Socially speaking

My, my, my. Everything's baseball again in the sunny South and Southwest. Players are getting ready for the big day next week, managers are making their last minute cuts, Roger Clemens is sweating bullets and, of course, Barry Bonds is a man without a team.

As for Bonds, that is truly good news. If they can ban Pete Rose from baseball for betting on his OWN team, they can do the same for the so-called home run king. In fact, baseball needs to start putting those asterisks in the record books to restore the feats of Babe Ruth and Roger Maris. As for Hank Aaron, he had more games to play so there should be one for him, too.

But Clemens and Bonds deserve harsher punishment. They need to go away and get off the field for good. In fact, they ought to be banned from even attending a game.

But none of this will happen. For this is baseball, a game that makes the rules as it goes. Meanwhile, Rose sits and waits for his invitation to the Hall. What a pity. What a shame.