[mbyron]

The issue of "proof" is a red herring. What standard do you propose? "Beyond a reasonable doubt," as in a criminal trial, or "the preponderance of the evidence," as in a civil trial? Oh wait, there's no trial, other than the trial of public opinion.

Barry Bonds started his career about 20 years ago as a scrawny speedster (like his dad was for his whole career). Human bodies don't add that much bulk without enhancement. To my mind, it's more likely than not that Bonds used steroids. I think that it's reasonable to conclude that Bonds probably used performance enhancing substances. So what?

I'm not one of those who thinks that baseball should castigate, flagellate, or otherwise punish Bonds for his transgressions. If Bonds broke the law, it's up to the legal system to punish him; if he offended you personally by his behavior, then you're entitled to bad-mouth him. But he has hit a ball over a fence 755 times, which only one other person has done, even WITH all the juicing going on.

To judge by his public statements and the behavior of too many people around him, Bonds is an a$$. I don't doubt that he has endured vicious and racist comments, but his insistence on playing the race card at every opportunity - comparing himself to Jackie Robinson and others - is grandiose and despicable.

But aren't Bonds and his fellow (likely-) juicers "bad for baseball"? Sure. I don't like the idea of people getting an edge in this way. I think that baseball should do what it takes to police its personnel, and to uphold as high a standard of competition and fair play as it can. It has been lax in this regard, and I think that Selig and his cronies take the attitude of doing the least they can while still filling the seats - in other words, for them, it's about business and not principle. That's one consequence of having an owner-commissioner.

But I don't see how all that concern should be dumped on Bonds. He's matched a record, and (in my opinion) juicing helped. We live in a hypocritical culture, and a lot of subconscious tensions explode on those who transgress our fine little lines. Take as much caffeine as you wish, but juicing is out of bounds. Smoke tobacco, drink alcohol, and eat trans fat until you bankrupt Medicare, but touch a joint and you're going to jail. We sexualize our children with juvenile beauty pageants and then are shocked that our culture produces more than its share of pederasts.

We know that many of our lines are somewhat arbitrary and unprincipled, and this knowledge creates stress and anxiety. Is juicing cheating, or just enhancement of an athlete's natural prowess? We have not resolved that issue, and until we do it's arbitrary and capricious to take out our anxieties about it on Barry Bonds, no matter how big an a$$ he is.