Prized Baseball Record Clouded by Controversy

Aug. 7, 2007 — -- These should be the best of days for Barry Bonds. He's about to be crowned the home run king, arguably the most coveted record in baseball, if not all sports.

It's one of the hardest things an athlete can do: hit a ball traveling more than 90 miles an hour 400 feet in the air, over a fence.

Hank Aaron did it 755 times -- a record set more than 30 years ago -- only after surpassing the "Great One," Babe Ruth.

When he plays in his home park in San Francisco, Bonds is a giant. But away from the bay, he is booed.

The man who some consider one of baseball's greatest player is taunted when he walks to the plate, a reaction that seems to mystify him.

"I don't have any idea why anyone would express any hatred toward any other person that you don't know," Bonds said at a May 2006 press conference. "I don't know why that would happen to anybody."

Fans: 'Cheater' Bonds Doesn't Deserve Record

But fans, even young ones in Chicago, think they know him, and what they know, they don't like.

"I don't really want him to. He doesn't deserve it," said baseball fan Connor Prokop. "He's a cheater, and his attitude…He has a bad attitude towards the fans and the team."

Connor's sentiment is a common one. It sums up what many believe are Barry Bonds' two sins.

First, in a sport designed to entertain, Bonds, a man with a prickly personality, is not seen as fan friendly.

"He does seem kind of miserable sometimes," said Paul Sullivan, who covers baseball for the Chicago Tribune, "going through his career when he should be enjoying himself, but that's kind of sad. Personality-wise, I think he's his own worst enemy."

Of course, there's no law against being unfriendly, or even a jerk. But that is nothing compared to his other alleged sin, the one that has inflamed fans globally, and created a cloud of controversy over Bonds.

A 'Tainted' Record?

"[I] don't think that he's done it by the books, if you know what I mean," said Jerry Clemons, another baseball fan, regarding Bonds' rising home run tally. "I think that he's been juicing."

Juicing…steroids…performance enhancing drugs. Despite the speculations, Bonds has never been indicted. His attorneys say there is no evidence against him, and Bonds reportedly testified that he never knowingly took such compounds.

But when fans look at pictures of a younger Bonds and compare it with his current appearance, they raise protests and signs, calling for an asterisk on his record.

It's a controversy that follows fans of the slugger across the country. Many ask, why all this angst over one record?

It's because baseball isn't just about the score of the game; it's about the sanctity of the statistics, measuring men over generations. And many believe that Bonds has broken that tenet.

"How do you compare him to Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron?" asked another fan, Debbie Tolksy. "You know, Hank Aaron didn't cheat, he worked hard and he got his home runs. How does this look to kids -- that it's alright to cheat and then you get all of this fame and you get millions for cheating?"

"It's tainted," said Ron Santo, a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs. "It really is. But Santos also added, "I mean, don't get me wrong. The man is doing it now and nobody has proven he's on steroids."

Boos Drive Bonds

A former Cub himself, Santo played against Hank Aaron and has followed Bonds' career.

"I don't think Barry really cares to be loved," Santos continued. "I think he feeds off the boos…I think players today are not like Barry. In a sense, they don't want to hear boos, but I don't think it bothers Barry because he keeps hitting home runs."

And hitting them at nearly 43 years of age, long after many players retire. Center fielder Dave Roberts joined the Giants a year ago, and reserved judgment on his teammate until he played with Bonds.

"As a fan it's easy to say there's an asterisk or whatever," he said, "but you got to go out there, and as a professional baseball player I know how tough it is to hit a baseball like he has and I can't even fathom that."

Outside of Wrigley, out on the street where they try to catch those valuable home run balls, it's all about economics.

But there, you'll also find a sort of baseball philosophy -- conflict and hypocrisy over Bonds' race for the record books. Ball hawker Dave Davison noticed some duplicity in how fans react to Bonds. "As soon as he hits a home run, half of them are cheering," he said.

Davison was the man who caught ball number 752. He said he'll consider selling it for $20,000 dollars.

Barry Bonds knows his record is not worthless.

"Those who are gonna cheer me are gonna cheer me," he said in 2005. "Those who are gonna boo me are gonna boo me, but they're still gonna come see the show."