756: What It Means to Everyone Else
Sorry we were away for a day. But we just felt the need to come up with something special to say about our main man Barry Bonds. There were just so many words that came to mind here that we couldn’t put them down onto paper without the result being a complete mess of a post. Okay, that was a lie. We could’ve written more about the state of Cal Dining than we could have about our favorite bobblehead. Fact is though, we don’t even know the guy. We’ve watched him hit about two of his 756 (scratch that, 757 now) home runs. We don’t feel attached to the guy. We’re not even Giants fans. We’d prefer talking about the results of Dancing with the Stars than pontificate about this man’s accomplishments. Lord knows everyone else has.
But everyone else has something to say. Everyone in this country has been entitled to their opinions. And everyone’s letting it be heard today. We picked up the best ones after the break.
As much as we’ll always remember Barry for his slow home run gangster limp and towering moon shots, we’ll also never forget when a one and a half legged Sid Bream beat out his throw from left field back when he was a Pirate. Or the fact that Barry’s never won a championship. Did he make a Faustian deal where he would be the all time home run leader, living in infamy for six or seven years before being dethroned but always being denied the championship that he longed for so badly during the early stages of his career? Probably too much to hope for. [Brahsome]
So… complete drug-cheat San Francisco’s Barry Bonds now holds the MLB Home Run record. May I remind you Barry, you don’t have the pro-baseball record just yet tho’. You still have 112 to go. [With Malice]
A record as described by Webster’s is “The best performance known, as in a sports event.” This simple definition describes what Barry Lamar Bonds did last night when he smashed his 756th home run that arced its way 435 feet through the cool San Francisco night. The ball sailed free of everyone’s personal opinions of the man who swatted it and it landed indifferent of that same man’s alleged transgressions into a sea of clamoring humanity beyond the right-center fence. [Bugs and Cranks]
This video’s not gonna set the world on fire or anything, but here’s a musical recap of whatshisface’s accomplishments created by 1570 the Zone in Louisville. For more intelligent discourse on the matter, head to the YouTube comments for this, where you can read snappy comments like, “wat a nigga” and “you kno what FUCK YOU who ever made this video..yea FUCK YOU”. [With Leather]
The record has changed now: when Aaron held it, it took on further significance outside of simply being a number; it made Henry Aaron a historical figure, part of the Civil Rights era, something beyond sports. While Bonds’ ownership of the record does not hold that now, down the road, I suspect, and maybe hope, it will be looked upon as an extension of how we view athletes and society, as Bonds’ personality pushes too many buttons of race, entitlement, and what we expect as fans from those who play the game. I have written before that I believe Bonds views baseball as a job more than a game he is lucky to play for a living, and that lack of humility and tact made him an easy person to dislike, and after the steroid accusations began, hate. [Signal to Noise]
Beyond his alleged steroid use, Barry Bonds is guilty of the use of something that confers extraordinarily unfair mechanical advantage: the “armor” that he wears on his right elbow. Amid the press frenzy over Bonds’ unnatural bulk, the true role of the object on his right arm has simply gone unnoticed. This is unfortunate, because by my estimate, Bonds’ front arm “armor” may have contributed no fewer than 75 to 100 home runs to his already steroid-questionable total. Ultimately, it appears the Bonds “achievement” must be regarded as partly the product of “double duplicity” — steroidal and mechanical.
[Douchebag]
I don’t get terribly wrapped up in all the morals of this because I think it’s the era of whatever it takes, whether it’s a slandering a politician after he wins a couple of primaries…or a retail chain wiping out every family business in the country. It’s part of sports, it’s part of life. Barry Bonds is the greatest homerun hitter of his era as Ruth was of his and as Aaron was of his. [Peter Gammons via The Starting Five]
On the mourning after, there was a fitting glaze of fog suspended over Barry Bonds’ town, just as it remains hazy and dark in Barry Bonds’ world. Hitting No. 756 didn’t absolve him of steroids allegations, as he seems to think, but it did beg for the finality of his guilt. I speak for a nation in saying we’d all like to take a long, soapy shower and move on with life. [The Face of Evil. Literally. We hope you drown. Literally.]
Ugh. That last quote made me want to vomit. When’s kickoff? Can football season start already? Please?
(We actually do have deeper thoughts on Bonds. Thoughts that will go well on our sports blog. But that’s for another day.)
(Image originally from here)
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