Michael Smerconish | FOR BONDS, THE 754 SOLUTION

June 21^st 2007

I'VE FIGURED out (some will say "dreamed up") the storybook ending to the Barry Bonds saga.

No need to end it by just cutting to black and leaving fans to speculate on what it all means. No, I've got a scenario where Bonds becomes revered by EVERYONE. Bud Selig is happy. And Major League Baseball not only survives, but maintains its dignity.

Cue the guy in the Members Only jacket - I'm ready to spell it out.

By now you know that Barry Bonds hit the 748th home run of his career on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox. That left him just seven behind Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755. Eight more and Bonds will become the owner of one of the most storied records in sports.

But Bonds is widely suspected of having used illegal performance-enhancing drugs, as two San Francisco Chronicle writers have alleged in the book "Game of Shadows" last year. And there is speculation that a perjury charge may flow from his grand jury testimony in 2003, wherein he reportedly said that he took banned substances unknowingly.

That drug enhancement could certainly explain the unheard-of 73 home runs that he hit in 2001.

In his own defense, Bonds attributes the power of his twilight years to legal regimens of good nutrition and weight training. Lost in the shuffle is that before any grand jury investigated BALCO or Greg Anderson (the sources of many of the disputed drugs), Bonds was one of the best ballplayers of this generation. And, to date, Bonds hasn't been charged with anything, much less convicted. And he's never failed a drug test.

Nevertheless, Bonds approaches Aaron's record not as a Home Run King, but as the Prince of Baseball Darkness. Assumed innocent or proven guilty, Bonds represents baseball's steroid era. And nothing appears capable of erasing that stigma for Bonds and the game of baseball.

Last summer, I took my sons to see a Phillies home stand with the Giants and watched as Bonds received a City of Brotherly Love razzing.

It was funny when he first came to the plate. But by the later innings, it was downright unseemly, and an incredible distraction from an otherwise splendid game. I would have felt sorry for him, except that Bonds has often been his own worst enemy. Over the years, he's built a reputation for being a difficult teammate and an antagonistic interview for the reporters following his career.

All right. By now Meadow has parallel-parked the car, so let me get to my solution:

Bonds should stop at 754. He should come right up to - but not surpass - Hank Aaron's record, voluntarily choosing instead to retire on the cusp of passing the most heralded record in baseball.

Talk about a total win-win. He seizes the lone remaining opportunity to show some class, and re-earn the respect of those dedicated to the game he's played for more than 20 seasons. But only if he's willing to stop one shy of tying Hank Aaron. He hits number 754, and then he quits.

Think about it: Bonds has 14 home runs in the 64 games in which he's appeared this year. He needs half that number to tie Aaron's mark, which at this pace will take 30 or 35 games and occur in late July or early August.

Barring injury, he's bound to reach the milestone sometime this season.

But baseball has never been just about statistics. The reality is that Bonds' legacy as the game's greatest power hitter is already tainted. So if stats are the reason Bonds is still patrolling left field at 43, reaching 754 and stopping would prove he could beat Aaron, but has too much respect for him and the record to actually do so.

By pulling out of the sport's most cherished home run derby, Bonds could also save baseball from a humiliating night. Aaron has said he intends to stay away from whatever ballpark hosts Bonds' record-setting home run. Commissioner Selig has been silent on plans to celebrate Bonds' accomplishment.

Bonds should save MLB the task of planning an empty spectacle. Everyone will know he could've hit 755, and then some.

But by stopping before he gets to it, there'd be no asterisk, no ceremony and no shame for Bonds. He'd be rehabilitated and redeemed in one shot - probably over a left field fence. *

Listen to Michael Smerconish weekdays 5:30-9 a.m. on the Big Talker, 1210/AM. Read him Sundays in the Inquirer. Contact him via the Web at www.mastalk.com