There have been plenty of words written on Barry Bonds' 756th home run last night. So many words that to write another article about Bonds - in a Sonic blog, no less - would seem pointless.
But watching Bonds go deep last night in San Francisco, I felt the urge just to add my two cents before the moment disappears into history.
First off, I'm not a Bonds-hater as the rest of the known world seems to be. Sure, he may have cheated, but considering Gaylord Perry and Don Sutton are in the Hall already - and cheating was something they did in front of the full view of the press boxes - I'm not going to lose any sleep over what Barry did or does. And considering that Babe Ruth never faced anyone on the mound with a darker complexion than your average Italian, I don't think it's fair to call Bonds' record tainted, but not Ruth's.
But that said, I was happy for San Francisco last night. You could tell that the entire stadium was delighted beyond belief, as if they got to raise a gigantic middle finger to the entire nation. There are few joys as a sports fan to rival watching the best player on your favorite team succeed, with the exception of watching him succeed when the rest of the country wants him to fail. That extra juice you get from knowing that every other fan in the U.S. hates your guts, well, that's just plain fun.
And considering that baseball is game involving men in knickers hitting a ball, I think just plain fun is something nice to see.
well, that was constructive, thank you, -oh wait. there's no one there to be held accountable for their comments. well done. I realize taht making up a few letters to be tied to the ________said... doesnt actualy reveal who you are, but I'm rambling. I agree with the original post. I'm not as upset about Bonds' new record as, oh say, 90% of the country (especially here in hholier than thou Boston, where no Red Sox would DARE do anything not cut out for sainthood). I also read a very intersting article in Time Magazine about the milestone, and different ways to look at it. basicaly they were:
ReplyDelete1)he cheated. he's a dirty, nasty, terrible humn being who probably killed someone once too, just for shits and giggles
2) nothing's been proven. probably the thinnest of the arguments
3) he cheated. deal with it. so has everyone else. it's like speeding to keep up with traffic. the fact that something like 60 percent of players indicted on steroid charges have been pitchers gives him some leeway, considering adding power will do more to put speed on a fastball than it will to...
4)...hit the ball. steroids wont help sculpt that beautiful swing. it might make it go farther when he hits it, but he still has to hit it, etc yadda yadda
5) steroids was just this generation's problem. sure he used drugs (allegedly), but each generation had their own problems. the aforementioned segregation that undoubtedly helped Ruth not to face as talented of competition as he could have, the fact that Yankee stadium was basically built FOR him to hit home runs, and the lowering of the pitching mound in Hank Aaron's era (which corresponded directly to an increase in the Hammer's HR produciton almost to rival Bonds' increase around the turn of the century), and finally
6)it doesnt matter. if A-ROd stays healthy, he'll break it. it wont be Bonds' for long, so it doesnt matter.
anyway, I think I may have added one or split one into two others because there were originally only 5, but whatevs. and I'm sorry for the novel post, if you have read this far, I owe you a couple minutes of life back. Get throught o my people, and we'll transfer those back to you. if you just skipped down and read the end here, I hate you. (just kidding, you know I love you. you're too unique not to)