Bud Selig Vs. A Mess of His Own Creation

This summer, millions of us will be hitting the road to get away from work and away from the office, aiming to spend just a little bit of time relaxing in the sun. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is hitting the road as well, and you can bet he'd rather be back behind his desk.

You see, old Bud has put himself in the awkward position of having to follow Barry Bonds from stadium to stadium to stadium, waiting for the slugger to knock a couple of balls out the park to tie and then surpass the current all-time Home Run King, Hank Aaron...a close friend of Selig's. But don't feel too bad for Bud. His problem is of his own making.

Barry Bonds has been rumored for years to have been juiced up on steroids and for the longest time, the commissioner's office took what they found to be the easiest action...look the other way. When baseball finally decided to act and impose a ban on the performance-enhancing drugs, Barry was well on his way to passing Aaron's magic mark.

A grand jury has been looking into Barry Bonds for a year now...considering whether or not he should be charged with perjury for saying under oath that he believed that a substance provided to him was not a steroid. And despite the findings of others, they have found no evidence, or not enough evidence, to indict and punish the Giants' left fielder. So when you're in their shoes and after so much time has passed and you still cannot indict, what do you do? Apparently, you prolong the investigation again and again....keeping Bonds and the new record that he is about to set under a cloud of suspicion that will only subside when someone else comes along (A-Rod, maybe?) and passes Barry Bonds.

And in the meantime...there's Bud...a man who has had years to stop this madness...not the legal issues but the effect that all of this is having on the game. He could have stepped up and put the screws to Barry Bonds as he recently did to the Yankees' Jason Giambi saying 'talk and tell us the truth or face suspension.' Or after all this time and no grand jury findings against Bonds, he could have come out and said "enough is enough. There is insufficient credible evidence that Barry Bonds has violated the rules of this league. So it is in the best interest of baseball for all of us to sit back and marvel at what now must be perceived as a legitimate and amazing accomplishment."

But Selig has done none of those things. So now he has the best seat in the house to watch the questionable show that he himself helped to produce.