Exactly. The truth is, it's been a little boring this summer. The season has been lacking in debate. And isn't that the whole point with baseball, to give you and your friends and your father something to argue about?

So admit it. You miss him.

I'm talking about Barry Bonds, of course.

Not only is he the greatest hitter of his chemically-enhanced generation, he's also the greatest heel. You can hate on him, as I have made it my practice to do. But you'd be wise to acknowledge that he's also the guy you love to hate.

For whom else would you stop whatever you were doing to watch at the plate? Can you say that about any of those guys in last night's Home Run Derby? Maybe one day, you'll drop everything to watch Josh Hamilton, who hit 28 homers in the first round. But for most fans that's still years away. In the meantime, don't bother trying to convince yourself (or anyone else) that an Albert Pujols plate-appearance is an event.

Maybe, I'm a hypocrite. Or maybe the real hypocrisy, once again, resides with the baseball establishment. The evidence that Bonds was a cheater is overwhelming. Even more overwhelming, however, is the evidence that he was one of many over many years. If the Mitchell Report is worth anything, it's just that context.

And so what if Bonds is going to jail? He's not going to jail this season. You don't have to be a fantasy geek to know that the concerns of most fans and GMs are beyond mere ethics. Bonds is a curious exception. Here it is the All-Star break and a guy with a .480 on-base percentage last year, can't even get a sniff.