Philadelphia ? All hail Barry Bonds.

Now that I have your attention, here’s why: A lot of good has come about during his charge toward baseball’s all-time home run record. In truth, he’s been an inadvertent conduit for positive change since he chopped down Mark McGwire’s then 3-year-old home run record in 2001.

Barry wasn’t any better-liked back then than he is now. What was unnerving, though, was how we treated him even then. We had all done such a nice job of ignoring the andro, of helping McGwire mask that he was, for the most part, a surly sort, and here came Barry, just as surly.

Why was McGwire given a free pass and Barry wasn’t?

Because he didn’t fake it as well as McGwire?

Inquiring minds wanted to know.

The media – myself included – must take a hard look at whether race plays into how it portrays its icons.

Here’s another thing Barry did for us that year, a gift that keeps on giving: The home run lost value as if it were the currency of an economy out of control. Sure, the sports networks still highlight the bombs, and the home run derby still brings out the very worst in Chris Berman. But to its everlasting credit, ESPN has begun to accentuate the aspects of baseball that its more devoted fans embrace.

“Web gems,” anyone?

Can’t get enough of them myself.

Playing the game correctly is in vogue again. Barry, who in his youth had some run-ins with Jim Leyland over such matters, has said so himself. Often.

Here’s another positive offshoot: Remember when Vince Coleman had to be told who Jackie Robinson was? The guys today, with Bonds at the forefront, connect the dots. Bonds may say he doesn’t care about his Hall of Fame status, but he clearly enjoys his connection to baseball’s history. You think it’s any coincidence that Willie Mays and his 660 home runs have been rediscovered? That he is again being included into the debates over best player ever, or best living player?

He’s also given the Babe a shot of adrenaline. In a book titled “The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs,” author Bill Jenkinson charted at least 40 balls hit by Babe Ruth in 1921 that would have cleared any fence existing in baseball today. According to Jenkinson, Ruth would have amassed about 1,150 dingers over his 22-year career had he played with today’s dimensions, rules, and number of games.

Do we like Bonds any less with that black cloud now draped over that 1998 season? Hardly. Aaron’s achievement amid all that hate in the early 1970s has already been told to a new audience, and is likely to gain legs, not lose them, as Bonds surpasses 755.

So all hail Barry. Every surly and likely altered ounce of him.