of conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering; the other time because he wouldn’t testify against Bonds. If your trainer/friend/convicted steroids dealer goes to jail so he doesn’t have to testify, it means he’s keeping a huge secret.
I think some jail time might be good for Bonds. He’ll get to lift a lot of weights and make some new friends – maybe they can supply him with “athletic support” when they get out too. Eventually, he could be released, ghost-write a book and enjoy his later years not being in the Hall of Fame. Honestly, I think Bonds would stand a better chance in prison than Anderson with his pretty-boy soul patch. Look at a picture of either of these two: aren’t they just the epitomes of innocence?
So where does this leave baseball? Some say that Bonds helps the game, making it more exciting. That’s the general argument about the whole steroids era – it’s the “Sosa and McGwire saved baseball” thing. On the other hand, most say that Bonds is ruining the game, and I tend to agree. Personally, if I were any pitcher in the MLB that had to pitch against Bonds, I would’ve thrown it at his fat head. If you can hit a catcher’s mitt, you can definitely hit that overgrown face.
And as Bonds ruins baseball, as many fans believe, Bud Selig sits by and does nothing. There are now rumors that because of the indictment, Selig might suspend Bonds next season. That would be ludicrous – Selig should’ve suspended Bonds back in April, before he broke the record. Now, it should be a lifetime ban, just like Pete Rose. Rose may have bet on games, but at least he wasn’t injecting an advantage.
Do I think Bonds will go to jail? No, he’s too rich and there’s really no evidence against him. The government is proceeding with the indictment because they know they have nothing left to uncover. All the people that should speak out against him most likely won’t and he’ll just leave the court with a smug smile on his fat face.
Do I think Bonds will get to the Hall of Fame? Hell no. The latter part of his career has been too affected by controversy and we shouldn’t forget who gets to vote him in – the press. I don’t know if there’s a person the press loves to hate more than Bonds, so that bodes well for him not going to Cooperstown. Well, I suppose he could still get in to the Hall of Fame though, but he’d just have to pay admission like the rest of us.
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