A quote from the movie Field of Dreams spewed by a character named Terence Mann says “The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again, but baseball has marked the time. This field, this game; it's a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again.” There are certain issues brought up today by certain players which give the most wonderful and poetically lending game a black eye. Hopefully the game will straighten itself out and remind us all of what was once good and could be again, as Mann lends us to believe.
Legends, and heroes alike, including, but not limited to, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, Cy Young, and Willie Mays will never go away. “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die,” a quote from none other than The Sandlot, never seemed more true.
In today’s game, we have future possible legends like Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, John Smoltz, Ken Griffey, Jr., Chipper Jones, Vladamir Gurrero, and Greg Maddux, to name a few.
A name left off this list is Barry Bonds. He is no legend. A true legend, left off the first set of names is Hank Aaron. He doesn’t deserve to have his record broken by such a despicable and disrespectful representation of our beloved game.
There’s a saying that came about circa 2006 or 2007 that says “755 Home runs. Zero Steroids.” It’s a telling line which provokes much thought. Hammerin’ Hank had smashed 755 home runs without ever in his life taking a performance enhancing substance. He did it the right way, the natural way. Hard work and determination and perseverance were the path he took.
It also deserves note that he did so during the 60s and 70s when race wars were prominent and a light was shed upon any African American who was in a white’s world, as baseball was dominated by at the time. It was hard for Aaron to accomplish any task, especially one which he was so discriminated against because Babe Ruth, a Caucasian, held it at the time. Bonds had no such hardships.
Henry Louis Aaron had his record of hitting 755 home runs “broken” on August 7, 2007 by Barry Lamar Bonds. He hit a blast that traveled over 430 feet to left-center field off of Mike Bacsik, a pitcher for the Washington Nationals, marking the 756 time he had done so, a new “record.”
“Records are made to be broken,” is a saying often used to reflect upon the passing of the metaphorical baton that is a record in sports. If Barry Bonds had in fact broken Aaron’s record fairly and justly, no one would have a problem with it. The “baton” would be his.
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