Bonds Hits #756
Submitted by Jim Wogan on August 8, 2007 - 4:51am.
It's over. Barry's chase of baseball's most talked about record ended Tuesday night in San Francisco when he drilled a Mike Bacsik pitch over the right-centerfield wall at AT&T Park. Home run #756. Now can we all return to normal activities?
Watching as the ball sailed into history, I wished it had meant more. I wished I could have celebrated a glowing moment in the history of a sport I cherish more than any other. I nearly did, when Henry Aaron appeared on the giant video screen-- a classic and classy acknowledgement of Bond's feat. But hardly an endorsement.
As a 16-year old kid, I watched Hank's 715th while sitting on a couch watching a black & white RCA at our home in upstate New York. I was far from Atlanta, but like the rest of the nation, I felt the magic.
A year later, on the same TV, I watched Carlton Fisk wave and will his classic home run to stay fair. One of the greatest moments in baseball-- I really remember thinking that as Fisk was mobbed at home plate.
I cracked the paper to read about Clemente's 3000th hit. Years later, living in New England, I tuned in a scratchy, fading, and faint radio signal and heard Rose reach 4192.
Tonight is was #756. I felt the history, I just didn't feel like dancing.
I think that with all of his
I think that with all of his steroid use and corked bat, all of his accomplishments should be a forfeit. That is the same as lying and cheating and stealing. It is a disgrace to sports, the same as pro-atheletes and criminal charges.
HATERS!!!!!
HATERS!!!!!
Yes... it's easy for me to
Yes... it's easy for me to say... since I'm not actually in Barry's shoes... however, if I were... I would have handled all this in a completely different manner... and I guarantee that Hank Aaron would have been present at the game.
During the days, weeks, and months prior to the record breaking home run, my stance would have been:
"Yes... although I may on my way to setting a new baseball record, it's not really fair to compare it to records set "in the old days". Today, we have access to technology at a level that wasn't even comprehendable back when Hank Aaron set the record. We've advanced to the point where we can hook up computers, electrodes, meters, guages, etc... which study our bodies, stances, muscle structure, and more... ultimately providing us with all the information required for us to be at peak performance. I'm establishing a new record that reflects a new age. I would be honored to have Hank Aaron standing there with me. He set a record that can never be broken. He did it the hard way... old school. I'm doing it knowing that it's still a challenge... but knowing that I still have an advantage that didn't exist back in the day."
Hank would have been there... and it wouldn't have had to be planned for Barry's home stadium. It could have been done anywhere... anytime... and America would have been more receptive.
loudest yawn in sports
loudest yawn in sports history
Post new comment