Barry Bonds: It's Playa Hatin' Heaven right now
by Eric Williams
I think when all is said and done, the truth will come out,” he said. “It hasn't yet, but I think if he was in front of a jury, and there had to be a verdict, I think the verdict might be -- with everything that I heard was in [Game of Shadows] -- I think the verdict might be guilty.”
Lidle, who sports a career 72-65 record in nine big league seasons, then went on to discuss the negative impact of steroid usage on young baseball players across the U.S., pretty much blaming Bonds for everything but the pending apocalypse.
“The worst part of it all, the young guys -- the guys in the minor leagues, and worse than that, high school, and college -- they already know they don't have a chance,” Lidle said. “If someone can't hit 15 home runs in college, how do they expect to take somebody's job in the big leagues who's hitting 50 home runs? They start feeling this pressure of doing that stuff, and it really is a problem. It’s selfish for those guys who did it... to know what the chain reaction was to keep doing it.”
Once again, I have to say that I have never been a huge Barry Bonds fan, and I can’t believe this is my second column in less than a month defending him, but I get paid to call it like I see it and right now, I say this entire debacle is farce that is reaching epic proportions.
I don’t see anyone ripping McGwire for his pitiful performance in front of Congress and Palmiero has been all but forgotten since he got caught with his fingers in the cookie jar last season.
The point is, Bonds is only one of a group of athletes who are suspected of using performance-enhancing steroids. If you have three children and they all commit the same offense, do two go unpunished while the third suffers the severest consequences you can think of?
No, they all get the same treatment. Unfortunately, MLB isn’t a doting parent and Bonds certainly isn’t anyone’s favorite child. Not Major League Baseball’s, not Curt Schilling’s and especially the player-hating Cory Lidle.
If commissioner Bud Selig and the other hypocritical officials who run major league baseball really want to make a statement, then they should immediately adopt the International Olympic Committee’s strict anti-doping standards and call it a day. Anything else is just a lot of hot air.
Eric Williams is a sports columnist for the Philadelphia Sunday Sun and syndicated freelance writer who can be heard every Wednesday at 3:15pm EST on www.BetUSradio.com.
Contact Eric at eklass66@yahoo.com.
