Will you cheer for 756?

It is coming; there is no way to avoid it. Barry Bonds is going to hit home run 756 and is going to pass Hank Aaron on the all time home run list. The question is whether or not you will acknowledge the accomplishments of Bonds, or will you call him a cheat and go on and on about how he does not deserve to be the record holder?

Personally I am a big Barry Bonds fan and I am excited to have a chance to witness history. I will without a doubt cheer for Bonds, and I will defend Barry and his accomplishments on a daily basis. Now please do not take this as a sign that I feel he did not take any type of performance enhancers, because you would have to be as blind as a bat to think he is 100% clean. But I also know that when Barry was taking these enhancers they were not illegal, now they were not approved, but they were not illegal.

Think of it this way, what if you were to write a test for school and were told that if you passed you would receive a great prize? Now your teachers tell you that you are allowed to bring in cheat notes to the test, although they would prefer you do not, they will allow it. And at this point you know that everyone else is bringing in cheat notes. You would not want to be the only one that does not get that prize, and you know that you will not get in trouble if you cheat, so why not do it? A sense of pride and dignity? Give your head a shake; a man by the name of W.C. Fields once wrote, “Anything worth having is worth cheating for,” and knowing that there is a great prize waiting for you, you are going to do what it takes to get it.

But just for a second, lets look at other reasons Bonds’ numbers have dramatically improved over the years. Again I am not saying that he did not use the supplements, but the following are valid reasons that Bonds has seen an increase in the amount of home runs he has hit.

Juiced Balls - Following the strike in 1994, Major League Baseball was doing just about anything to get fans back in the seats. Seeing as Brady Anderson was able to hit 50 home runs in 1996, the balls were definitely doctored with. Bonds’ numbers started to improve around that time as well, so I think there is some validity to this.

Expansion - The league has expanded quite a bit from the time Bonds came into the league. Right away it may not seem to make sense to use this as a reason, however with expansion comes watered down pitching. A lot more pitchers who were not ready for the big show have been thrust into the spotlight due to expansion, giving Barry and all other players more opportunities to hit home runs.

New Ballparks - New ballparks seem to be built on a yearly basis, and there are very few that are made with the mind set of keeping the ball in the park. Teams want their fans to get a show and know that home runs will draw fans to the game. I mean would there be any other reason to go watch the Cincinnati Reds play?

There are other factors that come into play as well when it comes to Bonds hitting home runs. Sure steroids will let you hit the ball further, but they do not give you more patience at the plate. Barry Bonds is one of the most patient hitters to ever play the game. Bonds will get into a hitters count almost every at bat, and that increases his chances of hitting home runs.

Another fact is that steroids do not improve hand eye coordination. So for all the extra muscle Bonds may have put on over the past few years, it would mean absolutely nothing if he could not hit the baseball. Bonds can see the game at a different speed then most, and he always has. It is not as though Barry was a slouch in his days in Pittsburgh; he won two MVP awards with the Pirates.

Furthermore we do not even know if he is breaking an already tainted record. Now I am not here to accuse Hank Aaron of cheating, but steroids were available when he was a player. I do not think he used them, but there is no way to find out whether or not he did.

Plus Bonds was simply evening the playing field that he was on. Do you honestly think that pitchers were not juiced when Bonds was hitting 73 home runs. There have been studies to show that pitchers were throwing an average of almost three mph harder then they were ten years earlier. Plus I do not think it is coincidence that since steroid testing has been implemented; there have been more pitchers caught cheating then hitters. Oh yeah, and Barry never has been caught.

At the end of the day, it really will not matter to me, to Barry, or to any other baseball fan around the world whether you stand up and cheer or turn the channel. However, before you make any irrational decisions in what you watch when Bonds steps to the plate; just ask yourself what you would do if doing something that was not considered cheating would make you rich and famous. If you say that you stay clean because of your morals and values, well, then you are just cheating yourself out of the truth.