The Pressure's Getting to Bonds

As Barry "The Incredible Bulk" Bonds approaches Hank Aaron's home run record, the pressure seems to be getting to him. He's two away from tying and three from breaking the hallowed record, but he's not getting much respect. Now he's starting to take it out on his critics:

NEW YORK (AP) - A day after Barry Bonds called him a "little midget man who knows (nothing) about baseball," broadcaster Bob Costas said he wasn't upset with the San Francisco Giants slugger and responded with a jab of his own.

"As anyone can plainly see, I'm 5-6 1/2 and a strapping 150, and unlike some people, I came by all of it naturally," Costas said Thursday in a telephone interview.

On this week's edition of HBO's "Costas Now," commissioner Bud Selig, Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and chemist Patrick Arnold discussed Bonds, his pursuit of Hank Aaron's home run record and suspicions that Bonds has used steroids. Schilling and Arnold said they believed Bonds had taken performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds viewed at least part of the show before Wednesday's game against Atlanta.

"I've actually always had a pretty cordial relationship with Barry," Costas said. "I have no ill feelings toward him personally. I regard him as one of the greatest players of all time who got an inauthentic boost and then became a superhuman player. I wish him no ill whatsoever."

There are probably millions of fans who, like me, would be thrilled if Bonds never hit another home run and was stuck at 753 for eternity. Aaron managed to get his home runs in an era when the ball was not as lively as it is today, the parks bigger, and he did it drug-free. For many baseball purists, he'll always be the homerun champ regardless of what Barry the Bulk does.