Famous for being the home run king, Barry Bonds’ name is clear for the first time in over a decade. His conviction of cheating by using performance enhancing drugs was overturned on appeal, but is it too late for the star’s reputation? Despite the legal decision made in the case, many fans, and even other baseball players, have already written him off as a dishonest cheater. Jimmy Rollins, Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop, said about Bond’s reputation, “Mud in water. No matter how clean it is, it will still be remembered as muddy water.”

The Houston Chronicle includes a further quote from Rollins: “Presumed guilty, you’re always going to be guilty regardless of a ruling. That’s just the way it is, that’s the way society is. That’s the world we live in. He would definitely rather be remembered as one of the greatest ballplayers that ever played, because that’s what he was.”

John Yandle, a former Triple-A left hander and the thrower of Bond’s batting practice sessions, said, “It’s good to have this chapter behind and to have him cleared of all charges, so hopefully people can remember him for the baseball player that he was and not all these other things that surrounded his persona…All I can say is he gave us a lot of stand-up-from-our-sofa, yelling-at-the-top-of-our-lung moments during his years here. That’s what I certainly remember and appreciate all the time I was able to spend with him throwing.” Yandle communicated with Bodns via text a few days after the appeal ruling came out, “and I think he’s relieved, too, he’s got to be relieved that it’s all over with and hopefully this is where it ends and taxpayers’ money can be used for better purposes now,” said Yandle.