Back in 2001 in the spring and summer I worked a project that took me all over Northern California. Coming back home for the weekend the wife and I would often stop at the Cattleman's Restaurant in Livermore. We liked it because the atmosphere was cowboy and the food good and plentiful and there really aren't any steak houses in vegan Santa Cruz. On this particular August evening we were late getting in and the place had filled up. We were told it would be a half hour and we could wait at the bar and they would call us.

The bar was already pretty full and all the TVs were on the Giants game. I got a beer and the wife a bloody Mary. A steady stream of folks entered and asked the bartender 'when is he up?'

The bartender would answer next inning, third up or whatever the situation was. As Barry went on deck the bar suddenly began to fill and I realized the patrons had left their meals, purses, infants and whatever else and had come in to watch Barry.

As usual in the sport of baseball there was first a ball and strike and then a very loud crack and we could see the ball sail out of the park. Everybody jumped up, including me. We were high fiving and doing all the idiotic sorts of antics baseball fans do when their team hits a home run. This particular home run was one of a record setting 73 Barry hit that season. What excitement!

At that very moment the last thing any of us was thinking was 'golly gee, this home run won't count.' Had I mentioned that thought to anyone in the bar they would have thought I was nuts and not a prophet. Maybe even thrown a punch.

I have watched baseball for about 50 years but had never seen anything like Barry. The defensive shift to pull was like no other in the history of baseball. It was more like four outfielders and three infielders. During that time I also remember several times remarking that Barry at times looked stiff and almost waddled. His neck seemed especially stiff. I didn't know that his shoe size would increase over one whole size too.

Having read about his extensive training and nutrition program I immediately attributed his increase in bulk to training. Barry's off-season rigor was well publicized. I even once remarked that Barry was such a hard trainer he actually grew muscles on his scalp. Barry shaves his head so when he takes off his helmet he had what looked like muscles. Later we were to learn that he increased one whole head size.

But steroids weren't

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