Bonds Taking Pain, Sleeping Pills

Too much has been made of Barry Bonds' anticipated retirement just because he is on the wrong side of 40. Remember, it was well after the age of 40 that George Blanda learned to eat his stewed prunes without dribbling down the front of his pajamas. Still, Bonds' peculiar focus on Babe Ruth's 714-homer total is a tipoff that Bonds sees Hank Aaron's 756 total as perhaps unreachable, given Bonds' latest physical limitations. His statements that he only want's Ruth's mark are intended to establish that threshold as an acceptable achievement if he is forced to retire at or before the end of the year, a distinct possibility once one condsiders his virtually secret regimen of pain-killing medication. Not only have doctors prescribed medicines to dull the pain in his surgically repaired right knee, they also have provided sleeping pills to stop the pain from keeping him awake at night.