We all had cause to be optimistic that he’d retire after last season, blaming accumulated injuries rather than mention steroids or his ensuing legal problems or his general acute asswipishness. But no such luck. He’s about to pass the Babe, and it’s certainly possible he’ll stick around until he passes Aaron for the record, asterisked/tainted or not.
So let’s assume it happens. What then? There certainly won’t be much of a celebration; even the Giants aren’t going to do anything about his passing Ruth. There’s no publicly presentable way to negate or discount the number, it will be official. We’ll just have to adjust to having what has been the most famous record in the sport held by a guy who cheated his way to it.
I suspect that “adjustment” will primarily take the form of downplaying the importance of the career home run record itself, even if that means demeaning Aaron’s accomplishment as well. We’ll argue that homers were just an oddity of the game before Ruth, and that his outsized personality was mainly responsible for our placing such great importance on his accomplishments, not their actual significance to his teams’ winning. We’ll talk more about baseball being a team game and will put more of our emphasis on team efforts and team accomplishments. We’ll draw comparison to our national teams’ indifferent accomplishments in the WBC (mentioning Olympic basketball along the way), and explain it as the result of players’ excessive concentration on individual numbers.
I’ve got no issues with Barry breaking the record.
Everybody has some sort of advantage. Hank Aaron had 5500 more plate appearances than the Babe did and played a non-pitcher position for 8 more years thatn the Babe, and yet nobody discounts his breaking of the record. Nor should they.
Bonds hit them, they count, if he breaks the record he should be recognized for it. That’s the bottom line.
My question is why is Bonds passing Ruth such a big deal? It’s like some people still regard that as a record of sorts. It went so far as MLB issuing a statement that they would not have a ceremony for Bonds passing Ruth. When I heard this I thought “Duh, it’s not the record.”
How will baseball fans respond to Barry Bonds setting the HR record? By holding their breaths and hoping for somebody else to come along and pass up Bonds.
This, I doubt. We’re WAY too into individual acheivement and star power to let team values get in the way. I think we’ll all just put a mental asterisk next to his name, a great player who cheated to hit more homeruns. Nobody likes him, so after he gets into the Hall, nobody will talk about him anymore, he’ll just be the guy in the record book.
As an example, if there wasn’t an ongoing issue about Pete Rose and the Hall, would anybody talk about him?
I don’t think he’ll do it, but if he does, I see it as a ‘grit your teeth and try to forget about it’ situation for non-Giants fans. The current player with the best chance to hit 755+ is Alex Rodriguez, but he’s also very unpopular in some circles ('cuz unlike most athletes, he makes a lot of money ;)). Maybe everyone will get behind Albert Pujols or something.
There hasn’t been any official proof that Bonds did anything wrong. Prior to 2003 he couldn’t have been doing anything that was against the rules of baseball. For some reason, people seem to think that if he was doing something illegal (against the law) his records shouldn’t count.
I don’t condone for a moment what he is doing and of course I think he is juiced. But until there is proof of it, his homeruns get to count as much as anyone else’s.
If he passes Aaron and no proof is found of his having broken the rules of baseball, more power to him. It really is pretty meaningless in the big picture of things. Sure, he cheated and lied and made a mockery of the record, but baseball is a sport that condones cheating (pine tar, anyone?). If he can outsmart Selig and the system, I have no problem with that. It is the system people should get up in arms about. Steroid testing is an IQ test.
Seliq has formed a commission to investigate the allegations against Bonds. If they find proof he has been juicing in the last two years, his stats from the first known occurrence (in the last two years) should be stricken from baseball.
This is an idea I can support. Of course, I hope Bonds gets hit by a meteorite the second he swings at what would be a record homerun, but that’s just me. Let him get in the record books and then forget him for the jerk and cheater that he is.
I don’t think he’ll get the record, even if he moves to Anaheim as a DH after the season. At this point, he’s got no legs, and he still isn’t exploding through the ball like he was a few years ago.
I also think he knows what will happen if he passes Aaron, specifically how he’ll be criticized even more.
So yeah, let’s all cheer for El Hombre, who’s having one of the greatest seasons ever so far this year (in fact, as I was typing this, he just cranked another 2-run homer.)
But he didn’t cheat. He might have taken extensive measures, but no rules were broken (at least none we know of). Innocence before guilt, remember?
Either way, tainted or not, it’s an amazing achievement. To do what he did for the past few years was abnormal.
Even Hollywood couldn’t come up with a season he had like when he hit 73 homers. A writer for ESPN watched The Natural and extrapolated Roy Hobbs’ numbers through that magical year using the newspaper clippings they provide in the movie, as well as good old, clear pausing DVDs. Bonds’ season dwarfed Roy Hobbs’ mythical season in every way, shape, and form.
Don’t get me wrong, Bonds is a World Class Dick. I’m not a fan of him, but I’m not going to make love to him, or his giant marshmallow head. He’s got a mean game, and that’s as far as I care to know about him, unless he broke some rules.
Salute the achievement, don’t defiecate on the man.*
Ya know, come to think of it, I agree. There are some guys with a great shot at the record themselves in not too many years. Let’s hope Pujols stays clean so we can be happy about it, if it’s him. Even A-Rod can be applauded if it’s him, he hasn’t done anything all that bad.
brianjedi, Bonds’ agent said yesterday he’ll play next year, too. Even without legs, he still has the arm strength to reach the wall in SF, as his homers this year show. He’ll make it.
cmosdes, his grand jury testimony, and the statements of others, is proof enough for most people. MLB’s lack of official results is due to MLB’s lack of a serious official steroid investigation or testing/enforcement until just now, long after a *normal * person serving as commissioner would have been shamed into it.
cheesesteak, if anyone were close to setting the career hits record, damn straight you’d hear about Charlie Hustle, and nonstop too. Someday that will happen. That record isn’t even suspect.
So what should Selig do? Hold a press conference in which he looks everyone in the eye and says, “You know, I just have this feeling Barry Bonds has taken steroids in the past two years. So, without proof, I’m going to kick him out of baseball.”?
If there really is as much compelling evidence as everyone is claiming, then Seliq needs to grow a pair and ban Bonds from baseball. I just don’t think that should happen based solely on the opinion of two people wanting to sell a book.
Did he hit 41 HR between last night and tonight? Because I don’t think he’s gonna hit #756 tonight. He might tie Ruth for second tonight, but that doesn’t count for anything.
You’re aware that batting practice doesn’t count, right? Nor does playing MLB 2K6 (wait, he’s not in the game because he opted out of the MLBPA licensing deal.)
I felt the same way as ElvisL1ves, in that I had hoped he would retire before he broke the record(s), but I guess that would have been inconsistent with BB’s towering ego. Oh well. He’ll pass Ruth in career home runs, but I don’t think that anyone who cares about baseball will believe that he will somehow become Ruth’s equal by doing so. Ruth led the league in home runs 12 times in 22 seasons. Aaron did it 4 times in 23 seasons, Bonds has done it twice. Aaron had a great career and passed the greatest home run hitter in career home runs. Bonds has also had a great career and will set some impressive records. What he has done is diminished in my eyes by his near-certain steroid usage. When it’s all over I’ll still consider Ruth’s achievements to be more impressive.
