Steroids* - Homeruns* - Asterisks* - Nonsense
With Barry Bonds on the verge of breaking Hank Aaron’s all time home run record, one has to wonder if all the hoopla is logical or not. Steroids follow Bonds continually and there is still no proof that he ever did any of the substances. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa are under the looking glass as well and again there is no proof that they did the roids or not.
So where does that leave us? Will we acknowledge Bonds as the all time homerun champ or not? If not, would we still welcome McGwire if he was going to break the record? Seems like Big Mac and Sosa were accepted by all the fans where Bonds is some kind of villain. Maybe we should just say Roger Maris is still the single season home run leader and keep the asterisks. Let’s say Babe Ruth is still the all time champ and that all his stats weren’t recorded in his early career. Sounds okay? Well, who cares, really.
A-Rod will probably end up the all time homerun champ within ten years and we will forget all about the steroid decade. Why do we care so much for home runs anyway? For my money, the record breaker I think we should be remembering the most is Cal Ripken, but that’s just me. Or what about Sadahara Oh, the Japanese great who hit over 800 home runs? Maybe he should be remembered as the all time home run champ? Oh, I see…you only count players in America? Sure, well, what about Josh Gibson? Many called him the greatest home run hitter ever? He was also in America. Oh, I see…he was in the Negro leagues.
I think we’re all getting a little too picky and involved in the damn stats more than what we should be doing. We should be taking our kids to the ball games so they can enjoy the American past time without writing down each double and error. Eat your damn hotdog, hug your kid, and enjoy the game…and when you see your child’s smile with ketchup all around his mouth and cheering his favorite player you will not see an asterisk anywhere on his face.
Joe Brindley writes screenplays and sports commentary.
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Tags: Barry Bonds, Cal Ripken, Hank Aaron, Mark McGwire, Negro League Baseball, Sammy Sosa, Steroids