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Posted on Aug 8th 2007 at 04:33:31 PM by ( Mezmoron) Posted under Site News, Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Baseball, Homerun, Record, Steroids, 756, Washington Nationals, San Fransisco Giants, Mike Bacs |
I know this isn't video game news, but regardless, it is one of the biggest things in American sports. Barry Bonds has finally passed Hank Aaron on the homerun list to sit atop alone at 756. In a game where Bonds was hitting 2/2 with a single and a double, he stepped up to the plate for the 3rd time. An 84 mph pitch came his way and then the ball traveled 435 feet into the right field bleachers.
The fateful pitch came from Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik in the bottom of the fifth.
How do you feel about this? Were you able to put aside the possibility of the "era" and enjoy the moment? Let us know!
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The game I loved while growing up doesn't even come up as a blip on my radar anymore. Barry Bonds is a tool, and doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with players like Aaron and Ruth.
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The question of "deserving" is a judgment call and implies favoritism. And I'll serve up my most hated athlete ever as a comparison.
Do I think Michael Jordan "deserves" to have won 6 championships...NO. Because I despise him and all the overhype he's been given throughout his career and afterwards. And I do not consider him the "best ever". He may be the best shooting guard ever...he may be in the top 10 players ever (next to Magic Johnson, Dr. J, Shaq, Bill Russell, Chamberlain, Bird, etc.), but that's it. However, despite my personal hate for him, the hypocrisies of his "retirement", and the sweeping under the rug of his gambling issues...the circumstances enabling him and his teammates lead to the unfortunate undeniable fact that the championships of he and his teammates are "earned".
So, to get back to Barry Bonds. No matter how much disdain someone has for him as a person or athlete. Circumstances were allowed to happen throughout the course of his career that enabled him to "earn" this record. He is not to blame for the steroid era in baseball, the owners and the head of the players association (Donald Fehr) are. The media may have stamped him as the "poster boy" of that era, and many may argue whether or not he's "deserving" of the record, but there's no denying that he's "earned" the record.
This record is an enigma in and of itself. Let's not forget that Ruth played in an era that held the color barrier. Let's not forget that Aaron succeeded in an era that did not have a fully integrated international presence either. Look up the name Sadaharu Oh from Japan. He hit over 800 home runs for the Tokyo Giants in a time where Asian athletes were not being recruited to play in MLB.
Looks like the home run record will continue to be shrouded in controversy. Unfortunately for the fans, it's current focus will be on Bonds and the steroid era instead of having it taken for what it is...a record like any other that's meant to be broken.
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OK! I don't like Barry. BUT, it is hard not to be in awe of this great feat. Yes he might have taken steroids. SO WHAT!!!! He was a tremendous athlete when he was a skinny litte Pitts. Pirate. AND he was cranking out the homers then also.
You can take all the steroids you want. BUT you still have to hit a 95 mh fast ball. Say what you will about Barry. But he is a great athlete. I mean he obviously hasn't been taking steroids for several years now. And he is still hitting home runs.
He also has a great batting eye. YOU DON"T GET THAT FROM STEROIDS. Yes he has been intentionally walked alot. But he takes alot of good pitches for balls, that most ML players would be striking out on.
Baseball should be kissing Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa's @SS because before the big home run race of 1998. MOST MLB teams weren't drawing any fans. Most people lost interest and got sick of all the labor strikes and owner lock outs. etc. NOW Baseball is setting records for attendance, and going stronger than it ever has.
Instead they are shunning guys like Big Mac, Sammy, Palmero, Bonds, Giambi, etc.
Anyway I guess I am done venting. Like I said I don't like Barry But I applaud him for his accomplishment. He is a great Baseball player.
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People still play baseball?
...like outside? Without a Wii?
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He's an awful bastard and I would have thrown the ball back had I caught it.
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No you wouldn't have. That's $250K easy. It's nice to say that you'd throw it back, I'd like to say that I would do the same thing, but nobody throws away a lottery ticket.
I gave up hating Barry a long time ago. PEDs are prevalent in many walks of life these days, and whether we want to believe it or not, he's more than likely not the only cheater to hold a major record in a sport. It's just something we have to learn to live with.
Shit, even the guys in 300 used HGH. Nobody hates them.
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@BadEnoughDude:
I would have. I swear on your mothers life.
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@Mike Leon:
Nicely said.
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