Selig Needs to Be Present when Bonds Breaks the Home Run Record

AC's Brad Kurtzberg recently wrote an article imploring Commissioner Bud Selig to do the courageous thing by boycotting Barry Bonds when he breaks Hank Aaron's all-time home run record. I disagree completely. In his role as MLB Commissioner, Bud Selig needs to be present when Bonds sets the new home run mark.

Kurtzberg wrote: "By not attending Bonds' 'coronation' as home run king, Selig can correctly admit that the game of baseball was tainted by steroids and that records set during the 'steroid era' are not necessarily legitimate."

Let's follow this point to its logical conclusion. Anyone who used steroids cheated and should not be allowed to enjoy the "tainted" results produced via illegal means. Okay, that means that any game in which Barry Bonds contributed to his team scoring a run, or helped prevent the other team from scoring, and in which the Giants won, needs to be erased. These "not necessarily legitimate" wins need to be stricken from the Giants record and rightly restored to those clubs who were denied victory because they played by the rules.

The other clubs don't get off scot free, though. Any games in which they won because of players who used steroids, say the A's and Jason Giambi, must also be forfeited. And there are all kinds of ways to cheat. Any games pitched by Gaylord Perry and Don Sutton, two convicted cheats, must be automatically forfeited. Any games won in which coaches stole signs from the other team, these too must be given back. Recently, Reds outfielder Norris Hooper admitted he put a ball that was on the ground into the mitt of Ryan Freel, who at the time was on the ground unconscious. This is clearly cheating and needs to be punished accordingly.

Owners certainly don't get off without a penalty in this scenario, either. Any games in which they charged "variable pricing" to games featuring known steroid cheats like Bonds or Giambi, they must return the money, with interest, to all paying customers.

This is clearly ludicrous. But as much as I disagree with the logic used in the article, I find the conclusion to be even more off the mark.

Look, the "steroid era" happened in baseball whether we want to admit it or not. Pretending that it did not happen, which is basically what Commissioner Selig would be doing if he elects to not show up, does not make it so in the real world.

Commissioner Selig has to accept responsibility for his role in the "steroid era". The best case scenario for Commissioner Selig is that it happened on his watch and as one of the game's leaders he takes his share of the blame. The worst case scenario is that the "steroid era" happened with the full knowledge and consent of Commissioner Selig.

It's easy to see where Commissioner Selig's priorities have been over the years. His concern has been with revenue sharing, trying to get a salary cap, attempting to cut back on demand for players via contraction, attempting a form of collusion with the suggested salaries for free agents and draft picks and trying to break the players' union. Do you see a pattern? Everything about Commissioner Selig has been about lining the owners' pockets with even more money.

Where do steroids fit in this? Well, chicks dig the long ball and if bulked up sluggers led to greater attendance, than Commissioner Selig and his pals were only too happy to look the other way. Oh sure, they put out the occasional memo about steroids and said all the right things if asked about the issue, but it was never a key component for the owners in any collective bargaining agreement. Commissioner Selig and the owners would just throw up their hands and say that the union won't agree to drug testing so there's nothing more we can do.

If Commissioner Selig was a real leader I have no doubt he could have handled this better.

Regardless, another thing that we have to consider is that we can make any sanctimonious pronouncements that we wish today, but ultimately history will be the final judge as to the legitimacy of Bonds and the home run record.

Commissioner Ford Frick tried to have Roger Maris' 61 home runs in 1961 marginalized by introducing the idea of the asterisk, since Maris played in a 162-game season and Babe Ruth in a 154-game season. But history gave that record to Maris. And just because Maris eclipsed Ruth's single-season home run record, no one forgot about the Babe or thought him any less impressive.

Today we have the great majority of people who don't want to see Bonds break Aaron's home run mark, as if this somehow diminishes Aaron's accomplishments. Furthermore, they don't want Aaron to legitimatize the occasion by appearing at the game when Bonds breaks his mark.

Well, Aaron is 73-years old. I don't blame him for not wanting to chase Bonds around the country, waiting for him to break the record. But part of me wishes that he would, because it would be great if he could hear the applause he so richly deserves. Wouldn't it speak volumes if Aaron came on the field after Bonds broke the award to massive cheers while the new home run record holder was met with boos, or even worse, silence?

However, Commissioner Selig has no way out. He has to be there to commemorate the most important record in the game being broken. He also has to show up to acknowledge his role in the "steroid era". Because it's not fair that Commissioner Selig and the owners profited from increased attendance yet get to distance themselves from the consequences once popular opinion changes.

The whole situation is eerily similar to Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter. The public has made Barry Bonds the poster boy for steroids. The overwhelming majority of people consider Bonds a pariah and either shun or mock him at every turn. For all intents and purposes, Bonds has a scarlet "S" branded on his forehead for his sins.

Meanwhile, I can only hope that God has branded a scarlet "S" on Commissioner Selig's chest for his role in this sordid affair.