Bonds, 756, and Continuing Asininity

I'm not going to type up any hand-wringing about Bonds and the steroids controversy. My position on that continues to be that enough has been written about that elsewhere, you don't need me repeating the same tired routine.

Instead, I'm going to complain about the comments regarding Bonds that are, well, asinine. I was looking forward to 755 and 756 because it would mean the end of fairy-tale fantasy world suggestions that Bonds should hit his 754th homer and then retire out of respect for Aaron/the record/the game. Even leaving aside the whole "quit wasting your time dreaming of pansy gestures Bonds won't be doing" issue, why should he have waited for his 754th homer to do it? If you think/thought that he should suddenly retire, why not immediately, let alone several years ago? Alas, my hopes were dashed when, after 755, I heard someone say that Bonds should hit 756 and then hang it up, which makes even less sense. You could argue that it would make more sense in that, having the record, Bonds would have removed a disincentive to retirement (I really couldn't say added an incentive to retire), but then how would retirement really be an act of respect towards anything? Now, hopefully, we'll be rid of all that for good. I don't really have issue with those wishing to see Bonds retire immediately or at season's end -- sure, they may be deluding themselves if they think he will, but at least what they're wishing for is not downright anti-logical (illogical does not seem a strong enough term).

Several "experts" have suggested that Bonds's playing time will be (or could be, for those hedging their bets) severely reduced over the rest of the season. This, too, is nonsense. While Bonds will almost certainly not be the draw he was while striving for 756, he's still the biggest draw on the team, beating out several exciting young pitchers, while the individual draw for other position players is pretty much left to family and friends, many of whom can get tickets for free. Bonds is the best offensive player on the team, and one of the best in the league. He leads the majors in on-base percentage, OPS, walks, intentional walks, ranks sixth in slugging, and is tied for ninth in homers. While you sit veterans to test rookies after falling out of the playoff race, you don't sit your best players. Thirdly, the Giants' outfield prospects are not exactly an impressive bunch. Sure, they could make the majors and stick around for several years, but they seemed destined more for fourth outfielder, maybe third. Lastly, Bonds has repeatedly stated a desire to play next season -- he's not going to want to sit out a bunch of games (or, perhaps more accurately, a bunch more). Barring injury, expect Bonds to top last year's games played total.

As a final note, despite Bonds's statements to the effect that the chase was not affecting his play, I don't believe it, and I think his play backs up my disbelief (not just the struggles in, say, the batting average department, but in things like the mechanics of his swing). I full expect his August-September play to be better than that of the first four months (or, to remove a poor end of July from the equation and give the statement more meaning, better than his play in the first half).