Bud Selig might not be in attendance when Barry Bonds craps all over baseball history by breaking what used to be a very significant home run record.

No one who likes baseball likes Selig. He's been at the wheel while expansion and steroids have (almost?) ruined the Major Leagues. He has the grace of a dead cactus, all curt and completely unwilling to acknowledge what's going on. He's like Bush without the tough-guy, party-boy disposition.

In less than a month, Bonds is going to become the all-time homer king. He's not a troll like Selig, but his steroid-fueled run of round trippers this decade has been horrible for anyone who's not a San Francisco fan. I've read "Game of Shadows," and I think he definitely juiced. On top of that, he's been a cruddy teammate, a big black hole for baseball media and a lousy "friend."

Greg Anderson - Juice's old trainer - is in jail because he won't talk about Bonds' steroid use. Anderson either has super-low self-esteem (like, he needs to be friends with Bonds because no one else likes him) or there's going to be a lot of money waiting for him when he's released. Isn't that the only explanation here, that Bonds told him if he kept his mouth shut he'd be taken care of?

So Aaron won't be there when Bonds breaks the record. We know this already. Bonds says 'Why should we expect him to fly around following me to every game waiting for a home run?' This makes sense. I imagine Aaron's thinking to be 'I busted my butt for years to break this record, and now a guy with all sorts of steroid evidence against him is gonna take it because for a few years he was yoked on 'roids.' Good for Hammerin' Hank.

But now, on Sportscenter at least, the trillion-dollar question is "Will Bud Selig be in attendance when the record is broken?" Peter Gammons, Jason Stark, Kruk and every other analyst has cracked this decision open and ripped all its guts out.

My question is this: Why in the world does anyone care if the crusty baseball boss is sitting in the stands live when the record gets broken. Who cares? Bonds doesn't care. The Giants probably don't care. None of us will look back in 10 years and say, 'Wow, wasn't it amazing that Bud Selig was actually on hand to see sports history?'

It really, really doesn't matter, and these guys should stop acting like it does. If he's there, we get one of those camera shots where it looks like he's sleeping with his eyes open. If he's not, then it becomes a stupid little footnote people will sometimes, but not often, mention when talking about Bonds breaking the record.

I hate this stuff. It's manufactured ESPN drama. Like when they discuss for 10 minutes whether fans will boo A-Rod in Texas.

Right? Maybe the Flip Side is missing the point here. Does it matter that Bud doesn't want to be there when THE NEW HOME RUN KING IS CROWNED?

Posted by Phil Parker at 10:15 AM | Permalink