Barry Bonds Hits 756*

[UNTflyer]

Barry Bonds 756*

Hank Aaron 755

[UNTFan23]

Can we start an A-Rod homerun count?

[CMJ]

How do we know A-Rod isn't juiced?

[UNTflyer]

How do we know A-Rod isn't juiced?

Indeed.

[CMJ]

Truth be told, I think he(Alex) probably is clean, but that's the whole problem with stats from around '95 to present. We can't be sure who's clean and who isn't. It's a damn shame.

Edited August 8, 2007 by CMJ

[gksmith]

How do we know A-Rod isn't juiced?

He doesn't have a "real" freakishly large head (he may have a big head from the hype of his talent but he does not have a physical large head).

[JayDub]

No amount of bikini-clad women with bad boob jobs could make that picture "Not Gay".

Oh...and, uh....

*

Edited August 8, 2007 by JayDub

[UNT_playmaker]

Way to go Barry....

A-Rod Blows

[untgirl04]

How do we know A-Rod isn't juiced?

While A-Rod is a mercenary and a jerk, I doubt he's on steriods, given the consistency of his performance. Barry*, however, went from a skinny little guy with a solid swing (she grudgingly admits) to a freakishly disproportionate meatbag with a volatile temper and a soprano voice.

If I were a Major League pitcher, I would have intentionally walked Barry* for the rest of the year.

[CMJ]

Barry*, however, went from a skinny little guy with a solid swing (she grudgingly admits) to a freakishly disproportionate meatbag with a volatile temper and a soprano voice.

He also was a skinny guy who hit homers. He probably would've cleared 600 regardless. And his volatile temper and soprano voice were always there even when he was in his 20's.

Look, I don't want to seem like I'm defending the guy. Lord knows I've disliked the guy since he was in Pittsburgh...and that was eons ago.

[UNTflyer]

*

Yes, there should be an asterik as large as Bonds' freakishly big head.

[CMJ]

Yes, there should be an asterik as large as Bonds' freakishly big head.

Here ya go.

[JayDub]

From TheOnion.com:

Nation To Ken Griffey Jr.: 'We Wish It Were You Hitting 756 Home Runs'

It may be fake news...but dammit if it ain't the truth.

[CMJ]

With some help from a friend who helped to compile these numbers for me - here's the top 16 sluggers of all time and how many HR's they hit at age 37. We were just going to do just the top ten but I wanted to make sure I got to Ted Williams because he's TED FRIGGIN WILLIAMS! (I'm a Red Sox fan)

Bonds 73 (+24)

Aaron 47 (+3)

Ruth 41 (-19)

Mays 23 (-29)

Sosa 14 (-52)

Griffey 27 (-29)

Robinson 19 (-30)

McGwire 32 (-38) In only 89 games, he was still on a pace to hit around 60 if not injured. What a shocker.)

Killebrew 5 (-44)

Palmiero 43 (-4) *Never hit more than 26 HR’s before 95 despite being in the league for almost a decade, again, what a shocker.)

Reggie 14 (-33)

Schmidt 37 (-11)

Mantle 18 (-36)

Foxx 0 (-58) *In fact, because of largely drunken self inflicted abuse he never hit more than 9 after the age of 35.)

McCovey 23 (-22)

Williams 28 (-15) *Although at 39 he hit 38 HR’s and hit .388. But neither of those were even career highs. Ted Williams was just that much of a stud/hitting god. If not for missing his PRIME during World War II he'd probably have all the records.

Guess what's in parenthesis? That's what that season compared to the slugger's previous best. Only two players actually improved their numbers, Aaron and Bonds. But if you look closely at Aaron's career you see it was just Hank being Hammerin' Hank, the model of consistency. He only increased his greatest season by 3 HR's. If you look at the modern guys on this list they're almost all ridiculous. McGwire got a pass for awhile because he was always big and even early in his career he was a slugger. But even his numbers got ludicrous. Same with Sosa, but Palmiero's numbers pretty much sum up the steroid era. The first 9 years of his career he never hit more than 26. Then suddenly, in the mid 90's, he becomes a slugger who starts cranking out 40+ HRs practically every year. These guys cheated and they've skewed the record books. The NFL is now more popular in the USA. Baseball might not even be #2 - but records matter in baseball. Those of us who grew up loving this game poured over these numbers as kids. They mattered. You knew what 60 meant. What 61 meant. What 714 meant...what 755 meant. I didn't know how many yards that Payton of Jim Brown ran for. Or how many yards the great QB's threw for...or for how many touchdowns. But baseball has ALWAYS been about the sanctity of those records.

And because of the past 10 or so years they don't mean quite as much.

[greenminer]

From TheOnion.com:

Nation To Ken Griffey Jr.: 'We Wish It Were You Hitting 756 Home Runs'

It may be fake news...but dammit if it ain't the truth.

If Griffey managed to stay healthy during his career, I might have been a baseball fan.

[Eagle1855]

Barry Bonds is a first-rate A-hole, but the fault of this does not fall squarely on his shoulders- though the media would love it to be so. He's a product of baseball turning a blind eye to a much much larger problem in all the teams, probably 100s of players... If you're gonna start putting stars next to records, you'll have to do it for that entire era, because nobody is immune to the scrutiny or what-ifs...

