FanHouse JeffPearlman

Today's officially a day for milestones. On the same day that Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th home run -- becoming the youngest player in history to do so, and by two years -- Barry Bonds stole back the limelight, tying Hank Aaron at 755 home runs all-time.

Of course everyone knows the story already: Bonds is evil incarnate (Jeff Pearlman's word, not mine!), he is tarnishing the game of baseball, teaching kids everywhere that cheaters do prosper ... so on and so forth. The fact that Bonds surely used performance enhancing drugs will always linger over this accomplishment. We all have to live with that. At this point, though, it's almost too tiring to continue to get angry.* One more, and then we can start counting down for A-Rod. 255 ... 254 ...

*I'm betting a few AOL commenters will disagree.

Tracking Bonds' Home Runs:
754 - Barry Bonds Is One Away From Hank Aaron
753 - Barry Bonds Hits 753, Can't Be Stopped
752 - Why Hello, Chicago: Barry Bonds Hits No. 752 During First At-Bat
751 - Barry Bonds Smacks Home Run No. 751
750 - Barry Bonds Smashes No. 750
Home Run Chase
Sorry, No Photos

FanHouse's Top Five scans the sports blogosphere for the best posts of the last 24 hours so you don't have to. Got something for this feature? Hit us up at fanhouse@googlegroups.com.

1) Dunking is cool. Don't get me wrong. But as this video at Simon on Sports displays, it can also be dangerous. Very Dangerous.

2) Bugs and Cranks has become the go-to spot for the "all-fill-in-the-blank teams" this baseball season. And, they continue to crank out the madness with their All-Felon Squad. That Jose Canseco mugshot is ah-may-zing, no?

3) I've heard a rumor that Big Daddy Drew of Kissing Suzy Kolber fame writes up his best posts in an insanely short amount of time. (What Happened? I blacked out.) So I can only assume his latest offering over at KSK on how to name your fantasy football team was written in like, three minutes. (Watch the naughty language over at those parts.)

4) This isn't technically within the last 24 hours, but we're going to let that slide because it's a must read. Hop on over to Deadspin and read Will Leitch's interview with Jeff Pearlman on all things Barry Bonds. Pearlman is a little too preachy for my tastes, but it's an interesting read nonetheless.

5) Best. Headline. Ever. At Gigglesugar.

This isn't exactly revelatory information, of course; after finishing "Love Me, Hate Me," his in-depth look at the fiasco that is Barry Bonds' personal and professional life, sportswriter Jeff Pearlman has made his views on Bonds -- culled through hundreds of interviews and exposure to Bonds himself -- well known.

But never has Pearlman expressed his opinion on Bonds so clearly, and angrily, as he did today in an interview with Deadspin:

Here's the truth. I set out to write a fair, honest, balanced biography of a misunderstood legend. I did my absolute best, and the result is a book that I'm very proud of. I've received strong reviews, in part because I didn't take sides. Now that I'm well beyond the researching and writing; now that I'm beyond the promotional, 20-second soundbite push, I feel liberated to express my conclusion of the whole experience.

It is this: Barry Bonds is evil.

Barry's World is the FanHouse's look into the season that is Barry Bonds.

Jeff Pearlman, he of Barry Bonds book fame, doesn't seem like much of a Bonds fan. Actually, he isn't one at all. Just read this column he wrote this past summer. You'll get an idea of what I'm talking about.

So, because of Pearlman's attitude towards Bonds, I went into reading his latest Page 2 effort on Ol' Big Head with much trepidation -- one in which he argues Bonds' wearing of Jackie Robinson's No. 42 Sunday to honor him is a huge facade due to Bonds' prior actions.

Now in his 22nd major league season, Bonds' track record in areas of race and sports is, to be polite, abysmal. Here is a man who, according to infinite associates and peers, has rarely -- if ever -- gone out of his way to assist a rookie African-American teammate trying to find his way; who sees young black fans not as potential heirs to the game, but as autograph-seeking gnats to be insulted or dismissed. Four years ago, Bonds spit in the face of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum by ignoring an invitation to be presented with one of its Legacy Awards (taken aback by the public outcry, he finally visited four months later).

To his credit, Bonds once used his celebrity to influence a political campaign. To his discredit, the candidate he endorsed was former California governor Pete Wilson, an arch-conservative whose stances on minority issues were only slightly to the left of David Duke.

Wow, that's some damning information right there, huh?