Bonds in Midseason Form With the Media

I noticed that the article about Barry Bonds’ astonishing and bizarre news conference was juxtaposed against an advertisement for professional wrestling, and I realized that the difference between pro wrestlers and Barry Bonds (and all those other freaks produced by steroids) is ... nothing.

Jeff Rabin

Los Angeles

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Yes, Mr. Bonds, we know that Mark McGwire hit 49 home runs as a rookie. And we know that Jose Canseco may have been lying about a lot of the dribble he spewed. But we also know that you never even hit 40 home runs until your alleged steroid use.

And since you don’t know what cheating is, let me give you a clue. Find out how to spell it. Then look it up in a dictionary.

And as for an asterisk being placed next to your records, what do you expect, a gold star?

Jack Ross

Los Angeles

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Barry Bonds personifies the Shakespeare quotation, “Methinks he doth protest too much.” His recent news conference tirade bespeaks a deeply disturbed individual living in denial of the obvious.

Especially disgusting was Bonds’ insipid attempt to play the race card, intimating that the press is vilifying him and seeking to denigrate his assault on the home run record due to his color. Last time I checked, Henry Aaron was black and earned his home run record without the assistance of steroids, human growth hormone or any other illegal substance. Tragically, the same cannot be said for Bonds.

Mark S. Roth

Long Beach

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Here’s the crucial part of Bonds’ news conference that was not reported because the last 18 1/2 minutes of the tape were erased:

“One other thing I probably should tell you, because if we don’t they’ll probably be saying this about me too, I did get something -- a gift from Victor Conte and Greg Anderson at BALCO. They heard me mention that my youngsters would like to have a dog. And the day before I left for spring training in 2001, I got a message from Conte and Anderson saying they had something for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was?

“It was a little cocker spaniel dog. Black and white spotted. And our little boy Nikolai named it Checkered, after my career. And you know, the kids, Nikolai, Shikari and Aisha Lynn, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we’re gonna keep it.

“Giant fans have got to know whether or not their left fielder is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.”

Robert M. Ostrove

Oxnard

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After watching Barry Bonds’ news conference I’m convinced his records deserve an assterisk.

Steve Ross

Sherman Oaks