I am tired of a life of contention, and of being the personal object for the hatred of every man, who hates the present state of things.
—Thomas "Reggie" Jefferson in a letter to his daughter

Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing,
And like enough thou know’st thy estimate:
The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing;
My bonds in thee are all determinate.
—William "Author" Shakespeare—Get it? Bonds?

Barry Bonds, as you've probably heard, suffered a setback in rehabilitating his knee, requiring additional surgery, and now may miss the entire season. Bonds though is blaming the press—"I'm tired of my kids crying. You wanted me to jump off a bridge, I finally did. You finally brought me and my family down. ... So now go pick a different person."—as well as Lili Von Shtupp-esque, excessive ennui.

Given the BALCO situation and Congess's interest in the soft issue of steroids, some will speculate that the steroids had something to do with his situation. Certainly, the media's coverage of that subject is one of the major reasons that Bonds feels picked on. What else the juice has to do with Bonds' lack of vim is pure speculation—like that would stop anyone from speculating.

If Bonds does miss the entire 2005 season, what are the odds he could come back next season at age 41?

Well, 36 men have been out of the majors for at least a year after turning 40 and have returned. A few did it more than once, and Nick Altrock made four post-40 "comebacks". Of course, more than a handful of these were more gimmicks (Minnie Minoso?) than actual comebacks. Popular ex-players who had retired or turned to coaching would often have their careers momentarily revivified for a few games in September. However, John Franco, Tim Raines, and Julio Franco have all done it in the last five years and have played significant roles subsequently.

Here's the complete list:

Now, here are the men who played a significant role after the post-40 break (at least 50 games in another season after returning):

Paige and John Franco were, of course, pitchers. So was Diomedes Olivo, who was a rookie in 1960 at age 40. That leaves two middle infielders and Raines.

Campy had a brief comeback with the '83 Yankees, batting .322 in 142 at-bats.

Julio Franco came back from after playing just one major-league game over three years to become the Braves' mostly starting first baseman for the past three seasons.

Raines took a year off recovering from Lupus and trying out for the Olympic team at age 40. Then came back to play significant time with the 2001 Expos. Then he was sent to Baltimore to finish the year and play four games with his son. He followed that with a season as a bench player in Florida.

That does not inspire a lot of confidence in a Bonds comeback in 2006. Bonds is a unique player but a year off at his age is hard to recover from.

Let's assume that Bonds's career is at an end. Has anyone been nearly as good in his last five seasons as Bonds was from 2000-2004? First, He had 258 home runs.

Here are all the players with at 125 homers over their final five seasons:

McGwire is right on Bonds's heals at 254. Of course, both had a 70-homer year in their last five. The surprise on the list is Rosen who was done at 32, a year younger than Belle.

How does he rate in the ratio leaders in their last five years?

Let's start with batting average. Here are the top dozen (min. 2000 PA):

So Bonds is just ninth here just ahead of the legendary Jake Stenzel. (Though you should check out Stenzel's 1894 season; it's pretty impressive.) Bonds, however, is the best in almost seventy years. The leader, Big Ed Delahanty, fell to his death at Niagara Falls under suspicious circumstances in the middle of his last season at the ripe old age of 35.

Bonds fairs a bit better in the ratios. First, OBP:

Now slugging:

Finally, OPS:

Three out of four aint bad. Bonds's last five years tops anyone else's. I just hope that they really aren't his final five years. However, suddenly, Bonds capturing the career home run record, which everyone had assumed was a foregone conclusion, seems a rather remote possibility.