Just put yourself in our shoes when you get a second. Or in the shoes of Cardinals fans or Cubs fans. When 40,000 people get out of their chairs in Milwaukee next April and give Ryan Braun a standing ovation, don’t just assume that they’re all bleating goats who will chew on whatever tin cans they’re fed. This stuff’s complicated. Being a passionate fan of anything messes with your brain chemistry. That’s what made my brain spam me with feel-good chemicals after Bonds got off with a slap of the wrist. When I think of Bonds, I think about some of the fondest memories baseball has ever given me. Around these parts, that will give him a pass for an awful lot over the rest of his life, even if you can’t understand that.

– Grant Brisbee, McCoveyChronicles.com.

First: The frequency with which I’ve found myself linking to Brisbee’s posts lately suggests to me he’s having a hell of an offseason. Go click through and read this whole thing; it’s awesome.

Second: I’d guess every baseball fan in the country who came of age in the last 15-20 years feels for some now-tainted (or at least suspected) player the way Brisbee does for Bonds. Mine’s Mark McGwire, among others.