Looking for a Stance on Bonds

From the treadmill at the Sport & Health club Thursday morning, I watched a "SportsCenter" highlight of Barry Bonds hitting another home run Wednesday night. This was Bonds's seventh home run of the season and the 741st of his career. Hampered by injuries the past two years, Bonds, 42, is healthier and on a tear. If Bonds could keep this up, Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs could be surpassed before the Fourth of July.

This leaves me and millions of baseball fans -- including Commissioner Bud Selig -- in a state of limbo. We don't know how to feel about this guy. We don't know how to measure Bonds's accomplishments, what to think about the cherished record he's about to set or how to feel about him personally. Aaron, the current home run king who retired after the 1976 season, has no plans to be on hand when Bonds ties or surpasses his record. Selig hasn't decided, according to his spokesman.

For several years, Bonds has been suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs (he's never tested posit ive), as well as being a central figure in several investigations of drug use by baseball players. Outside of his own burg of San Francisco, Bonds clearly ranks among the least-liked major figures in sports.

Still, New York Times sports columnist Bill Rhoden wrote Monday that "if baseball ever hopes to get out from under the so-called steroid era that it was slow in dealing with and move on, Aaron and commissioner can set the tone. Attend the ceremony for Bonds, acknowledge the achievement."

Rhoden's suggestion, while high-minded, still leaves many in a quandary. Do we root for him, or the opposing pitcher? Do we sneer at the San Franciscans who ignore the incriminating stories on Bonds by the Chronicle reporters? Do we shut Bonds off completely because, as many have suggested, "Please, we don't want to read about him anymore."

For guidance on the matter, I sought advice from a friend, Matthew Simon, who is Rabbi Emeritus at B'nai Israel Synagogue in Rockville, and Father Bill Byrne, the Catholic chaplain at the University of Maryland.

"Part of Bonds's problem is he does not endear himself to anyone," Simon said. "We really want a 'Nice Guys' Hall of Fame and Bonds doesn't fit.

"But what if Bonds is innocent of the drug charges? I'm a believer in the doctrine of innocent until proven guilty, or if needed, repentance.

"And if it's proven that Bonds had chemical assistance," Simon added, "put an asterisk by his name, as the baseball commissioner [Ford Frick] did when Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in a 162-game season when Babe Ruth had hit 60 in 154 games.

"There are precedents in sports."

Byrne said: "It's difficult to convict anyone without evidence. And this is about guilt or innocence -- not a popularity contest. He hasn't been convicted of anything. For the commissioner -- and all of baseball -- the rule of law should apply.

"Besides, I'd rather congratulate a guilty man than spurn an innocent one."