The crack heard around the world

This is not, as some might presuppose, a posting about a long-ago war. Instead, I am discussing another kind of war that is being fought amidst the bases, between congressman and players, and between the media and a game. This game is baseball, a sport which I hold especially near and dear to my heart and which has recently come under a hailstorm of controversy that I can never remember hearing about at any point during the century old sport. The incident referred to by the title is the 755th home-run hit in his career by one Barry Bonds.

The name itself brings people to the brink of arguments over whether he should even be considered for the Hall of Fame or should be arrested and spend the rest of his life in jail. While I have never personally heard anyone hold the latter position, I do not doubt that there are those out there who might have such a hard-nosed position. As a long-time Reds fan, the hoopla reminds me of the backlash over the controversial moves taken by Pete Rose when he bet on his own team when he was a player-manager. For the uninitiated, Pete Rose is the undisputed batting champion with over 4,000 hits to his credit in a game where reaching the milestone of 3,000 hits is considered an event of monumental proportions.

The connection with Barry Bonds is this: many people with knowledge of what these two players have done for the sport itself will in many small ways discount what they have done because of their supposed excesses. Whether this will be through some kind of an asterisk in the record books, as long ago discussed over the accomplishments of Roger Maris when he beat Babe Ruth's single season record, or a complete disregard of the accomplishments in the record books is yet to be seen. With Pete Rose, it was gambling (and this has been accounted for by Pete Rose himself). With Barry Bonds, it is the supposition that he has taken performance-enhancing drugs to increase his productivity on the field. Whether or not he has done as many already assume may never be known to us with 100 percent certainty, but the fact remains that he will break Hank Aaron's long-held record and become the new, but disputed, home-run champion.

Without making a judgement call on his supposed activities, let me just say that I admire his achievement and believe that it will make a difference upon the entire sport of baseball and hopefully bring attention back upon this historic and much-loved American past-time.

Here are some links that should shed some light on the steroid controversy:
Steroid Controversy Deepens
Was Barry Bonds Targeted?
Barry Bonds: Anatomy of a Scandal
GOOD SOURCE W/ LINKS:
Wikipedia