Now that he has broken Hank Aaron’s legendary homerun record, it is time for me to do a cathartic exercise and write about my thoughts on Barry Bonds. But before I explain my reasoning as to why I believe Bonds is the worst kind of cheater, I should first establish why I indubitably believe he is a cheater:

It is generally agreed by everyone outside of San Francisco or his immediate family that Barry Bonds knowingly took performance enhancing drugs late in his career. Your physique and head size simply do not change this dramatically from your late 20s to your early 40s.

Supporters of Bonds like to say that he has never tested positive for steroids or performance enhancing drugs. I don’t care. I’m not a judge. I’m not on any jury. I’m just a guy with two eyes and a little something I like to call “common sense.”

The best-selling book Game of Shadows, using the San Francisco Giants’ equipment manager as a source, claims that since joining the team in 1993 Bonds’ uniform has gone from size 42 to 52, his hat size has gone from 7 1/8 to 7 1/4 and his shoe size has gone from 10 1/2 to 13.

Bonds turned 29 during the 1993 season. Grown men that age do not keep growing. And even if we chalk up his enlarged physique to dedication in the weight room, how do you explain the hat and shoe size? The increased hat size, by the way, came about despite the fact when he first joined the Giants he had hair, and in the years that followed he shaved all of it off.

Bonds’ sympathizers also like to say that if Bonds did take performance enhancing drugs, he did it unknowingly. In December 2003, Bonds told a grand jury that he took a clear substance and a cream given to him by his trainer, but that he did not know they were steroids. According to Bonds, the trainer told him they were flaxseed oil and a balm for arthritis.

The people who buy this explanation are the same people in Sci-Fi movies who swear up and down that the invading aliens “come in peace” (moments before the aliens eat them).

Add to this the fact his baseball statistics got better after the age of 35, an age where players tend to decline, and there is no doubt in my mind that Barry Bonds has cheated.

- The above is a post I wrote months ago, but never published.

Now, why is he the worst kind of cheater?

Because he didn’t have to cheat.

Bonds was already an elite, future Hall of Famer with millions of dollars in the bank before he began taking performance enhancing drugs. For this reason, many supporters or sympathizers of Bonds give him a pass on the steroid scandal. But it’s the reason why I believe he is a despicable figure.

Bonds wasn’t a mediocre player just trying to hang on. He wasn’t a player in Triple-A with a family to support. He was already a star. He was already rich beyond belief. He already had a place in baseball’s history.

But it wasn’t enough for him.

Being a middling player with a family to feed isn’t justifiable reason to cheat, but it at least would have been understandable. I could at least wrap my brain behind that dilemma.

Bonds taking steroids is like the world’s tallest man putting lifts in his shoes.

He cheated, and he didn’t have to.