This is another glaring example of the failure that is Bud Selig and what a joke he has been as a commissioner.

[Greenblood94]

I apologize in advance for the Plumm-like diatribe you are about to read, but sometimes, you gotta vent your spleen…

One of the most vivid memories of my childhood was being allowed to stay up late on April 8, 1974 and watch Hank Aaron, my favorite player along with Brooks Robinson, hit #715. Milo Hamilton's radio call of that historic dinger has stayed with me to this day, and I can recite it verbatim. As the years have gone by, I have dreamed that when someone finally did break Aaron's mark, I could share the moment with my son, and he would have a memory to build on from his childhood.

Well, my son is 6, three years younger than I was when Aaron passed Ruth. We did not watch Bonds hit his record-breaking homer...I was at a meeting and learned of Bonds' feat through a text message received during a break. Baseball is not yet high on my son’s interests yet, but it's getting there. In retrospect, I’m glad my son and I didn’t get to see Bonds set the record live. I don’t know how I would’ve handled the moment.

Before he took steroids, Barry Bonds was one of the top five all-around players of his era, and a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He didn’t need to take performance-enhancing drugs, in my opinion, to increase his legacy in baseball, but he did. He did. If you don’t believe it yet, read Game of Shadows, or just wait. It will come out, just not soon enough for me. Maybe Bonds felt that, with his reputation for being surly and standoffish, he needed to be able to make an indelible mark in baseball. For whatever the reasons, what Bonds did was illegal, plain and simple. But that doesn’t take away the fact that Bonds is the all-time home run champion now. There will be no asterisk placed on Bonds’ feat. He lived up to the rules in place at the time, and was never caught cheating. Even if he is convicted tomorrow, his record will stand.

As I watched the replays on SportsCenter at home, I found myself feeling disappointed. Disappointed that Bonds felt the need to commit such illegal acts to help him achieve what he felt he needed to do. Disappointed at baseball in general and Bud Selig in particular, for turning a blind eye to the illegal activity of Bonds and the rest of the players who cheated, for the sake of making the game popular again, and then dragging their collective feet in investigating what should have been obvious to everyone.

Selig made his bed, but refused to lie in it, by choosing not to attend the game last night. Even when he was present when Bonds tied the record, Selig looked confused, and wasn’t sure how he was supposed to act. He didn’t come onto the field, and had to be prompted to stand up at the appropriate moment. It has been said that baseball never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity, and the commissioner’s conduct in the last week only magnifies that.

If Kennesaw Mountain Landis were the commissioner, Bonds would have never had the chance to go for the record. The same man who banned Shoeless Joe Jackson and the rest of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox for life throwing the World Series (even though they were acquitted in a trial) would have suspended Bonds (and any other player found taking performance-enhancing substances) for a period of time sufficient enough to make chasing the record impossible, for even a man of Bonds’ immense talent. Landis would have done it for the good of the game, legal system and “innocent until proven guilty” be damned. But it’s not about the game anymore. Whether you are player or an owner, it’s all about the money now.

The one bright spot of the evening, to me, was Hank Aaron. Though not present in person, he delivered a videotaped message congratulating Bonds on his achievement that was genuine, heartfelt, and devoid of sarcasm or innuendo. Whatever personal feelings Aaron may have about Bonds, Hammerin’ Hank stepped up and showed the kind of class I’d be proud to see my son to display anytime.

I’m sure that a few years down the road, Alex Rodriguez, barring injury or some other misfortune, will be closing in on Bonds’ record. When it happens, I’m sure my son will be rooting for the man who shares his first name. With any luck at all, we will be together watching the historic moment, and my son will have that treasured memory that I want him to keep the rest of his life…and somewhere in there, I will tell him about the class and dignity of Henry Aaron.

[CMJ]

Fantastic post Greenblood.

[LongJim]

Those of us who grew up loving this game poured over these numbers as kids. They mattered. You knew what 60 meant. What 61 meant. What 714 meant...what 755 meant...baseball has ALWAYS been about the sanctity of those records.

Excellent post.

I could not agree more. Now they mean nothing.

[LongJim]

One of the most vivid memories of my childhood was being allowed to stay up late on April 8, 1974 and watch Hank Aaron, my favorite player along with Brooks Robinson, hit #715.

Comanche, TX. My grandfather's 4 room farmhouse. B&W TV. Rabbit ears. 10 years old.

[UNTLifer]

Great post Greenblood. I didn't see it live and refuse to watch a replay. BTW, I was 9 years old when Aaron broke the record, sitting on our living room floor watching it with my family.

Edited August 9, 2007 by UNTLifer

[Cooley]

Congratulations Barry Bonds!

[GBarksdale]

One word -- asterisk.

[GreenBat]

I'm with UNTLifer. Didn't see it and don't care to watch it.

[FirefightnRick]

Great post Los.

Bonds will get his someday when he has to hang it up and be foreced to stay in San Fran considering it's about the only place he can go and not get booed. What a retirement to look forward to.

Rick