made me feel as though something was stolen from me.  Something that should have been special but was not.  Something that should have been a memory I would have for a lifetime, but instead today I cannot even recall who was on the mound for the Padres when it happened.  Barry Bonds most definitely cheated the game, and as a passionate baseball fan, I feel cheated today.

Growing up as much a fan of baseball as I did, there are certain moments and records that I always looked at with great awe.  Roger Maris's 62 homeruns in 1961.  Hank Aaron's 755 career homeruns.  Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak.  Ted Williams hitting .406 in 1941.  Nolan Ryan's 7 no-hitters.  Every time a player went on a homerun binge, a hitting streak, or had a no-hitter going my interest skyrocketed.  I was (and remain mostly) intrigued by this game and these records.  Like many others I know exactly where I was when Mark McGwire (the disgrace that he has now proven to be) hit # 62.  Like some I even remember every no-hitter every thrown by my favorite team, the Florida Marlins, and where I was when each happened.  Sadly, this even on Saturday night will not be like that for me or many other baseball fans.  What should have been an exciting chase with me hanging on every pitch instead became a ho-hum moment with more interest in whether Barry Bonds would be booed than what I had just witnessed.  As I said, Barry Bonds has not only cheated the game, he has cheated baseball fans like me.

There are only two players I have ever actually bought a ticket to see (typically I buy a ticket to see the game and the teams).  One was Ken Griffey, Jr. when he was with the Mariners.  I drove down from UF to watch him play in St. Pete.  The other was Barry Bonds.  If I had known then what I know now I would have saved my money and gone to see a true gentleman of the game like Griffey again. 

Some day this week Barry Bonds will claim the all-time homerun record.  The all-time homerun king will forever be Hank Aaron though.