Cheaters sometimes prosper?
Last night, Barry Bonds hit his 756th career home run, breaking Hank Aaron's record that stood for over 30 years.
The world of baseball shifted uncomfortably in its seat.
I'm personally torn about Bonds's achievement. It is indubitably tainted -- the circumstancial evidence and hearsay uncovered from the BALCO drug lab investigations, the observations about his expanding hat size, and his sudden transformation at age 37 from Hall-of-Famer to baseball god -- all gave fans the idea that if this looks too good to be true, it probably is.
But when I see someone like Willie Mays -- himself an untouchable baseball institution -- proclaim to the world that he has faith in his godson Barry, and I hear Barry invoke the name of his recently deceased father, I want to believe it's real. If he's lying, then not only would he be lying to the fans, and besmirching his late father's memory, but he would be lying to Willie Mays. And that is just unthinkable. I don't want to believe that anyone can be that shameless.
The world of baseball shifted uncomfortably in its seat.
I'm personally torn about Bonds's achievement. It is indubitably tainted -- the circumstancial evidence and hearsay uncovered from the BALCO drug lab investigations, the observations about his expanding hat size, and his sudden transformation at age 37 from Hall-of-Famer to baseball god -- all gave fans the idea that if this looks too good to be true, it probably is.
But when I see someone like Willie Mays -- himself an untouchable baseball institution -- proclaim to the world that he has faith in his godson Barry, and I hear Barry invoke the name of his recently deceased father, I want to believe it's real. If he's lying, then not only would he be lying to the fans, and besmirching his late father's memory, but he would be lying to Willie Mays. And that is just unthinkable. I don't want to believe that anyone can be that shameless.