Barry Bonds blows "save" opportunity

For some strange reason, Barry Bonds refused to sign the ball that a fan caught of his 713th homer. The fan, Carlos Oliveras, is a U.S. Air Force serviceman. He approached Bonds, but Bonds would not sign. Instead, Oliveras got a photo taken with Bonds, and a certificate of authenticity was stamped on the ball.

Bonds foolishly blew a "feelgood" moment, because he sorely needs some positive press right now. He is getting booed because fans don't feel that he deserves to pass Babe Ruth's career home run record due to his alleged use of steroids to reach that mark. Whether that's fair or not to do to Bonds, he did himself no favors by refusing to sign Oliveras' ball.

Maybe he does not support the war in Iraq, and if so, then his refusal could be some sort of political statement about the war. If that's the case, then he is certainly entitled to his opinion (I happen to not exactly be all in favor of the war myself), but he's gonna have to take the grief that comes from such a point of view. Signing the ball of a U.S. serviceman would have been a "double bonus" for him, but instead he has served up a "double negative". So thus, this can rightly be considered a "blown save" opportunity.

Despite the fact that we might have very similar views of the war, his questionable refusal to do something that would have done a lot for him makes me wonder about the man and his decision making. In other words, maybe I don't want Bonds to get the record, either!