Believe me, this is coming from one of the biggest Barry haters out there, but unfortunately we live in a universe where we need the smoking gun, and until that’s out there I think we have to begrudgingly talk about Bonds as if he is worth half a crap.

So with all the talk on sports radio that Bonds only got the votes because MLB stuffed the ballot box - although incredibly plausible - is really a moot point, because Barry belongs in left field next Tuesday. Looking at the numbers, he does not have the totals that would suggest he belongs in the All-Star game, but you do have to consider that when you look at Barry’s numbers you have to take into account all the walks Barry takes which drives down his plate appearances - by the way he is currently leading all of MLB with 84 walks.

Two stats I think that help to tell the overall picture are OPS (on base plus slugging) and RC/27. Barry leads the majors in both stats - and in each case is better of course than even A-Rod who was the leading vote getter this year’s All-Stars. RC/27 is an interesting stat, it is a stat that says if a team were made up entirely of one player, how many runs they would score in a full game (27 outs). Right now, a team full of Barrys would be worth 12.00 runs a game, the team of A-Rods is putting up 10.13 runs per game and just for fun, the Julio Lugo “team” trails all other qualified hitters with 2.53 runs per game.

So, the moral of the story is: as much as it pains me, Bonds is actually proving himself to be - on an at bat basis - one of the top players in baseball this year, and thus probably deserves to be a part of the side show known as the MLB All-Star game. I’m going to go take a shower now; I feel so dirty.