Baseball has been Barry Barry to me!
From the Desk of Mace

This column is about the great American game .who doesn’t know the words to Take me out to the ball game. Who can’t remember ballpark franks and peanut vendors whipping bags of peanuts with unerring accuracy I’m a red sox fans. I remember fondly those heart breaking years of loss after loss. I’m still amazed the Sox actually won in 2004.

.Nostalgia is creeping into my usually cynical, sardonic and jaded view of the world. For those of us who remember the Not ready for prime time players, the original cast of the Saturday Night Live, I’m reminded of a great recurring bit by Garret Morris as Chico Esquela the exuberant Cuban baseball player whose signature line was “ Baseball has been berry berry good to me.” 

            I once was the keynote speaker for the National Institute for Mental Health forensic rights conference after my stunning reversal of a death sentence for a paranoid schizophrenic that heard voices from Satan and Satan’s assistants. I opened my speech to a Group of about 200 psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health professionals like this: “Mental Illness has been berry berry good to me”)

Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s home run record of 755. Good for him. It is a testament to his talent, perseverance and longevity. Hammerin’ Hank is a class act and sent a congratulatory message that was broadcast and The Giant’s ballpark after Barry broke the record. Everyone is talking about the specter of Steroids and how it’s not fair and it tainted the record. Remember when Roger Maris was about to break Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs, he received death threats. They also said because the season was 160 games instead of 154, there should be an asterisk.

While I don’t condone steroid use, lets put this in perspective. Bonds has hit 757 home runs so far. If you or I took steroids, it certainly doesn’t mean that we would be able to hit 1 home run rather than 757.Let give him a little credit He didn’t get into a fight with a teammate in the dugout, like Cubs Pitcher, Zambrano did. He didn’t hit an umpire. He didn’t throw his bat. He didn’t bet on games like Pete Rose, He didn’t throw the World Series like the black sox scandal.

He didn’t get indicted for dog fighting. He didn’t get thrown off his team for repeatedly violating the law. He hasn’t been charged with crimes in numerous jurisdictions and he was not involved in a melee in which gunshots were fired and some one was paralyzed like Pacman Jones.

The game of baseball is much different todayBabe Ruth was a wild womanizer so was Mickey Mantle .They often came to the park hung over. Ted Williams of my beloved Red Sox Spit at the fans while rounding home plate. (Great Expectorations) Those were the good old days. Recently Roger Clemens was suspended for 5 days for hitting a batter and Yankee Manager Joe Torre was suspended for one game. So let’s cut Barry some slack.

I read a snippet that Alyssa Milano (Formally of Who’s the Boss) took the Dodgers’ manager Grady Little to task for batting a player with a batting average under 200 clean up Her piece was thoughtful, incisive and knowledgeable. Considering that she dated Brad Penny and Russell Martin of the Dodgers, don’t you think its funny her blog is “Touch’em all!”  He shoots he scores!. Oops I’m mixing sports metaphors. How is an NBA player like a Koala Bear? He eats shoot and leaves!

The baseball season is heating up. The NFL is starting its preseason games (Go Pats) The US open in tennis is just around the corner. Let’s not forget the badminton championships will be held in Sri Lanka in two weeks. (Only kidding) It’s a grand time to be a sports fan. Till next time Mace

Mace Yampolsky is criminal defense lawyer located at 625 South Sixth Street Las Vegas Nevada 89101. His office number is 702-385-9777.  His website is www.macelaw.com.  His column appears weekly in this newspaper. If you would like to comment on this article, he can be reached by email at mjy@macelaw.com