First posted on Wednesday, Sept. 14

It's great to have Barry back, it really is. I liken it to when Babe Ruth played, or Joe DiMaggio or Willie Mays. You don't want to miss a second. It's like the stories I hear about people who grew up watching Mickey Mantle play, oh man, he was unbelievable.

Well I'm here to tell you, Barry is the same guy. How else can you explain, how after almost a year, Barry steps to the plate two games ago and hits like he's been doing it all year? I can't either.

What I saw him do when I played against him made me respect him; what I've seen him do since I retired has simply blown me away. We look at other athletes like Walter Payton and Jerry Rice and say, they played well into their 30s because of the work ethic off the field. I can tell you Barry works just as hard off the field as on, and has done so since joining the San Francisco Giants back in 1993. Gary Sheffield said a couple of years ago that he couldn't keep up with Bonds and his off-season workouts, and I played with Gary in Florida and I know how hard he works to stay in shape.

Barry made himself into a hitting machine by what he has done off the field. You may want to cut him some slack, because if you don't know greatness when you see it and you want to keep saying he cheated or something stupid like that ... well then, I can't help you. But if you are like me, and you know players do work hard and can make themselves better, then just enjoy his greatness and don't question things that don't matter.

And the past two nights I've been glued to the TV, waiting for every at-bat, because I know I won't see another player like him in my lifetime, and I don't want to miss my chance to see him play. You may want to do the same. Because 20 years down the road, you'll be saying, I could've seen the best ever, but I was just too stupid to do it.