Letters

The Reaction

Many thanks to Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams for nailing Barry Bonds and to SI for running the excerpt from Game of Shadows (The Truth, March 13). Sports journalism is overrun with pundits and opiners; it's refreshing to see some investigative reporting. It would be even more refreshing to see Bonds walk away from the game--that would be his first honorable act in many years.

Bill McKibben, Ripton, Vt.

Did we really need a book to convince us that Bonds and Mark McGwire took steroids? No one in the history of any sport gets that much better as they reach an advanced age. What's really disappointing is that on the same day news about this book came out, baseball lost Kirby Puckett--a man who brought real joy to the game--and for a split second I wondered if steroids contributed to his death. How do even the innocent players regain our trust?

Todd Harlow, Baltimore

I would hate to see commissioner Bud Selig interfere with Bonds's run at the record, tainted though it may be. It would be unfair because it is not clear that Bonds did anything against the rules of baseball. It is also unnecessary because no reasonable fan believes that Bonds has not used performance-enhancing drugs. If the commissioner steps in to prevent Bonds from achieving the record, Bonds would become a martyr, a role that he does not deserve. Whether Bonds retires with 756 or 1,000 home runs, the standard set by Henry Aaron will continue to be the benchmark by which all power hitters should be judged.

Steve Paul, Wyncote, Pa.

Bonds is not only a cheat, he is a rude, spoiled, arrogant, inconsiderate jerk! Did I f------ stutter?

J.E. Condron, Hernando, Fla.

After the Black Sox scandal, baseball took the drastic step of hiring a commissioner to clean up and protect the game. Today baseball needs a new commissioner to restore integrity and credibility. A most appropriate choice: Henry Aaron.