What's your problem with Barry?

So, you don't like Barry Bonds?

That's ok because you don't have to root for ballplayers just because they are great. Still, you should watch him every chance you get because you've never seen anyone better.

When Bonds leaves the game in a few of years, he will have put together a career that is more impressive than all but two or three baseball players in history. He may be even be the best ever.

Regardless of how much you dislike the man, it is difficult to argue that anyone since Ruth has been better. By the end of this season, he will be fourth on the all-time homerun list, and if he stays healthy for a few more years, he could be first.

When his career ends, he probably will be in the top ten in career RBIs and in the top fifteen in doubles. In a couple of seasons, he will become only the fourth player ever to amass 2,000 walks.

Bonds is one of the few sluggers in the history of the game who did not strike out often. In fact, he has not had more than 100 K's in any one season since his rookie year.

No power hitter in history has stolen bases like Bonds either. With sixteen more steals, he will become the first player ever to reach 500 steals and 500 homers. He is already the first ever to reach 400 and 400.

In fact, no one with more steals than Bonds has even hit 300 homers. Only three others have ever stolen 300 bases and hit 300 homers. Those three are Barry's father Bobby Bonds, his Godfather Willie Mays, and Andre Dawson.

Maybe last season, while he set the homerun record, the base on balls record, and the slugging percentage record, and batted .328 with an on base percentage of over .500, you chose to focus on something negative about him.

You can't really criticize his fielding because, although it is not as good as it once was, he has won eight gold gloves.

Based on all of that, you have to admit that Barry is as good as anyone who has ever played. So why do you still not like him? Is he too selfish? Cares too much about his personal stats?

Babe Ruth was notorious for paying a great deal of attention to his personal stats too. He also was known for being a partyer and a womanizer, and he used foul language. The Babe was still the greatest ever.

How do you feel about Mickey Mantle? He was one of the best, but his numbers do not even compare to those of Bonds, and he was an alcoholic. Of course, Mantle won championships.

Maybe you do not like Barry because he has not won a World Series or played well in the post season? Plus, he is sometimes rude to the fans and usually rude to the media.

That's fine, but remember that Ted Williams also was sometimes rude to the fans, usually rude to the media, and was not a good post season player. Williams, like everyone who has played his career for the Red Sox since Ruth, lacks a World Series ring. Teddy Ballgame was still as good a hitter as the game has ever seen. Of course, he did not have the glove that Bonds had and certainly not the speed on the base paths.

Other players around the league seem to dislike Bonds though, and so do his own teammates. Those players who dislike him still acknowledge that he is the best. It would be tough to find a hitter on any team who would not like to bat in front of him in the lineup or a pitcher who would not rather have him in his clubhouse than in the opposing lineup. This was certainly the same way players felt about Ty Cobb almost 100 years ago.

Bond's own teammates do not like him? Well really, the only teammate who has publicly expressed dislike for him is Jeff Kent, and we have to be careful about believing anything Kent says. Kent may be lying about his dislike for Bonds. Kent does make up stories, and he is lying to himself if he thinks he would be the same hitter without Barry in the lineup. While Kent sits on the disabled list because of a carwashing accident or a motorcycle accident or whatever it was, remember that Bonds has missed very few games due to injury in his 16 year career.

Dislike Daryl Strawberry or Dwight Gooden for wasting so much talent. Dislike Pete Rose for pretending to care while disrespecting the game. Dislike John Rocker for being an ignorant racist. Dislike Barry Bonds if you want. Dislike him because he is arrogant and moody.

Just do not let your personal preferences cloud your judgement. Understand that regardless of whether you like him, Bonds has made the most of his talent and ability.

You do not have to root for him or like him, but Barry Bonds is a couple of good years away from becoming the best ever, so you should at least watch him play and appreciate what you are privileged to see.

Ok, maybe the second best ever. But, unless you are very old, you never got to watch Babe Ruth.