houston, we have a HUGE problem...

when i got home last night, i turned on the astros game (score was already 2-0 in the top of the 1st inning) and began making my dinner. i continued to watch as i proceeded to cook and clean the kitchen. when i finally finished in the kitchen, wandy had been pulled, springer was in, and the score was 11-2. as i had TONS of work to do (for a training i am doing in austin in june), i turned off the game and went into my room. at first i had the game on and muted, but then it became way too frustrating and distracting, so i turned it off (well aware that bonds had still not tied the babe).

let's talk about that for a minute. this is a huge thing for baseball. i know the guy did 'roids to get there, and if you know me at all, you know i am adamantly opposed to that, but that's no reason not to appreciate the milestone. this is a record that has only been broken once in over 70 years!

so i turned off the game some time after things got really ugly (11-2) - as opposed to just slightly ugly (8-2), so it must have been right before bonds got beaned. in other words, i missed that part. while i was still snoozing this morning, i heard about it on the radio, and i was appalled.

when i was a little, we had season tix to the astros and the oilers. my dad started bringing me to games before i could walk. one thing that i'll never forget is how much it bothered me when people booed. my first defiant action (of many) was telling my dad not to boo at games. i couldn't have been more than 3 years old, but that's how much i hated it. i had a sickening feeling every time he did it (which wasn't a lot, and it was always when half of the stadium was in agreement, not that that changed how i felt). understand that i loved my dad, and he could do no wrong in my eyes, but something about it bothered me that much.

fast forward to present day. i am still VERY much opposed to the boo. i think it is unsportsmanlike, and i think it says a lot about people's character. when i was at the game monday night, it ticked me off that people booed bonds when he came to the plate. why? b/c he's better than you? seriously though, why? would those same people have booed robert downey jr (or any other actor) if he'd won an oscar after his drug use...doubtful. so why the sore spot here? i am certainly not in favor of bonds' choices, and i do think he cheated; HOWEVER, what's done is done, and mlb has allowed him to continue to play and take the record if he breaks it...take it up with them.

and now for the point of the post: as if the booing wasn't bad enough, the fans cheered last night when springer hit him. who are these people?? i won't get into how i feel about the pitches (ok, maybe i will...springer's a mlb pitcher; you're telling me he doesn't have more control than that?? i hated it when clemens did it in ny, and i hate it now). but the fans? once again, we have shown the world (who is watching, by the way, just in case that dinger is hit) that we don't deserve any respect. if we want to get any respect in the baseball world, we could start by acting like baseball fans (or even human beings) and not like animals. who cheers when someone is hurt? imagine the uproar if that happened at a little league game...what's the difference here? he may be a little older than a little leaguer, and he may even be the biggest jerk on the face of the earth (not that i know that to be true), but he's still a person. whether you like a person, agree with what s/he stands for, etc or not, you should respect humanity enough not to be happy that someone gets hit.

maybe mlb should just put an asterisk next to bonds' name and move on. somebody classier like pujols (al or bert) may break the record in 15 years anyway.