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Barry is the ultimate role model

Yesterday was opening day for my oldest son’s baseball team, a cheerful group of eight and nine year olds. One of the coaches asked the kids to gather round for some batting advice. He told them to choke up a bit on the bat, watch the first pitch and so on. Then he asked them if they knew who Barry Bonds was. He wanted the kids to see the virtues of a light bat and choking up. A legitimate answer to his question would be, “The greatest hitter of his generation,” or “One of the greatest players of all time.” Instead, this eight year old raised his hand and volunteered: “He’s going to die soon. He puts bad things in his body.”

Probably not a lawyer’s kid. he didn’t put the word “allegedly” in front of the word “puts.”

Here’s what the kid was referring to.

I’m not sure steroids should be against the rules, but I don’t want my kids taking them. What I like is how the kid at the game showed that with the right parental commentary, even a bad role model can be a good one.

Here’s Tyler Cowen’s take on the search for perfection.

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