Did Sammy Sosa Taint 600?

Before the 2002 season, it had been 31 years since a player last notched his 600th home run.

Things have changed. 

Henry Aaron reached the 600 plateau in 1971 two years after Willie Mays. Before Mays, you would have to go back 38 more years, to Babe Ruth in 1931, to find another player who hit the magic number.

 

In a span of 71 years, only three players pulled the feat.

 

By the end of this season, that number will likely have doubled in the last half-decade.

 

Barry Bonds hit his 600th home run in 2002. This week, Sammy Sosa hit his. And Ken Griffey Jr., as of June 23rd, needs only 18 more homers to join the group.

 

Bonds, Sosa, and Griffey don't have much in common. They can all hit home runs, and two of them have been linked to steroids. Other than that, they couldn't be more different. 

 

Bonds, of course, is the controversy-plagued malcontent whose hat size went from a six to an eight in five years. Sosa is the humble, lovable guy who skips out of the batter's box after every big fly—but he too has been linked with steroids, and was caught with a corked bat in 2003. Finally, there's Griffey: a player who always has a smile on his face and who, by the look of him, will never be accused of using performance-enhancers.

 

Of the three, only Griffey is above suspicion and reproach. Which begs the question: Is the 600-homer mark now tainted?

 

Before Sosa blasted his 600th, one could make the case that it was not. Now, though, fans may not look at the 600 club quite like they used to.

 

The ambivalence was obvious last week when the media covered Sosa's big day as if it were the WNBA All-Star Game. Granted, Bonds' pursuit of 755 helped to dull the anticipation, but the lack of interest was still shocking. 

 

Does this mean that the men who really control baseball—the writers—believe that 600 isn't what it was? Maybe. Again, Bonds may be an aggravating factor here, because he is, for lack of a better word, hated. Time will tell, I guess.

 

The names Ruth, Aaron, and Mays will live on into eternity. As for Bonds and Sosa?

 

Let's see if they live past the age of 50.