Writing two weeks ago about the possibility that Barry Bonds would hit his 755th and 756th career home runs on the road, I concluded:
It is better for baseball—it is, in fact, essential for baseball—that the moment be cheered lustily, that it be about the crowning achievement of a great player’s career rather than another reminder of the controversies of the past decade. If Bonds hits a historic blast in any place other than AT&T Park, I fear that it would be the latter, at best a mix of cheers and boos, at worst a black moment for the game.
In fact, Barry Bonds hit career homer #755 at Petco Park in San Diego last night, and the moment was nothing like I feared it would be. There were some boos, and there was some silliness such as asterisks being waved, but the mood was largely celebratory. The vast majority of the crowd stood and cheered Bonds’ accomplishment respectfully, if not wildly. It was a moment that can be replayed on video boards and sold on DVDs and enjoyed for generations to come.
I should have had more faith. After all, despite the focus on the segment of baseball fandom that “hates” Barry Bonds–feelings fanned by media members resentful of Bonds’ treatment of them over the years–most fans take a stance comfortably in the middle. They respect Bonds’ talent and accomplishments, while feeling little warmth towards the man. They vote him onto the All-Star team. They acknowledge the questions that surround his involvement with BALCO, the suspicions that he used steroids, while also acknowledging the points in his favor–that he’s never failed a drug test; that the testing program MLB claimed to need so desperately has turned up mostly dry; that the investigation into Bonds’ behavior has dragged on for years with no resolution, taking on a tinge of “witch hunt;” that the book that so famously chronicled his activities was sourced by illegally-obtained testimony and by those with axes to grind; that Bonds’ image has been shaped by the media, and it is impossible to separate this story from that process.
The great middle ground of baseball fans doesn’t hate Barry Bonds. It doesn’t know him, and it hasn’t made up his mind about what he did and did not do. In the absence of that decision, the crowd at Petco Park last night did the right thing: it cheered the accomplishment, while holding back judgment on the man. It was a good moment for the game, and San Diego’s baseball fans can be proud of themselves today.
Would that I could say the same about the game’s commissioner. Bud Selig, given yet another opportunity to change the narrative, to rise to the occasion and promote the game, embarrassed himself and his office with his reaction to the historic blast. As the crowd around him cheered, Selig rose slowly from his seat and made a grand show of putting his hands in his pockets, refusing to acknowledge the player, the achievement or even the excitement around him. With that one gesture, Selig made it clear what he is: an old man determined to protect the interests of other old men, even if it means degrading the game of baseball.
Selig was a ringleader of the process that gave the game first its invasive testing program, then increased penalties for positive tests, all as part of a plan to increase management’s leverage over the players. Bonds has been subject to that program and never tested positive for steroids (he did test positive for amphetamines, a result that was to remain confidential, like grand-jury testimony) and yet Selig refused to cheer Bonds last night. By doing so, he put the lie to the arguments of 2003 and 2005–that testing and harsh penalties were the key to a clean game–and made it clear that he has joined those who have convicted Bonds based on innuendo and observation and innumeracy.
The press release issued after the historic home run is just as embarrassing. After one sentence of congratulations, Selig, or his minions, spend the rest of the two-paragraph release putting the accusations and the innuendo, rather than the accomplishment and the baseball, front and center.
Congratulations, Mr. Selig: your continued record of disservice to the game of baseball continues uninterrupted.
Prospectus Today: Point of Separation
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