One kook's petard...

… or star wrecked, the next degeneration.

Getting back to yesterday’s subject matter, one cannot help but marvel at how things that go around come around.

Here’s the thing, Barry Lamar Bonds has lived most of his baseball playing life as if rules were for everyone else. He set his own guidelines, did as he pleased regardless if he were breaking either the laws of the land or club rules on the teams for which he played.

His great skill and the money it generated provided a protective wall around him--nobody wants to barbecue the cash cow. He was pretty much untouchable and knew it and more importantly--acted like he knew it. He did as he pleased, treated others as he pleased, thumbed his nose at management, teammates, media, fans, the MLBPA, various agents he retained because gosh darn it--he is Barry Bonds and they’re not. It was Barry’s world and they were just living in it.

How ironic is it that the same approach is now being used to bring him down?

The normal rules for grand jury testimony was changed for Bonds, somebody has unilaterally decided that he needs to be taken down and the normal protocols for search and seizure and various other laws have been casually brushed aside because somebody dislikes Bonds as much as Bonds disliked many around him.

Just as Bonds would stop at nothing to get his way, now somebody is stopping at nothing to get him. The world revolved around Barry and now that world is again revolving around him but this time it isn’t for Barry’s aggrandizement--it’s for somebody else’s altogether. Barry being Barry is now Barry being buried. Nothing deterred him in making a name for himself--often at the expense of others--and now somebody is undeterred in making a name for themselves at Bonds’ expense.

In short--he’s getting a taste of his own medicine. Now he knows what its like to have the rules changed to his own detriment, to realize that those same rules are no longer a protection and the man that thought he was above the law has by now had the epiphany that the law offers little or no protection from those wishing to destroy him.

Granted, this (his legal status) could change due to the ineptitude of those trying to build a case against him but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s lost his career, his legacy, probably a great deal of money and those he wished to keep at a distance--lest his universe be disturbed--are more than happy to accommodate his wishes and he is no longer bothered by fans, clubhouse reporters or team management (of any club). He made it clear on repeated occasions that he doesn’t need anybody and now has few allies and many make it clear that they do not need him either.

Make no mistake--these people are stopping at nothing to isolate him even further making sure that instead of wearing orange and black his wardrobe will change to just plain orange. He will remain behind an iron gate but isn’t sure whether it’s one to which he has a key.

This is why--while I think collusion is wrong and feel what is happening with Bonds is likewise--I have little sympathy for the man. He has made his bed and now must lie in it. It’s not like the end result was unforeseen; history teaches us repeatedly that you should be nice to people on the way up because you will see them on the way down. It instructs us that the cocoon of protection people like Bonds enjoys lasts only as long as he has tangible value to those protecting him; it’s why it’s important to make allies while you still can. This lesson is ages old:

"There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg— I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.' "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' "'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' "Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?' "'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. "He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.' "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly."--Luke 16:1-8

Like the man in the parable, Bonds knew that one day he would be out of a job except wouldn’t know precisely when (although his early-to-mid 40’s would be a good guess)--unlike the man in the parable, he didn’t use the opportunity to build bridges and cultivate those that one day could come to his aid. If collusion did indeed occur it was made easier because he had few (if any) allies in management and the silence from the players was deafening; while some made veiled statements that something might be fishy nobody came right out and said that what was happening was wrong and no one made noises about wanting his bat behind them in the lineup.

It went from “I’m Barry Bonds and you’re not” to “We’re major league ballplayers and you’re not.”

An old Hebrew proverb states “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind” and it appears that is all he has right now.

Getting back to the original point--whether it is Jeff Novitsky or someone higher up that’s after him, I cannot help but wonder if he/she/they realize that the actions they despise Barry Lamar Bonds for committing are the very things they are doing to bring him down.

If they succeed, they will be a hero to many and the irony will never dawn on them that two people acted the same way--they loved the one and despised the other and never took the time to find out why. The reason is because despite protestations to the contrary--they do believe everything they read and they let others think in their behalf.

However it ultimately ends up--nobody has covered themselves in glory in all this: fans, media, player, leagues, the government…nobody. There are no heroes here--only degrees of villainy.

Best Regards

John