Pissing in the Wind

I usually resist the urge to respond when I come across a sportswriter's column that gets me riled up, lest I end up writing several letters a day. However, every once in a great while the urge to respond gets the better of me. This article was written in the context of a forthcoming book chronicling a mountain of evidence that's supposed to be sufficient to convince any neutral observer that Barry Bonds took steroids deliberately and in massive quantities, thereby tainting his achievements, including his home run total and his record 73-homer season. The author suggests that records achieved using steroids are no less worthy of distinction than are records achieved by Babe Ruth during the era that blacks were excluded from Major League Baseball (during which time Josh Gibson was the best Negro League slugger).

Mr. Jones,
In your recent article you stated, "When Bonds hits 715, it shouldn't be received as making a mockery of a virtuous past. Unless you -- yes, you -- find steroids more intolerable than segregation, that is."

Most people would find it absurd to even suggest that segregation is more acceptable than steroids, but it seems equally absurd to suggest that Bonds and Ruth consequently should be placed on equal footing. Ruth played within the rules of the game as it was played at that time. One can argue that Josh Gibson should be mentioned in the same breath as Ruth, or even ahead of him if you'd rather (as you note, Negro League statistics aren't as verifiable as Ruth's), but it makes no more sense to hold Ruth accountable for the fact that they weren't allowed to compete head-to-head a la McGwire and Sosa as it would be to hold Gibson accountable. Each did the best they could given the competition they faced.

If you're going to denigrate Ruth's accomplishments as you do here, are you ready to do the same for Jesse Owens' accomplishments in the Olympics because professional athletes weren't allowed to compete, or because most of Africa (except for Apartheid-era South Africa) didn't send athletes to the Olympics?
http://www.olympic-museum.de/part_count/1936.htm

Ruth played within the parameters of the game, and Bonds cheated -- there is no comparison.

Sincerely,
Aaron

I'll let you know if I get a response (though I'm not really expecting one).