A different look at Barry

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Bonds Strikes Out in First Spring At-Bat

Of course, I giggled. It's far too easy to hate the man. And then almost immediately, in an uncharacteristic fit of charity, I thought of something else.

Barry Bonds is someone to feel sorry for.

While we can look at his arrogance, his nastiness to his fans, his disrespect for the legends that came before him, and his absolute trampling of everything good about baseball, we should also look at the other side.

He is one miserable person. He must not enjoy anything: not his kids, not the adulation (however misplaced it is), not even the game he plays for a lucrative living. The money he makes is only a yardstick of his worth when compared to other players. He spends all his time running from the press because he's lied himself into a corner.

Of course, he's brought this all on himself. But sometimes, you can look at a person who is thoroughly self-destructing and wish it were different.

I feel sorry for him because he can't – or won't – change. He'll always have this gaping hole inside him, and nothing will ever fill it up. If playing one of the best games on earth, and doing it well, and getting PAID to do it doesn't make him feel any better, then he's lost.

Ty Cobb, with time, found fans. A dirty but good player, a nasty human being, could only be appreciated after he was dead.

I wonder if Barry Bonds will even have that?