By Tom Daymont
Bonds hit #747 last night, just the second home run since May 8 for the steroid-using-slugger and his first this month. With that two-run shot, Bonds is just eight homeruns shy of tying Hall of Famer, Hank Aaron's record of 755 career dingers.
With Sports Auction for Heritage rescinding their million dollar bounty on ball #756, I now have no idea what I would do with that precious (and most likely waterlogged) ball.I have been thinking about what I would do if that white and red winning lottery ticket somehow fell into my fateful hands. Would I keep it for my grandkids? Would I give it back to Bonds for a signed syringe? Would I sell it to the highest bidder before I even left the ball park? Or would I curl into the fetal position as I am beat to death by a mob of angry Bonds lovers?
While I realize that I am not the only person who has thought of this, (and I am sure there are other blogs out there on this topic) I would like to recommend one action, and one action only, if you find yourself catching that controversial orb.
Bust out your black Sharpie, or better yet a Magnum. While your eyes are being clawed out and your groin kicked, draw a big black asterisks on it and huck the ball back, Rowengartner style. Sit back and laugh as hundreds of money hungry baseball fans jump on to the field tacking everyone in sight like the middle school classic turned politically incorrect named game of “smear the queer”. As you exit the park being called names like dumbass and idiot, you can be happy in knowing that the real #756 is tucked safely in your underwear.
Hello, Ebay.
A million bucks is a million bucks. I don’t care if Osama Bin Laden hit that homerun. I’m getting paid.
14 comments:
i couldn't agree more. i would put a big asterisk on the real ball though too. kinda like that sackings fan who wrote "fuck you" on some shaq milestone basketball.
did you hear bonds wont give any of his equipment to the hall of fame. people suspect its because they'd compare his shoe and hat size from pirates era.
i don't like censorship, and i'm all for the 1st amendment, but this blog will not post anything that is pro-bonds.
Admit it: Professional athletes use performance enhancing chemicals all the time. Barry Bonds was simply caught in the spotlight of a media crazed society due of his overwhelming god given ability and an over hyped "steroid scandal". He stood out and became "the perfect example" simply because he worked hard and hit a bunch of home runs during this period.
On another tangent, I'm glad #756 will be 2nd page news, not because of the steroids, but because I beleive baseball is so much more than numbers and im sick of poeple getting boners about statistics. Barry Bonds still has more postseason home runs than hall of famer hank aaron by the way.
"the best things baseball has going for it is its past" i forget who said that, but someone did.
i love records and i love stats. i love hank aaron. i hate barry bonds. its as simple as that.
do you know how many rounds of the playoffs baseball had in aarons era? i hate when people say someones great just because their team got them to the playoffs, wehn there are 3 rounds. same reason why dave justice has the most hits or homers or something in post season history.
fuck. i hate arguing about barry bonds. the bottom line is that he would not hit 756 without illegal performance enhancing drugs. it doesnt matter if everyone else was using them. yes, heda been a hall of famer without them.
can we leave it at that?
I still like Barry Bonds due to the fact that he was fucking awesome at baseball, even when he was skinny. The guy was winning home run derbys 10 years ago. Would he hit 765 without steroids? No. would he hit over 600? More than likely. If Hank Aaron hit 856 home runs, then this wouldn't even be an issue right now. He would be another Raphael Palmeiro. He got alot of heat when he admitted to using steroids, but now, hardly anyone even mentions his name.
But I don't know Bres, I feel Major League baseball is very big on numbers. Baseball stats are much more regarded/cherished than say Basketball, Football, Hockey stats, ect. And I agree that todays athletes use performance enhancing drugs all the time, but back when Aaron broke the record, they were all clean.
But heres another fact: Aaron had 12,364 career at bats, and Bonds has only has 9,662. Thats saying something. He would probably only have about 600 homers right now (if he was steroid-free), but if he had 2702 extra at bats, its safe to say he would've broken Aaron's record the clean way.
