Syringes thrown at A-Rod? Home run balls branded? Maybe not.

MITCHELL BLATT

As Barry Bonds approached the home run record, fans were booing him, throwing syringes at him, and his 756th home run ball was branded with an asterisk.

Now that Alex Rodriguez is approaching the home run record and has admitted to using steroids, will he face the same fate?

Probably not. By admitting to using steroids early, he has dodged the denial process that makes fans so angry. Everyone knows that Bonds used steroids, and the evidence keeps piling up, yet he will not take any blame, so that just fuels so much rage against him.

After years of failed denials by others, A-Rod–or more precisely, Scott Boras, I assume–knew that denial wouldn’t work. (Instead he accused SI reporter Selena Roberts of breaking into his house.)

Fans are still going to be mad at him–and rightfully so–but he may not face as much pressure as Bonds did when he broke the home run record.

Obviously admitting his roid use takes a lot of scrutiny off of him, but he has other things playing for him as well.

First, Bonds’ steroid use broke earlier than most of the other controversies. Since he was so good and the shock of steroid use was so new, he became the face of steroids. Now the fact that A-Rod used steroids is largely greeted with yawns.

In fact, Jose Canseco helped him in 2007 by spreading the rumor that A-Rod took steroids. Since people had heard it from Canseco back then, it was already embedded to some extent in their minds, so it was no shock when it was reported as fact.

Despite A-Rod’s image as an overpaid Yankee, no one can come close to Bonds’ negative perception in the media. That the media didn’t get along with him did him no good.

Finally, Bonds might be escaping some scrutiny now that he retired, but, perhaps his biggest mistake was lying in front of a grand jury. If you lie to the media, they stop caring after you retire, but since he committed a federal crime, he has to keep facing stories like earlier this week when new evidence was released against him including failed steroid test results.

Since the fans hate Bonds so much, A-Rod’s approach of the home run record may largely be cheered just because he is less hated. It’s like they asked in South Park, would you rather support a giant douche or a turd sandwich?

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