Standing Up for Barry

By now, most people know about the plan to celebrate Jackie Robinson's 60th anniversary by having various players wear No. 42 on April 15th. The number was retired in 1997 to celebrate his 50th anniversary. The number will be worn by various African-American players for each team. It is a classy, tasteful way to honor such an important figure in baseball. I am very excited that both Torii Hunter and first base coach Jerry White will be wearing it for the Twins on Sunday.

Now, if there was only a way a sports writer could ruin such a nice gesture with personal prejudice...

Oh, that's right. There's a reason most Page 2 writers exist.

Normally, we here at the BKHFH are big fans of ESPN.com's Page 2 - they're one of the few venues where creative, thoughtful and emotional sports writing seems to come in bunches. Jemele Hill is still sort of new, but she takes some big chances that tend to pay off. Bill Simmons is great. DJ Gallo and Paul Lukas are personal faves.

The rest, however, we can take or leave.

Jim Caple is generally okay because of the gratuitous Minnesota references (a guaranteed ticket to our heart), but sometimes he gets a little...off in our opinion. Scoop Jackson is the epitome of hit and miss. Pearlman, Keown and Neel are generally either browsed or skipped. We know what we like from Page 2, and those three writers either stay too negative or too Outside the Lines to garner our full appreciation.

These were all known going into Pearlman's article today, which features a headline of "Bonds Shouldn't Wear No. 42" on Page 2's main page. However, with a headline like that, I at least have to look at the article - the Barry Bonds v. Media battle is still endlessly compelling to me. I know the general sentiment against Bonds that lives in most ESPN writers, with Jim Caple's insane homerun king tale (requires ESPN Insider) being the sites' Sgt. Peppers. But the Pearlman article takes a whole different angle towards hating Mr. Bonds - criticizing his actions as a black ambassador to the game.

There are a few different problems I have with this article. The first has to do with the section about Bonds never helping a black rookie teammate, ignoring black fans and doing a disservice by not visiting the Negro League Hall of Fame after being invited several times. While these are all fair points, do any of these make him unworthy of wearing the sacred number? They all point to a bad guy who is kinda selfish, but Bonds is still the most accomplished black baseball player in modern history. In fact, early in Bonds' career, he was a contact hitter who stole bases - a style of play that was a hallmark of Robinson. I would hope that sports haven't evolved to a point where personality is more important that playing ability.

The second is Pearlman's criticism of Bonds support of Republican Governor Pete Wilson. Granted, Wilson's track record on racial issues is not enviable or even respectable. But my question is WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH BASEBALL?! Who cares who Barry Bonds supports in the political realm? If we want to look at this in a scrutinizing light, shouldn't we support Bonds for supporting the candidate he believes in? This is a free country, chock-full of democracy, right? The most Robinson did during his career as an ambassador for black America was play baseball. Why should Bonds be held to a higher standard?

The final argument tossed out by Pearlman is that Bonds showed no respect towards those pioneers who came before him by taking steroids to pass the likes of Reggie Jackson and (soon enough) Hank Aaron. I don't really see this as being that big of a deal. I'm sorry, I just don't. He's still never failed a steroids test, never received a suspension based on drug tests, and the worst descretion on his record is a failed amphetamines test last year (which- according to many baseball analysts- is pretty damn widespread throughout the league) . If he did take steroids, he's certainly not the only one-he just happened to have a more fully developed swing than those others who took the drugs, which helps hit home runs just as much as strength.

I don't think, as Pearlman suggests, that Bonds owes anyone anything. He isn't an ambassador to the game. He isn't a future spokesperson or cult of personality. He is simply an excellent black baseball player.

If that's not honoring Jackie Robinson, I don't know what is.