This just really sucks, because I hate McGuire, I hate Sosa, Palmeiro, Giambi, etc. because they are all cheaters. And a part of me wants to hate Bonds for the same reason, but another part of me realizes that with or without steroids, Barry is one of the best hitters in the history of the game. So I am completely torn right now.
I guess if Bonds gets elected to the Hall of Fame, they have to let Pete Rose in, or I will boycott watching/attending Major League Baseball until they do.
thats the great thing about aaron. he was just plain consistant. he never hit more than 47 in a year.
bonds would never have been able to play this long at this high of a level without steroids. i think thats what steroids do best. prolong careers by reducing injury recovery time and so on.
don’t think a baseball player’s overall rank should be primarily determined by comparing career numbers. My measure of greatness is how dominant a player is for their time. Babe Ruth is the best player of all time because he was hitting 60HR’s the rest of the guys on the leader board were lucky to hit 30. But, comparing the total HR’s hit by Ruth or Aaron to Bonds is silly. You could argue that players now have better workout routines, better drugs and medicine, better bats and equipment…ect. But, you could also argue Babe Ruth didn’t face very many black, latin, or asian pitcher. Pitchers didn’t throw the Babe too many splitters or circle changes. The point is numbers like HR totals or wins for a pitcher are somewhat pointless each generation is so much different. So I could care less if (and when) he breaks it…unless I caught the ball.
good call soup.
i wish i could find this semi-satirical article from page two from a while back. it set out to decide who the real single season champ was. they discounted everyone from the 90s cuz of steroids, everyone from pre '47 cuz of no blacks or latinos and there was some other criteria too. the winner: harmon killebrew with 49 in 1964
Barry Bonds went from being a top 3 player in history who the media hated, to a top 5 player in history that everyone in America hates. I'm going to skip the whole innocent until proven guitly argument, because he's already guilty in the court of public opinion and in my mind. But the fact is, its widely beleived he started taking steroids in the '97 off-season, a year he hit 40 home runs. In the '94 season he hit 46 HRs and 123 RBIs, if you throw out his outrageous year when he hit 73 and 137, he's only had one season which he has hit more home runs and none which he had more RBIs. Even with out steroids the man was threat to hit 40 or more home runs a year. His average improved after the '97 season, but that could be attributed to the fact he went from consistently striking out 90 times a year to around 65, he has walked a lot his whole career and that has contintued. His defense and speed went down considerablly as well as his durability, not to mention his already shaky credibility.
Don't crucify before you hear out my reasons for this post. I'm not a BB fan, he's a great player but just not a good guy. This post is more of a knock on the whole asteric thing for the 90s. If we take stats away from players for taking steroids, should we add number on to Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle becuase they booze hounds and womanizers? Surely that had a negative impact on their careers. Come on, don't be rediculous. There is no way to determine what could have or should have been. But thats why sports is so great, you can always argue what you think would have happened.
I just feel that steroids have hurt Bonds' game in more ways than they could have helped. He went from being a hitter for average and power who could tear up the base paths and play gold glove caliber defense, to a guy who would hit home runs, take walks and was a liability in the feild.
i heard bonds eats little children
come on now no asterik....the man is a great baseball player. Yea, steroids may help hit the ball a little farther, but like Tony said the man hit a lot of homeruns before. Steroids don't hit baseballs, to anyone who has ever played knows how hard it is to hit a 90mph fastball. It may help you to be quicker and more powerful, but it still does not put the bat on the ball....and how come no one ever compares pictures of Roger Clemens, when he came into the league and what he looks like now?
i love barry bonds
hes the best, no question!
you guys are just tryin to get my goat. if you had read the earlier comments, we all agreed he'd be a hall of famer without steroids, but HIS BODY WOULD'VE BROKEN DOWN without them. steroids help your body recover from injury and help 40 year old men play like theyre 35. longevity. hes a proven cheater and a proven asshole.
but he's good at hitting baseballs so its ok huh??
steroids actually cause more injuries...that's why he has bad knees
Haas, havent you seen that crumbling statue commercial. steroids are bad for you, they dont even make you better.
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