Barry Bonds is on the brink of tying and then surpassing the greatest record in all of sports: the all time home run record. This should have been a feat uniformly celebrated and revered, but instead it is ensnared in controversy. While he tries to make baseball history, Barry Bonds is currently being investigated in relation to testimony about his alleged use of steroids.
The controversy has cast a long, deep shadow over what would otherwise be happily remembered by generations of baseball fans. Some fans continue to stand and cheer as Bonds approaches the record. Other fans boo Bonds loudly every time he approaches the plate. It largely depends on if Bond’s team, the San Francisco Giants, are playing at home or if the Giants are playing on the road.
I don’t think it matters, personally, how I feel about the situation, but my young son has picked up on the tension surrounding the situation. It’s unfortunate that I can’t talk about the record without including an explanation about anabolic steroids.
Barry Bonds has a seventeen year old son. I can clearly remember years ago when Barry Bonds broke the single season home run record, as he approached and hugged his son after historic homeruns. (His son served as Barry’s batboy.) They seemed very close.
Barry’s son is nearly a man. Privately, I wonder how they talk about the approach to the record. I wonder if the word steroid comes up or if it is studiously ignored. I imagine that however the two talk about the record being broken, the discussion between them has probably lost… something from what it once was. I know that sharing the moment with my son has certainly lost a level of innocence. I wish that it didn’t have to be this way.
After all, ignorance is bliss.
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