Barry and 714, 715.
I hate Bonds getting the record, but not because of who he is as a person, but because of the lack of moment tied to it. He wasn't a hero, he isn't an anti-hero, and sadly, he doesn't seem like he is out for anything other than himself. As a baseball fan, I hate seeing this moment, because I know how great it is, and I can get little joy from it due to everything that surrounds the chase.
Tied back to the great home run race of 1998, Bond's 73 and 714 seem artificial and joyless, because in 98, it just came out of nowhere, and both Sosa and Big Mac played with smiles. And thinking of when Mac hit 62, and had the great speech about Maris's bat, we just don't get any of that from Bonds. He seems tied to the antithesis of history of baseball, he doesn't embrace it beyond wanting to plant himself in it. Those are all superficial fan views, but that's what rings out for me.
While Maris was given the Asterisk be the commish at the time, we as a sporting community seem to level a similiar quantitive doubt on Bonds, and it's not about dismissing his 73, but his 714, and 715.
His subborn facade will never win over fans, and will be ratcheted up by diamond historians as a Pujols or whomever 15 years down the line. In comparison to the others of the records, Bonds doesn't seem to have earned this in our eyes, he simply accomplished it.
Wile the steroids flag will always fly high, I don't hold it against Bonds. This is a sport of cheaters, and I think thats why we admire it and why it seems so "American."
If I took steroids, I still couldn't even hit 50 hrs in the MLB in 22 years. I wouldn't even sniff it. But Barry, at his core, doesn't seem like one of us, as a fan, as a baseball lover, or even as a guy who loves playing baseball for a living. The whole record feels like an albatross around him and around us the fans. Few people in the world, and perhaps even Barry, are having a good time with this accomplishment. And that's why I hate this moment. Click the title for a great article by Jason Whitlock on ESPN. Link
Tied back to the great home run race of 1998, Bond's 73 and 714 seem artificial and joyless, because in 98, it just came out of nowhere, and both Sosa and Big Mac played with smiles. And thinking of when Mac hit 62, and had the great speech about Maris's bat, we just don't get any of that from Bonds. He seems tied to the antithesis of history of baseball, he doesn't embrace it beyond wanting to plant himself in it. Those are all superficial fan views, but that's what rings out for me.
While Maris was given the Asterisk be the commish at the time, we as a sporting community seem to level a similiar quantitive doubt on Bonds, and it's not about dismissing his 73, but his 714, and 715.
His subborn facade will never win over fans, and will be ratcheted up by diamond historians as a Pujols or whomever 15 years down the line. In comparison to the others of the records, Bonds doesn't seem to have earned this in our eyes, he simply accomplished it.
Wile the steroids flag will always fly high, I don't hold it against Bonds. This is a sport of cheaters, and I think thats why we admire it and why it seems so "American."
If I took steroids, I still couldn't even hit 50 hrs in the MLB in 22 years. I wouldn't even sniff it. But Barry, at his core, doesn't seem like one of us, as a fan, as a baseball lover, or even as a guy who loves playing baseball for a living. The whole record feels like an albatross around him and around us the fans. Few people in the world, and perhaps even Barry, are having a good time with this accomplishment. And that's why I hate this moment. Click the title for a great article by Jason Whitlock on ESPN. Link
posted by Indiana at
1:13 AM
1 Comments:
BUt I am Swiss.
By
Indiana, at May 23, 2006 9:19 AM
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