Who's Hurt Most by Barry Bonds?

There's a lot of talk these days about Barry Bonds and his pursuit of Henry Aaron's all-time home run record. As I write this, Bonds sits at 753, two short of tying the Hammer's 755.

The controversy swirling around Bonds' chase blows fitfully to-and-fro like a hot dog wrapper lost and meandering in the right field corner of San Francisco's blustery Candlestick Park, former home of the Giants. Should Commissioner Bud Selig be present or not?; what does Hank Aaron think?; will the record be legit?; does Barry get into the Hall of Fame?

Well, I'm here to tell you who is most harmed by Barry Bonds' steroid-fueled assualt on baseball's most hallowed record. And no, it's not Henry Aaron. It's not Babe Ruth. It's not Bud Selig, or the fans or the "intergrity of the game."

I'm here to tell you about, to remind you of... Ken Griffey Jr.

Junior Griffey?, you ask. What's he got to do with it? Well, take a look. Ken Griffey Junior is on a bit of quest of his own. In 19 major league seasons, 4 of them shortened by injury to fewer than 83 games, Griffey has, with one of the sweetest swings in the game, put 587 baseballs into the seats. In due time, Griffey will surely surpass 600 homers, a feat accomplished by only 5 other men: Aaron, Bonds, Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa*. (*who deserves an asterisk of his own for his steroid-suspicious mashes). He's a sure-fire 1st ballot Hall of Famer and he's done it all without a hint of the juice.

Should Griffey play another couple years, he'll find himself creeping up on Mays at 660. Through 86 games this year, Griffey boasts a .291 career average, with 1666 RBIs, 461 doubles and a .558 slugging percentage. He has won ten Gold Gloves in centerfield. All without the taint of the cream or the clear.

If not for the plague of injuries that befell him, Griffey would likely have at least two additional full seasons under his belt. He'd already be pushing Willie Mays at 660, and he'd likely be on the road to 700 and Ruth and Aaron beyond. All without a trace of andro or HGH.

If not for Barry Bonds and his miserable, arrogant, surly ascent up the home run ladder, we'd all be talking about Junior and his sweet swing right about now, because he's accomplished his feats the old fashioned way... he earned them.