Picking Sides Fills Bonds' Home Run Lull
In a week with no home runs, Barry Bonds' chase still generated headlines.
July 27, 2007 — -- As Barry Bonds struggles to bat his way to home run glory, a lineup of detractors are taking a few swings at him.
Consider the still-flying media foodfight between the scrutinized slugger and high-profile HBO sports journalist Bob Costas, a feud that replaced Bonds' home run headlines this week.
Costas drew blood Tuesday night on his show "Costas Now." The hourlong program was devoted to the controversial 755 chase, a home run milestone Bonds remains two runs shy of. Bonds has been mired in a highly publicized home run dearth that now spans more than a week.
Costas interviewed Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, an outspoken opponent of both Bonds and Mark McGwire who has said the pair's failure to talk about steroids is nothing short of an admission of guilt. Costas also spoke with Patrick Arnold, the chemist who shot down Bonds' testimony to a grand jury that he didn't know he was using a synthetic steroid created by Arnold known as the "clear" in 2001 when he clobbered a record 73 home runs.
Costas wrapped the show -- which also featured an interview with waffling baseball commissioner Bud Selig -- with a commentary perhaps more eloquent but every bit as incendiary as a Jerry Springer kicker: Bonds' accomplishment, Costas surmised, is "clearly inauthentic."
Reporters eager for copy in between at-bats promptly ferried the news to Bonds, who in response described Costas as a "midget," a physical description the journalist met head on.
"As anyone can plainly see, I'm 5 foot 6 and a half inches and a strapping 150 pounds, and unlike some people, I came by all of it naturally," Costas said.
Bonds moved the squabble online Thursday, issuing a statement on his home run chase diary that recanted his short jab and blasted Costas for irresponsible journalism.
But Costas, Schilling and Arnold -- not to mention top federal investigators -- aren't the only potholes in Bonds' path to home run glory.
If there was ever a week for purists to question their faith in sports, this was it. Scandals dominated the headlines: Mike Vick's dogfighting charges, a gambling NBA ref and a Yellow Jersey perhaps permanently stained.
