Bonds away!

Six hundred sixty one and counting. \nLike Barry Bonds or not, 661 home runs is still quite a remarkable feat, making him third all-time on the homerun list. I can't think of anything I've done worth remembering 661 times -- well, maybe there are two things (get imaginative, I ain't getting fired for the sake of a joke).\nI'm going to be honest with y'all for a change. I've never liked Barry Bonds. Bonds is just too arrogant for me, and while many professional athletes are in the same boat, Bonds doesn't try to mask it or even apologize for it. He's always been standoffish with the media, and maybe it has caused them to portray him in a negative light. I don't know. But I just don't like Barry Bonds. \nStanding at home plate and watching the ball you've just hit soar over the wall is classless. You're showing up the pitcher, and all it does is feed your ego even more. Hit the home run, drop the bat and round the bases with class. Act like you've been there 661 times. And I don't want e-mails saying, "Well, what about Sammy Sosa's hop?" \nIt's simple. Sosa is just trying to get a better jump out of the box. \nBut just because I don't like Bonds doesn't mean I don't think he's one of the best baseball players to ever play the game. He has clearly shown he deserves to be mentioned among the sport's elite. Hitting 661 home runs will do that for one's credibility. Do I think he's better than Willie Mays, Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron? No, and he never will be. \nWhile Bonds' astounding number of bombs is impressive, we must put the achievement in the proper perspective. Batters today are stronger than ever, the ball is tighter and the ballparks, for the most part, are smaller. The long ball has become the focal point of the game, and hitting a home run isn't the same as it used to be. When you have guys like Brady Anderson hitting 40 home runs in a season and utility infielders putting balls into the cheap seats, the feat of hitting a home run is diminished. \nWith the expansion of Major League Baseball now boasting 32 teams, there are at least four pitchers on every roster that should be toiling in the minors instead of serving up the next eBay auction. But should we fault Bonds for simply playing the cards he was dealt? Of course not. \nLike him or not, Bonds is currently the most feared hitter in baseball. The man gets about one pitch a game in the strike zone. One pitch! And sure, he'll ground out or pop up here and there, but everyone in the stands and the opposing dugout holds their collective breath when his bat comes flying through the zone. We don't know if its gonna dribble out to second base or be launched 450-feet into the stratosphere.\nBonds has more critics than "Gigli" and "Glitter" combined, and the steroid controversy didn't exactly boost his approval rating. I'll take a man for his word -- for the most part. If Bonds said he didn't take steroids, I have no choice but to believe him. But does it matter? \nThere's a storm brewing about who's on the juice and who's not. But if all these other sluggers like Sosa, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield are on steroids, they're still not hitting 73 homers a season. Substances to advance performance are here to stay. Baseball can ban certain substances, but there are always going to be other options besides hard work to elevate one's play. \nWhether or not Bonds is taking steroids, he is taking some supplements to improve his play. He has some distinct advantages the ballplayers of old didn't. So stop comparing Bonds to Mays, Aaron and Ruth. Barry Bonds is Barry Bonds. He is not the greatest homerun hitter of alltime, regardless of whether or not he breaks Aaron's record. He's simply the best homerun hitter of our time, and no one else's. \nOur fathers had Aaron, our grandfathers had Mays and our great-grandfathers had Ruth. Us? We have Barry Bonds. Like it or not.