Barry Bonds, please retire tomorrow

Well, Barry Bonds finally hit number 756, surpassing Hank Aaron on the all-time home run list. I must confess I missed it, but when we turned the TV on tonight, the DVR happened to be tuned to ESPN, so we were able to rewind about a half-hour to the moment he hit the homer. It was just a bit underwhelming. I've seen plenty of amazing sports moments that will be remembered for a long time, like Tiger Woods' amazing chip-in from off the green at Augusta, or Michael Jordan's numerous super-human efforts to win a handful of championships. Many of those moments have brought me to tears because I knew how hard those athletes had worked to get there and they were able to pull out a miracle when they had to. Hard work and amazing talent. Gets me every time.

Didn't feel that watching Barry hit 756. There's just something about his possible/probable cheating to get this far that really bugs me. The guy obviously has great talent. Even with extra, illegal power, it still takes skills to hit a little ball traveling 90 mph with a skinny stick. To me, it's a character flaw that he felt he needed to get a little boost to get the record. Cheapens the record in my mind.

This whole season for the Giants has been focused on Bonds breaking Aaron's record. In the meantime, the Giants are at the bottom of the NL West--by a whole lot o' games. Isn't that the story of Bonds' career? It's always been about him. But what has he done for his team? Not much this year.

So I wish Barry would retire tomorrow so the record would stop at 756 and give the next big slugger a better chance of breaking the record sooner. And then Barry could fade away.