Bonds doesn't get it and never will
Truth be told, Barry's a little scary
February 23, 2005
BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
He is a despicable human being. There is no other way to describe Barry (The Cream and The Clear) Bonds, who had an opportunity to tell the truth about steroids Tuesday and instead delivered an antagonistic, irrational and arrogantly defiant rant that only raises suspicions he's one of the biggest phonies of our sporting lives.
We wanted light shed on the dirt, some sort of reason to believe he hasn't achieved his historic power numbers via performance-enhancing drugs. We wanted Bonds to explain why America shouldn't turn its head and hold its nose when he one-ups Babe Ruth's 714th home run early this baseball season, then pursues the hallowed record of the regal and juice-free Henry Aaron. Instead, with the cameras shining on him for the first time in months, he came off as an angry, sweating man with much to hide.
The public trust is not to be treated like a lazy fastball at the letters. Typically, Bonds tried to crush it with his intimidating might. That gust of wind you felt was of a slugger whiffing badly, a strikeout that should remind one and all that his stalking of all-time milestones is the sham of shams.
''You guys are like re-running stories. It's old stuff, like watching 'Sanford and Son.' It's comical, basically,'' Bonds shouted at his press conference, accusing the media of ''lying'' in their coverage of the steroids scandal that has rocked sports. ''You've got alcoholism, the No. 1 killer in America, and we're legalizing that to buy in stores. You've got tobacco, the No. 2, 3 and 4 killer in America. We legalize that. Next week, when we have some other tragedy, you're gonna say, 'Save our children.' You're going to be saying how we're evil people. It's one thing after another. It's become 'Hard Copy' all day long. Are you guys jealous, upset, disappointed, what?''
No, Barry, we're just wondering whether you used steroids or not. Is that too much to ask, knowing there's no use in conducting sports events and charging astronomical ticket prices if the athletes are dirty? We're wondering because you just happened to introduce Jason Giambi, an acknowledged steroids user, to your friend and personal trainer, Greg Anderson, who has been indicted in the BALCO scandal. We're wondering because you testified to a grand jury that Anderson gave you a clear substance and a cream -- steroids by any name -- though you claimed to believe it was ''flaxseed oil.'' We're wondering because this is a very delicate time in sports, with the lines blurring between what's real and fraudulent.
Nothing to celebrate
''All of you have lied. Should you have an asterisk behind your names?'' he lectured, almost maniacal in tone. ''All of you have dirt. When your closet is clean, then come clean someone else's. Right now, baseball needs to go forward. You guys need to turn the page, let us play the game. We will fix it. Don't turn it into a spectacle because you have the freedom to come into our office and snoop and make up stories.''
Letting Bonds and the muscle gang fix baseball is like handing the prison keys to the inmates. As his weak scare tactics extended beyond a half-hour, it was obvious he'd lost any opportunity to strike a tone of goodwill among fans. He said he expects the masses to celebrate his chase for No. 756, but again, he is deluding himself. Sure, there always will be yokels in the Bay Area who want the pride and joke of the San Francisco Giants to pass Aaron. But those people allow local allegiances to shroud common sense, much like Yankees fans who encouraged Giambi and Cubs fans who cheered Sammy Sosa after his corked-bat farce. Rational Americans should boo Bonds every chance they get the next two seasons, particularly after he used his Arizona session to spew more racial garbage about the Ruth chase. Two summers ago, when Bonds was in town for the All-Star Game, he said he was inspired to pass Ruth because he was white. Tuesday, he was asked why he believes people don't necessarily want him to beat The Babe.
''Because Babe Ruth is one of the greatest players ever, and Babe Ruth ain't black, either,'' Bonds said. ''I'm black. Blacks, we go through it a little more. I'm not a racist, but I live in the real world.''
He credits 'hard work'
He was just as delusional when answering the tough questions, still posed despite an edict from a Giants public-relations man not to ask questions related to BALCO and grand-jury testimony. Someone asked Bonds if he thinks steroids is cheating. ''I don't know what cheating is,'' he said. ''I don't believe steroids can help your eye-hand coordination and technically hit a baseball. I just don't believe it.''
What does he think of steroids use in the game? ''I never really paid any attention to it, nor did I really care,'' he said. ''I worried about me. That's it. I was good then, and I'm still good.''
How has he been able to hit a stunning 258 homers the last five years after hitting 445 in his previous 14 seasons? ''Hard work,'' he said. ''That's about it.''
Jose Canseco suspects Bonds is a steroids user. What does Bonds think of the best-selling author? ''There's a code in baseball that you're to respect your peers, regardless of whatever. This whole thing has become a circus,'' he said of Canseco, who has credibility as a member of the steroids culture when he names names in his book. ''I don't know Canseco, other than to say hello and goodbye. Mark McGwire was a big boy in college, and he hit a lot of home runs early in his career. To me, Canseco has got to come with a whole lot more than what you're talking about. Fiction is fiction. There's a whole lot of books out there. It's just to make a buck. I've had enough of Jose. I was better than Jose then and I was better than Jose his whole career. If he wants to make money, make money. For somebody who brags about what he did, I don't see any of your records.''
So that's what it has come to. On the day Bonds should have come clean, he told the world he's a better slugger than Canseco and that society has bigger problems than steroids. Last I checked, millions of teenagers were trying steroids, life risks and all. The great philosopher Bonds sits there and preaches anyway.
''You cannot rehash the past,'' he said. ''If that's the case, go back to the 19th and 18th centuries. We'll crush a lot of things in sports if you want to do that. If you want things out, go back to the 1800s and [add' asterisks to a lot of sports, if that's what you choose to do and it makes you happy."
Tell you what. Let's just take one of those aforementioned asterisks and slip it on his current number, 703*. And we'll just keep it there for eternity, so future generations can separate fact from fiction and the truth from shameless, desperate spinning.
