Hube reminded me that Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run last night against the Washington Nationals.

Like lots of people, my feelings are really mixed. I've been reading Chuck Klosterman's IV, and he has an essay about Barry Bonds, written when Bonds was about to pass Babe Ruth. In this essay, (available in full here) he outlines five problems that Bonds presents:

Problem 1: The end of numbers -- in the only realm where numbers matter
Problem 2: We were all fools and now we have to pretend we weren't
Problem 3: Tomorrow, today will be yesterday -- and Bonds will represent what that was like
Problem 4: What Bonds says is occasionally true -- and why this makes things worse
Problem 5: Babe Ruth doesn't exist -- and probably never did

To me, the most interesting is Problem 4. Klosterman elaborates:

A mound of evidence suggests that Bonds has been less than honest about steroids. But it seems like he's been honest about a lot of other things. "The last time I played baseball was in college," he said in his grand jury testimony during the BALCO case. He said almost the exact same thing to The New York Times Magazine in 2002: "The last game I played was in college. Ever since then, it's been a business. This is a business."

So far as I can tell, this is the only plausible explanation for Bonds' alleged decision to use performance-enhancing drugs: the idea of not using them seemed ridiculous. It did not strike him as unethical, because for Bonds, this is not a moral issue. Who possibly worries about such matters? The goal is to do business. This is a job.

Basically, Klosterman writes, "Baseball holds as much symbolic value to him as delivering the mail does to a postman."

Bonds is a fascinating character, and has undoubtedly changed the way baseball operates. McGwire and Sosa may have tried to restore post-strike baseball, but Bonds has just made us all feel worse about it.

Labels: Chuck Klosterman, Sports

Posted by Ryan S. on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 at 11:44 AM | Permalink |