Furor over Bonds has gone too far

In an effort to demoralize American Marines at Okinawa during World War II, Japanese soldiers used to holler, "To hell with Babe Ruth!"

Sixty years later, the American public is shouting, "To hell with Barry Bonds."

This is beginning to make me a little uncomfortable.

Baseball has gone to great lengths to ignore Bonds' home run pursuit of Ruth. In fact, it is not officially recognizing any of his accomplishments in that area, according to Commissioner Bud Selig. Plus, every media account mentioning Bonds' pursuit of Ruth also runs the through the litany of steroid charges.

"Steroid-tainted Barry Bonds was out of the lineup on Wednesday..."

There's no question that Bonds often behaves like a Hall of Fame jerk. Most of the time, he is miserable to deal with, rude, condescending and self-centered. But he also is the greatest ballplayer of his generation. And he gets credit for absolutely nothing.

Count me among the many who have written about what a bad guy he is. Bonds has said that much of the animosity directed at him is the result of envy and racism. The instinctive reaction to that is: yeah, play the race card, Bozo.

However, it is worthy of note that there isn't much of a furor over Mark McGwire's alleged steroid use. Remember that he was the first to break the single-season home run record, which is widely considered the most sacred record. And also remember that with tears in his eyes, McGwire dodged the steroid question when testifying before a Senate Committee.

Maybe it's because McGwire has retired, and is out of sight, that so few are worked up over the legitimacy of his achievements. Maybe not, too. It does make you think.

But I'm not ready to throw down the race card because the current animosity toward Bonds likely is temporary. It won't be long before the American public embraces Bonds on his quest to surpass Hank Aaron's all-time home run record.

The reason for the collective change of heart is simple: America loves an underdog. Bonds may not be a cuddly, feel-good type of underdog, although there's no telling how he'll react to an outpouring of affection. He doesn't have much experience in that area.

At some point, many baseball fans will look at what he's going through and shake their heads and think, 'That poor..." What it comes down to is that most people are good and decent. They'd rather feel good about something than bad about it.

Bonds may be the ultimate test to their sensibilities. He can be as embraceable as a snake. Yet he is looking more like an underdog every day.

Imagine for a moment that Bonds is a sweet guy. Think of him as modest, lovable and whatever other traits float your boat. Then take another look at his situation.

He is 41 and in terrible physical pain. Lurid details of his private life, including tax issues and illicit love affairs, have been laid bare to the public. Fans revile him, tormenting him in every ballpark except his own. He lost his father to lung cancer a couple of years ago.

There are hundreds of critics following him from city to city, chronicling his every move. It's becoming increasingly difficult to do his job because pitchers would just as soon walk him. The other day, an Astros pitcher threw at him four straight times before hitting him on the shoulder. The pitcher got a standing ovation.

Bonds has become a national joke as he approaches baseball's ultimate milestone. Did he bring most of this on himself? Absolutely. Does he deserve this level of enmity? I can't imagine anyone does.

Many folks probably will figure this out pretty soon. And for what it's worth, I'll bet Babe Ruth would have taken steroids had they been available in his day, provided he could mix them with a cold Ballantine beer.

The point isn't to give Bonds a free pass for what he's done. Instead, it's to point out that the whole situation has gone over the top.

From this point, I'm not going to dwell on what type of person Barry Bonds may or may not be. He's not coming over for dinner, anyway. Bonds is trying to make history under difficult circumstances that would cause many men to crumble. Good luck to him.

Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpress.com.