756*?

So Barry Bonds set the all time homerun record last night and I still don't know how to feel about it. I definitely think that he took steroids, HGH, andro, or whatever but I don't know how that should affect his place in history. Here's what I think:

1. Steroids, while being illegal in the United States without a prescription, were not on MLB's banned substance list until the last few years. Should he be affected by something that his sport didn't prohibit?

2. Both hitters and pitchers were taking steroids, so do the two cancel each other out? Bonds was already a great hitter, so was the increase given to him by steroids greater the performance increase given to pitchers? Probably so, but there's no definitive proof. Bonds was already a great hitter before he started taking steroids and likely would be at least #3 all-time on the homerun list, so how many extra homeruns can be attributed to steroids? 100? 10? There's just no way to tell.

3. There's already cheaters in the hall of fame. Gaylord Perry was a known cheater and he didn't do much to hide the fact that he was doctoring the baseball. This is what irks me so much about McGwire being blackballed for one day in front of Congress. Why the double standard? Plus, when you consider that guys like Ty Cobb are in the hall of fame, it's kind of hard to argue against Bonds being enshrined in Cooperstown, but there's still that possibility. This is what bothers me when Bonds is accused of being a horrible person because he's not a great teammate. His job is to play leftfield and hit- not to make everyone like him. Yes, he's part of a team, but no one really complains when Roger Clemens signs deals that don't require him to travel with the team when he's not pitching.

4. Bonds admitted to taking what he believed was flax seed oil and arthritis rub, but he did he know what he was actually taking? I tend to think so, based especially on the evidence in Game of Shadows and Greg Anderson's refusal to testify. If he made sure not to know what he was taking, then that is a problem, but if he honestly trusted the guys at Balco, then I think that weighs favorably for Bonds.

So, in sum, I have no idea what to think and I'll reserve judgment until there's more evidence either way.