Thursday, August 09, 2007

There are some divergent opinions on Barry Bonds here, as you may expect. The guy is, if nothing else, polarizing. My personal opinion is not dissimilar to the one expressed by Joe Sheehan at Baseball Prospectus. Since that's a subscribers-only article, I'll quote the relevant section:

We can’t say with certainty, on August 8, 2007, whether Bonds’ career achievements come with a taint. What we can say is that any taint comes within the context of his time. Call him a cheater? So were many of his peers, if the storyline is to be believed, including the pitchers he faced. Unnatural advantage? I refer you to Jim Bouton’s extensive coverage of amphetamine use two generations ago. Unfair playing field? You probably don’t want to compare him to Babe Ruth, then. Bad guy? Get in a very, very long line.

Regardless of your opinion, though, it's hard not to find the comments of George W. Bush when speaking on the event to be, ultimately, bizarre (though it may have been the Lyme disease talking):

"There is a lot of speculation about Barry Bonds, and my only advice for people is to just let history be the judge," Bush said during the interview. "Let's find out the facts, and then everybody's opinion -- one way or the other -- will be verified or not verified."

How can Bush be ducking this issue now when he made it such a big issue back in 2004? And don't we wish he showed this kind of measured, open-minded approach on weightier topics?

And also, doesn't it sound like he's talking about himself there?