Other than Islamic terrorists (and their apologists), Keith Ollberman, Rosie O’Donnell (ok, this list could get long, let’s just say ALL unhinged-liberals) and all anti-military zealots — I hate Barry Bonds more than just about anybody.
I’m a baseball fantatic. But it’s not just the day-in and day-out grind of baseball that I love — it’s the storied traditions and history of the game that I love the most.
I remember the day (September 6, 1995) that Cal Ripkin Jr. played his 2131st consecutive game against the California Angels, breaking the 56-year-old record set by the “Iron Horse” Lou Gehrig, the legendary New York Yankees first baseman.
I stood — all alone — in my living room and cheered and clapped as though Ripkin could hear me in Houston.
I remember watching from a bar in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on May 1, 1991 as Nolan Ryan threw his record 7th No-Hitter at the age of 44. The entire bar went nuts.
And now Barry Bonds is about to take down one of the most — if not the most — hallowed records in all of sports: Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record.
Unlike those other historic games, I won’t watch a single Giants game this year to make sure that I don’t witness this black moment in baseball. I won’t cheer when Barry hits number 755 to tie Hank. And I won’t cheer when he hits number 756 to cement his place as the biggest cheater in the history of sports.
The number of people that don’t believe that Barry is juicer who has cheated his way to Hammerin’ Hank’s record can probably be counted on one hand.
Hank Aaron himself has said that he will not be in the stadium when Bonds breaks his record. That one fact says more to me about the hollowness of Bond’s (soon-to-be) record.
Listen to the dripping sarcasm of Joe Buck when asked how he would call the “historic” hit.
I don’t usually want to wish ill-will on anybody — but if Barry Bonds were to sustain a career (but not life) ending injury before he passes Aaron, I’d be pretty happy about that.
In the meantime, could opposing pitchers just get together and agree not to throw Barry a single hittable pitch for the rest of his career?
Seriously.
If I were the opposing pitcher, and Bonds only needed one more HR to break the record, I’d throw every single pitch at his knees (not at knee-height, but right at his knee cap). Or maybe into his ear hole.
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RELATED — Gary Clark at the Sports Frog blog (a great sports blog, even if they do write a bit too much about the NHL) notes that Ken Griffey Jr., a truly great baseball player, moved into the Top 10 club of home run hitters last night, but without much fanfare:
But the real reason that this milestone has been largely ignored by the baseball press and the American public, is because the value of the home run has never been lower. And that is because of the shadow of steroids. We all heard the arguments about ballparks, the tighter balls, and expansion in 1998 when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were hitting home runs night after night. And yet we clearly did not care. It was the top news story, not the top sports story. Street vendors in New York City were hawking Big Mac and Sosa hats and t-shirts. That home run race is credited with bringing Americans back to baseball after the canceled 1994 World Series.
And when Griffey looks up on the top 10 list, four of the nine players in front of him have something very much in common:
#2 741 HR Barry Bonds
#5 592 HR Sammy Sosa
#7 583 HR Mark McGwire
#9 569 HR Rafael PalmeiroSo here we have a clean-cut, All-American, son of a ballplayer who has never been associated with steroids moving onto the top 10 list of all-time. And barely a peep is uttered. How quietly did this happen?
What do those four names above Griffey have in common? C-H-E-A-T-E-R-S and S-T-E-R-O-I-D-S are a couple of common themes that come to mind immediately.
i have much respect for Hank Aaron for what he had to go through when he surpassed the Babe. i cant believe that there arent more people who are speaking out against Baseball. Even Bud Selig was qouted as saying that he does not know what Baseball will do if and when Barry breaks the record.
Barry is an idiot. by continuing to play baseball, he is proving how he doesnt care about winning a World Series. All he wants is to get the HR record. i wish i was a pitcher. i would nail one right in Barry’s head
Left by chris on April 27th, 2007 at 1:02 am