“The Hank Aaron 755.” That’s what Atlanta-based airline Delta is
calling one particular Boeing 757, in honor of longtime Brave Hank
Aaron. The Sox, of course, are in Atlanta this week, having just
dispatched with another home run hitter. What does Aaron think of him?
“I don’t have any thoughts about Barry,” he has said. “I don’t even
know how to spell his name.”
I watched Barry Bonds come and go from Fenway with mixed feelings. Judging by the boos/cheers/boos when he went deep Sunday afternoon, so did the crowd at the Fens.
He’s easy to dislike. He’s cheated on his wife, on his taxes, and at
baseball (allegedly, for you lawyers out there). His distended skull
and his cartilage-free knees render the indictment the grand jury
hasn’t. He wasn’t the only player treating his body as a biochemistry
lab, but he’s the one currently threatening a major-league record. He
complains about the media attention even as he invites it. All of this
makes him an easy target.
But though it galls me to say it, the definition of “scapegoat” fits
him as well as his UnderArmor. What do we expect from our
fill-in-the-righteous-indignation sermonizing? Catharsis? What do we
expect from our clever asterisk signs and less subtle jeers? Justice?
Apparently, Bud Selig assumed he could channel this same level of
public vitriol towards Jason Giambi. But with Selig threatening the
pudgy slugger with disciplinary action unless he cooperates with the
Mitchell investigation, the Commissioner has found the masses less
sympathetic. Perhaps that’s because Giambi’s comment to USA Today — the
May 18 “slip” that started this power struggle — rings true with fans.
“I was wrong for doing that stuff,” he said, adding that “players,
ownership, everybody” should have admitted their mistake years ago, put
a rule in place, and moved forward, “but it was a topic that everybody
wanted to avoid.”
The current state of affairs isn’t markedly different. The Mitchell
investigation drags on. The BALCO trial produces nothing but leaks.
Baseball officials look increasingly ineffectual and the media aren’t
telling us anything we didn’t already know. And despite what they say
in public, I still think the owners would be happier with a “don’t ask,
don’t tell” steroids policy. They’re happy to let the public feast on
Bonds, because it keeps us from looking around at other players with
bloated faces and poor connective tissue.
Giambi at least admitted he was wrong and apologized. I can’t see
Bonds doing that. He’s come to relish his pariah status too much, a
slugging Pete Rose. But what has hating Barry Bonds accomplished? He’s
still playing baseball. He’s going to break the home run record. He’s
probably going to end up in the Hall of Fame and there definitely
aren’t going to be any asterisks.
Maybe the only thing we can do is forget how to spell his name.
Sarah Green is a freelance writer who can be reached at sgreen@gmail.com.