by Benjamin Hook

Created on: May 14, 2009   Last Updated: May 18, 2009

The slow jog around the bases is one of which Mr. Bonds has experienced more times than anyone else in baseball's history. He was one of, if not the most, feared hitters in baseball. He is an almost a guaranteed inductee to the Hall of Fame if only....... This is where Mr. Bonds pulled the wrong move. A move that will forever taint his career and pull baseball further into the seemingly endless era of steroids in baseball.

Barry bonds took steroids. Its very obvious and everyone knows it. I'm sure he gets thrown bad comments everyday from friends and strangers alike. He must live with the allegations for the rest of his life.

Looking past this, I feel Barry bonds should be in the Hall of Fame without a doubt in my mind. The incredible hand eye coordination needed to hit a ball 400 feet with a barrel of a bat no bigger than your fist is astonishing. If anyone that took steroids could hit a ball out of the park, you'd be looking at who can get to 1500 home runs in a career. As the old cliche states "its not the arrow, but the Indian". In this case, its just the Indian except stronger than most others.

You also must look at it this way. Barry had a huge target on his back since he was accused of steroid use. Instead of retiring and running away from his problems like most, he stuck it out and played the sport he loved. This also brings up his undesirable passion for the game. Since he was a boy, his only goal was to play baseball for a living. He did ultimately achieve this goal without steroids when he was a pirate. His game was speed and base hits then, which isn't really that bad of a lifestyle.

The more the game is progressing and becomes more modern, the more creative people are becoming in avoiding becoming positively tested for a banned substance. I feel that 2 people out of every team should be randomly selected and very thoroughly drug tested instead of mass players being tested for the basic things. As for Barry bonds having a credible career is still up in the air. I feel though that he is a one of baseballs greatest players and should be recognized as one. His career may be tainted, but his achievements are something that we can all appreciate. As when Barry Bonds is rounding third base after he has hit another monster home run into the San Francisco bay, the feeling he gets is nothing more but the pure joy of year of doing something he is very good at.

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