The rebirth of Barry Bonds.(Brief Article)

The Barry Bonds pill never has been especially fun. It causes turbulent side effects, tends to fail in October and acts more as a depressant than a stimulant. The resulting mood swings have caused America to reject him as a hero, even though he's one of the greatest baseball players of our day and arguably the starting left fielder on any thinking man's all-time team.

Yet might we be experiencing a latebreaking renaissance? Is it possible Bonds will let us start appreciating him at 36 after loathing him for so many years? Happier than ever, mightier than ever, he's threatening to seize a season and make a magnificent run at Mark McGwire's home-run record. To some mopes, that is a devalued goal in the age of rabbit balls, county-fair pitchers and cozy ballmalls.

To me, it's a reason to stick to his every at-bat like Velcro.

"The balls I used to line off the wall are lining out of the park. I can't tell you why," says Bonds, humbled by his power streak. "Call God. Ask him. It's like, `Wow, I can't figure it out.' So I stop trying and keep swinging."

"Can Barry Bonds hit 70 home runs?" wonders Gerry Hunsicker, general manager of the Astros. "Sure, I think it's possible."

I still like home runs, knowing they energize a sport that too often slips into comas. Better, I still like modern sluggers who don't use steroids and supplements to bulk up like chemically bloated space aliens. The whispers have been out there about Bonds, as they've been about any hitter who flirts with history. But any innuendo should stop at once. One of the game's most outspoken antisteroids critics is Kevin Towers, G.M. of the Padres. He has a fairly good idea of who is using and who isn't. When asked about Bonds, he doesn't flinch.

"Believe me, Barry is au naturel," Towers says. "He is a wonderful athlete blessed with God-given ability. He's hitting more home runs than he did five and six years ago because the pitching isn't as good and parks are smaller. What he's doing is very real and very special."