Today we can add Giants fans as enablers to the sorry Bonds affair. With a city so vocal and filled with so many activists, why haven't the masses boycotted all things Giants? The games. The merchandise. The sponsors
"Where Have You Gone...George Mitchell" was among the first entries in "WagTheNews." More than a year later, we have a better chance finding Joe DiMaggio than George Mitchell. The latter was picked by baseball execs to investigate steroid use in the majors. Then, there was hope that Mitchell would derail Barry Bonds before he surpassed Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron as baseball's homerun king. A feable year later, Mitchell and the rest of us will end up watching Bonds pass Aaron in a matter of weeks.
Nevermind a year ago, Bonds was as guilty as can be. Two newspaper reporters unveiled their investigative book "Game of Shadows." The conclusion: Bonds turned to steroids because he was jealous of the hero-worshipping surrounding Mark McGwire and his single season home run pursuit. After that 1998 season and continuing the next few years, Bonds took a variety of illegal and undetectable drugs to add strength, improve eyesight, and to smash McGwire’s homer run record. Bonds never disputed any of the books' facts, but filed suit for damaging Grand Jury testimony being leaked.
Baseball execs said the integrity of baseball was at stake so they hired Mitchell to investigate. The former U.S. Senator had promised an independent investigation to include "all persons who we believe have relevant information." We've waited, and waited, and waited. Today Mitchell finally named names, but sadly Bonds was not one of them. Investigators want teams to send medical records of Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Jason Grimsley, David Segui and Fernando Tatis. The hitch is the players would then need to grant permission to release the records to Mitchell. Fat chance. See you next year.
So we've gone nowhere fast, or more accurately, nowehere slowly. But how has everyone allowed time to pass without a final judgment? A year ago, we wrote that baseball and the Giants were co-conspirators in their silence before the 1999 season. A new Giants ballpark was opening in 2000 and the team had no interest in catching Bonds. It was only after the ballpark opened in 2000 that the team finally did background checks on Bonds's three personal trainers. The team still did nothing when they found steroid links among a trainer, a gym and Bonds.
Today we can add Giants fans as enablers to the sorry Bonds affair. And that's surprising, especially in a city like San Francisco, which has "pride in place" like nowhere else. It's puzzling for San Francisco fans to give Bonds standing ovations. It's even more troublesome that the entire city doesn't take a stand. Few issues go by in San Francisco where residents are not active participants. Dog's rights. Parent's rights. Gay's rights. With a city so vocal and filled with so many activists, why haven't the masses boycotted all things Giants? The games. The merchandise. The sponsors.
Mitchell hasn't been able to get anyone to talk. San Francisco residents can make their money talk by taking a stand and sending a message. Instead the Bonds homerun pursuit is looking like a car accident, where everyone slows down to watch, just glad they're not a part of the wreck.