756 - no asterisk

Well, history has been made. The era of performance enhancing drugs is in full-swing (no pun intended) and we have the broken records to prove it. Barry Bonds, in the midst of controversy and on a night that made even the most uninterested people watch, made history with one solid swing of his bat. Crushing a ball well over 420' over the right-centerfield wall in San Francisco.

We all know the allegations against Bonds due to the BALCO investigation, and blah, blah, blah. But the question is, does he deserve the record? In my humble opinion, he does not. Do I believe the record to be "tainted," as ESPN put it? No, I don't...at least not for the reasons everyone thinks. It is true he still must swing the bat, and of course he's a very talented player. He's one of the best hitters in history, there's no question. After all, he's got the numbers and now the record to prove it. But I, and most other realistic baseball fans know it's true that many other players take some form of performance enhancing substance but that doesn't justify doing something illegal. If you (meaning anyone) can't play the game with class and moral fiber, don't play!

One little factoid, according to ESPN, was Bonds (while in his "prime") never hit more than 50 homeruns in a single season. Then, at 36 years of age and his career beginning to fade, he breaks out for a miraculous 73 bombs. Amazing coincidence, huh? Sure McGwire and Sosa showed the same pattern, but even they had their "advantages." McGwire had is "Andro-" and Sosa had is loaded bat. Of course, baseball never officially found any basis for these findings at the time, but it came out a couple seasons after the fact.

In defense of Bonds, this pattern of behavior and "alleged" substance abuse has been going on LONG before Barry and "the chase." Can we all remember Darryl Strawberry? Doc Gooden, anyone? Honestly, the whole issue has been overlooked far too long, and now it's almost too late. C'mon Selig, grow a pair, would ya?

Getting back on point, the record. I'm all for breaking records. After all, they are made to be broken but only if they are done the right way, by being EARNED and not gift-wrapped (like the fateful pitch on Aug. 7th in S.F.). I've watched the footage, and I gotta tell you...Barry put a helluva swing on that ball. He crushed it, no doubt about it...of course what do you expect when the pitcher places a belt-high fastball down the pipe? Hmmm? If you will be so kind to humor me and if you can, watch the footage again, you will see the Nats' catcher set up on the outside corner for a low-and-away pitch. The pitch came, the catcher shifted, the ball was hit...yet where did the pitcher look? He didn't even turn around to watch the ball. Now, if you're a ball player, especially a pitcher...what is the FIRST reaction (maybe second if you think "oh SH-") after someone hits a fly ball? You FOLLOW the flight trail, the pitcher made no such effort. He knew exactly what he did. He gave Bonds a BP fastball to hit and Barry did not disappoint.



Great job Barry!!! Congrats to the new homerun "king." Although, your record won't last nearly as long as Aaron's (33 years, if memory serves). I give it 10...15 years tops.