Robservations – One day soon, this will all just be history

A father sits with his son at his knee, watching the national pastime together in the not-too-distant future. Suddenly, the son looks up with a question:

‘Hey, Dad? Who was Barry Bonds’?

The father looks down with pride at his son, admiring at how even at such a young age, he’s becoming quite a student of the game. And after a reflective pause, he begins to tell the story.

‘Well, son, Barry Bonds was a professional baseball player, who came up with the Pittsburgh Pirates way back in 1986 as a thin, speedy outfielder who could hit the occasional home run. You know what a home run is, don’t you son’?

‘Sure I do, Dad. It’s when a batter connects for a base hit which allows him to touch first, second, third and then home base ‘ in that order.’

‘Wow, you really are a student of the game,’ Dad replies. ‘But you don’t have to quote the rule book to me.

‘Anyway, Bonds stayed with the Pirates a while, and then moved on to the Giants, where one year he hit 42 home runs and stole 40 bases. But over time, the swiftness that helped him patrol the outfield and turn singles into doubles began to be replaced.’

‘Replaced? By what, Dad’?

‘Bulk, Son. Bonds got older, he got slower, but he also got bigger… and bigger… and bigger. Everything grew from his hat size to his thigh muscles to his jersey; and his home run numbers grew, too. But more than anything, the murmuring grew.’

‘Murmuring’?

‘That’s right, son. You see, along about the time Bonds broke the single-season homer record, the rumor mill began to turn about just how he had bulked up over the years. People began claiming he used steroids, hormones and anything else he could get his hands on to make his muscles larger so he could hit more home runs.’

‘Were the rumors true, Dad’?

‘Well, that’s the strange thing about the story, Son. There were allegations, investigations, commissions and coalitions regarding the idea of steroid use in baseball. Even when Bonds hit his 756th home run, he was greeted with just half-hearted enthusiasm. So many people thought he had cheated, you see, that they just couldn’t celebrate his surpassing a record that had been held for 33 years by one of the game’s greatest representatives.

‘But even then, the truth never came out. Bonds continued to deny ever using any performance-enhancers, Baseball’s administration continued to look frustrated, but no one ever convicted Bonds of any rule-breaking or wrong-doing. He retired a bit disgraced, but still as the all-time home run leader. Of course, he only held the title for a little while.’

‘You mean before A-Rod, right, Dad’?

‘That’s right, son. Once A-Rod saw the controversy created by Bonds’ ‘record,’ he volunteered to be tested for any and all drugs during spring training, at the all-star break and during the playoffs every year. And he always came up clean, even after he hit home run No. 800. That’s why he’s considered one of the game’s greatest heroes to this day, Son.

‘Now, is there anything else about baseball history you want to know’?

‘Sure is, Dad. Who was Pete Rose’?

‘You know what, Son? I can’t quite remember.’