Recreational Holidays

Barry Bonds Baseball

The success of Barry Bonds’ baseball career was really just the beginning of a story that may eventually overshadow his achievements. As an outfielder, Bonds racked up four MVP awards, each one of them in consecutive years. He was a player in the 2007 World Series, and has become one of the most well known baseball players of his time. In 2006, he was busy slugging homeruns and passed Ruth and Aaron to land in first place for the most homers of any ball player.

Unfortunately, it seems as if Bonds may have had help achieving this feat and there could be an asterisk next to this record. Rumors of steroid use swirled around Bonds and he was not a fan favorite, to put it mildly. Bonds didn’t seem to care much for the fans either and Bonds managed to alienate fans and sportswriters alike. Bonds still holds the home run record at 762, as well as the record for the most home runs in a single season (73). While an accomplished player, Binds managed to burn a lot of bridges and no team in the Major Leagues would sign him on for the 2008 season.

With a jet setting career and a financial future already assured, this godson of the great Willie Mays, came under significant scrutiny regarding the well-publicized Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative case, and was charged and indicted with perjury. He had apparently lied about steroid use when he was under oath and the courts held him accountable for his actions.

This has cast a pall over his entire career. Fans questioned the validity of his MVP awards and his achievements within the game - and the league itself has also expressed concern. Achievements which came through the use of steroids, the reasoning goes, are not to be valued as highly as those accomplished solely through an athlete’s natural faculties.

A pall has been thrown over a career in baseball which began in high school, when Bonds was courted by the Giants while still a senior. He did not end up signing on with the Giants, choosing to pursue a college education. Bonds played in college as well, where in a single year he scored seven hits in a row in the College World Series and was picked as All American selection of the year by the publication Sporting News.

Barry Bonds is still facing obstruction of justice charges that will not be heard in court until March of 2009. The federal prosecutor had submitted paperwork with a typo, alleging that the steroid use, which Bonds still argues he did not take knowingly, was tested for, and found positive in 2001 rather than the year 2000. This year makes a difference due to testing laws that were not implemented until a later date.

Despite these charges, Barry Bonds has been spending a great deal of his time devoted to children’s hospitals and sick or dying children. His outreach has touched the lives of many children, including some that were not able to survive their disease. He holds the Honorary Chair position for the Macy’s fundraiser known as the Macy’s Tree Lighting Ceremony. This fundraiser helps raise money for UCSF Children’s Hospital Palliative Care Program, a setting for terminally ill children and their families.