I grew up watching baseball. My love for the game was blooming as I watched Kirby Puckett, Dan Gladden, Chili Davis and Jack Morris lead the Minnesota Twins to victory in the 1991 World Series.

I became fascinated with books about baseball. I read about record-setting athletes such as Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. Their feats made them worthy, I thought, of reverence. As an 11-year old, I used to stand in my backyard and hit whiffle-balls off of a tee, mimicking my heroes: Babe, Ted and Kirby.

If we look purely at statistics, there is one present-day player who certainly deserves such "hero-worship." Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants.

On the surface, Bonds certainly deserves such praise. With 703 career homeruns, he stands in third position on baseball's all-time homerun list. He needs only 12 homeruns to eclipse Ruth for second place on the list and 53 homeruns to surpass all-time leader Hank Aaron.

But wait, there's a problem -- Bonds may have used steroids during his playing career.

Bonds' personal trainer and friend, Greg F. Anderson was one of four individuals cited in a 2004 indictment against the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). The indictment alleges that Anderson was involved in distributing banned substances such as tetrahydragestrinone (THG) and the human growth hormone to athletes.

For his part, Bonds denies ever knowingly using an illegal substance. As Mark Sappenfield of the Christian Science Monitor reported on Dec. 4 of last year, "[Bonds] admits only to using two substances -- a liquid taken orally and a cream that was rubbed on the skin. He says his trainer told him they were flaxseed oil and an anti-arthritis balm. The two substances, however, bear a striking resemblance to the 'clear' and the 'cream' -- two steroids produced by BALCO that Bonds's trainer has been charged with conspiring to distribute. "

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that "the clear" is a "designer steroid" and "the cream" is a "testosterone-based steroid."

With his reported testimony, Bonds is trusting that the substances Anderson gave him are not illegal. He is essentially saying: "I never knowingly used steroids, and if I did use them, I certainly didn't mean to."

We do not yet know if the substances Bonds used were indeed "the cream" and "the clear" -- and unless Bonds admits steroid use, we may never know. But even the possibility that Bonds used steroids, knowingly or not, has vast repercussions.

If Bonds is truly an unknowing victim in this case, it is possible that many aspiring athletes -- in hopes of achieving Bondsian glory -- will attempt to obtain these steroids. If he admits to steroid use, many aspiring athletes may use them and cite Bonds' success as their justification: "Barry said he did it, and he's great. I want to be great, too"

Either way, Bonds' steroid scandal has forever altered the game of baseball.

I idolized Babe, Ted and Kirby because they were strong, talented athletes. There's probably another 11-year old baseball fanatic somewhere in small-town America today. When Bonds, or another one of baseball's superstars steps to the plate, I worry that he will not watch them in awe and then run to his baseball tee in the backyard.

As the players of today accomplish amazing feats, I fear that the young fan will simply ask: "I wonder what he's taking?"