Barry Bonds has always had this air of superiority about him. When he was young, he used to snatch easy fly balls out of air like catching them took no effort at all (snapping his glove downward quickly). It always seemed that he was being arrogant. Also, after being stymied by Atlanta in his quest to reach the World Series, he finally made it and then proceeded to complain about the media. He has just always come off as a jerk who feels he is God's gift to baseball. I remember once during an All-Star game telecast, there was some pregame audio where he was talking to an old-timer who told him with much enthusiasm "You're gettin' ready to just take over baseball." I can't remember who the retired player was that said it, but it made me sick to hear it.
Now consider this politically correct world in which we live. Barry takes performance enhancing drugs, and the commissioner says that no asterisk will be placed beside his record. These performance enhancing drugs had a direct effect on Barry's ability to hit homeruns. How many of those homeruns would have been warning track outs? How many of those homeruns would have gone right past him because he didn't have the natural strength to catch up to the fastball? Now, naturally, Barry might easily have hit 500 homers over his career. No way he catches Hammerin' Hank, The Babe, or Willie. After saying all this, consider that he is black.
Then consider that the greatest hitter of all time, who took no performance enhancing drugs on the way to over 4000 hits is not in the Hall of Fame, and is banned from baseball because he bet on the Reds while he was managing. Nobody ever proved that he bet against the Reds, which would have been a serious transgression. But Pete Rose is white and not a member of one of the various protected classes of American society.
Pete Rose has chosen not to challenge the commissioner of baseball...which if he were innocent...he could easily demand a full and public forum to clear his name. The bottom line here...is that baseball hired a private detective...who came back with substantial evidence. It has never been put into a public forum because Pete Rose doesn’t want to drag the issue up. Pete is waiting...basically for a miracle....as is baseball. The miracle...will occur in December of next year....when George Bush pardons Pete (the anticipated action)...with Bush guaranteed the job of commissioner of Baseball after he retires from the White House. There is growing speculation that this is why Pete has kept himself very quiet over the past year or two...and why Bud Selig hasn’t retired yet.
As for Barry...well...Bush isn’t about to hand him a pardon...so Barry will have to wait a while.