COPYRIGHT 2007 Chicago Tribune
Byline: Fred Mitchell
CHICAGO _ The incessant chatter of vendors hawking peanuts, pretzels, programs and pennants kept the area around Wrigley Field buzzing before Tuesday night’s Cubs-Giants game.
The atmosphere also remained vibrant in the many bars and restaurants along Clark and Addison.
But one determined group of protesters harbored a somber message inside The Central. They handed out T-shirts that read: “755 Without The Juice” across the back. The protesters wore their feelings on their sleeves.
Even though Barry Bonds didn’t play in the first game of the series and flied out in a pinch-hitting appearance in the second, the group decided to make its feelings known about the slugger’s alleged use of performance enhancing drugs as he approaches Henry Aaron’s all-time home run record of 755. Bonds has 751.
The crowd began chanting “Cheater! Cheater!” as soon as Bonds appeared in the on-deck circle and when he stepped into the batter’s box.
“We decided this is the time to do it,” Bob Milan, a lifelong Chicagoan and a practicing attorney, said of his group before the game. “We’re not just frustrated about baseball, we are frustrated about all of the sports. When the most cherished record of all time is about to fall, we decided we have to stand up and do something. … Nobody else was doing anything, so we decided in our own little world we’re going to stand up and do it.”
The Chicago-based group calls itself BONDS (Battle On for No Drug Sports). About 150 people were expected to participate in the rally before sitting in Sections 204 and 205, Rows 20 to 23 at Wrigley Field.
“The whole country is bowing to these guys and saying they are the greatest,” Milan said. “They are not the greatest. Henry Aaron set the record with skill and hard work, and nobody talks about him. He’s the man.
” Somebody has to step up, and maybe it’s this small group of guys in Chicago, who knows?”
Chicago attorney Marty Dolan is the group’s official spokesman.
“Bob and I both are dads and our kids are playing Little League baseball,” Dolan said. “They look up to certain people. … We want our kids to look up to athletes who represent what America is about and what baseball is about: hard work, skill and determination. …”
A petition of protest to be sent to the Hall of Fame is on the group’s Web site: www.withoutthejuice.com. And “No Steroid pledges” were available Tuesday night for youngsters to sign and send to Aaron.
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(c) 2007, Chicago Tribune.
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