Boy, I love my readers. Got some interesting responses to the segregation/steroids comparison. Most of the mail was positive but also confused. I can sum much of it up with this general synopsis.
“Bonds cheated! Ruth didn’t!”
That is true and definitely not disputed by me. However, that wasn’t at all what I was getting at. I was saying that records from two eras are tainted, and that seriously affects the integrity of baseball. Unfortunately, most of the people that hit me up didn’t see that. Oh well.
I won’t reproduce most of those e-mails because, well, that sentence says what they say a lot faster than I can c-n-p.
But let’s get to some of the other interesting one. Because this issue touched on race–though not really–I got lots of special stuff. Brian was very upset with me at first.

Just got done reading your article and you have GOT to be kidding me!! Let me get this straight. You are saying that Bonds is justified in taking steroids because he is tackling past racism single handedly? (Race Card Alert!!) I see your point, sort of. Babe played in an era when there were no blacks. There is nothing right or just about that. But to only give the reader two choices (you’re either for Bonds/ Steroids or your for Ruth/ Racism) is total and utter garbage.
Thank you for showing me, once more, that no matter what the situation, you can drop the race card and get people fleeing to Bonds’ side. I hope you’re proud of yourself for backing a lying, cheating, womanizing, drug abuser.

Since his e-mail came early in the day, I had time to go back and forth with him. After asking him to read through the piece again and putting emphasis on a few points, he said this.

Ahh, I see and I couldn’t agree more. You have opened my eyes Bomani Jones!!


That’s right, I open eyes. Call me the alarm clock.
The funniest came from John.

Barry Bonds would have hated segregation… not only would it have prevented him from entering the Major Leagues, it would’ve also made it much more difficult to be with white women, too!


Maybe more difficult, but maybe he needs to read up on Joe Louis and Jack Johnson. I’ve got my thoughts on interracial dating, but Louis gets nothing but dap for pulling Sophia Loren in her prime. I’d buy a time machine for the privilege of washing her car.
You know, the more I read the e-mail, the more I realize the e-mailers said the same thing over and over again. Another guy named John didn’t agree with me, but he gave the highest praise I could hope to receive on this piece. After a few paragraphs of why he didn’t agree, of course.

Although I disagreed with much of your article, it was thought provoking and you deserve credit for that.


And in the end, that’s all I want to do.
But here’s this week’s proof that racism is alive and well. There is no intro. Here’s Gary from Belleville, IL. If you know this guy, send me his address.

Let me start by saying you are a typical fucking Nigger,
You all have to have excusses for failure and want all of the Glory.
That article was the worst example I have ever seen in my life.
Steroids and Segregation are nothing alike. and as for your remark of what would Ruth have done against Negro Pitchers is totally fucking retarded
White athletes are just as good as blacks butt the tables have turned now days with all of your NAACP bullshit white people don’t get the same opportunities as blacks, look at Brad Johnson sitting the bench until culpepper goes down then he wins more games, and Joe Jurevicious same story I could go on and on butt it wouldn’t matter because black people in general are racists and everything is personal because you cant forget the past, I never owned a slave.
Replay if you have the balls.


Yeah, we won’t even get into all the spelling and grammatical errors. I just wanna know how someone can talk all that shit on e-mail and then tell me to replay if I have the balls. Takes a lot of chutzpah to respond to slurs offered over e-mail. Right.
But the most important e-mail came from Ray Doswell, the curator of the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City. The NLBM kind enough to answer some questions I had while researching the piece, and I thank them–specifically Bob Kendrick–for their assistance.

Read your column on ESPN.com with great interest. Very well done. The records ultimately don’t mean a thing in the final analysis. Your comparison of the two eras of baseball history was very good.
Negro Leagues baseball stands as a unique institution forged to success against the backdrop of racism and disenfranchisement. Exploits on the field can not give you the full story of being a Black or Latino off the field. The next frontier in Negro Leagues research will go beyond trying to prove Hall of Fame worthiness to a deeper understanding of black baseball in American society.
Hopefully, all this effort will reveal truths about waht it really means to be a citizen, not just a ballplayer.


For more information on the NLBM, please go to www.nlbm.com.
And that’s it. Covering the ACC Tournament for Page 2, so I’ll be sorta outta pocket for the next few days. Call me if you love me. And if you don’t have the number, just love me from afar.