Hard Hits: The case of Barry Bonds

by Derek Felix

It had to happen eventually. Tuesday night at Pac Bell (AT&T Park) out on the Bay, there was officially a new home run king 33 years later supplanting Hank Aaron.

For some passionate baseball observers, it was a regrettable day because of who made history. Sadly, that’s the kind of reaction one of the game’s greatest players, Barry Bonds initiates.

The seven-time NL MVP had been chasing Aaron for a couple of years fighting off nagging injuries to finally tie and pass Homerin’ Hank, who surprisingly taped a congratulatory message which appeared the other night on the San Francisco scoreboard after his record was finally broken.

It happened in the fifth inning against Washington pitcher Mike Bacsik, who became the 446th pitcher to serve one up to Bonds. As it turned out a night later, he wouldn’t be the last.
The 43 year-old former Pittsburgh Pirates No.1 pick (sixth overall in 1985) was already two-for-two in the game when he worked the count full. Bacsik didn’t pitch around instead challenging him with a fastball which Bonds clocked to deep right center for the milestone.

As he connected, the All-Star slugger pumped his fist and watched it before finally going into his home run trot and then being congratulated at home plate by his son as well as family and teammates. Included was his godfather Willie Mays who gave him a hug. To say he was blessed would be an understatement.

Then the superstar graciously thanked all of San Francisco along with his family for their support in what had been a difficult climb to the finish. Especially when one considers that three years ago, he had 703 home runs after concluding 2004 with 45 in 147 games. Then came offseason knee surgery along with the chaotic BALCO investigation as he took almost the entire following season off before returning late to tack on five more in just 42 at bats.

As Game of Shadows was released last year which documented some very damaging accounts of what Bonds put into his body, the Giants’ left fielder got into 130 games and added 26 dingers in 367 at bats (14.1 avg) to his total, giving him 734 entering this record breaking season.

In better shape, he started out like a house of fire knocking eight out of the park in April while hitting .356 with 17 RBI’s. But what would transpire was an up and down struggle to the finish line.

Finally after a subpar July in which he batted only .186 with four dingers to crawl within two of the record, Bonds needed only six games to match Aaron and then surpass him this month. After tying the former Brave 33 years later in San Diego, he made history to take his place in baseball’s record book.

A night later, he’d quickly add to it by hammering a 1-1 Tim Redding offering into McCovey Cove 438 feet for his 35th career splash (yes they actually keep that crazy stat) which became No.757 in a 5-0 Giants win- giving manager Bruce Bochy career win 1,000.

It was Bonds’ 23rd homer of the season. He finished 1-for-2 before exiting. He has 23 long balls in 269 at bats this summer which averages out to one every 11.7 plate appearances. Compared to last year, it’s a decent pace but still pales in comparison to what he did only a few years ago.

Age is a funny thing. One minute, the stars we watch are putting up big numbers. The next, they’re barely hanging on as decline has finally taken its course.

Lately, so much has been made of how Bonds did it. What should’ve been a huge deal instead was just shrugged off with a slump of the shoulders by many because of recent history which suggests that his remarkable accomplishment was tainted.

A New York Post headline read, “Big sh*t” Wednesday. Considering that this same paper a couple of months ago had Yankee Alex Rodriguez stepping out on his wife with a stripper in Toronto, their credibility was already in as much question as the controversial slugger they had to get a cheapshot in on.

So this rag hit rock bottom with that classless front page. One I’ll never read again.

These days, sometimes the media takes it too far. When is enough enough? Many have acted like Bonds owed them something. We’re mostly talking about a lot of the mainstream writers who have covered baseball as well as other sports and sit behind their laptops or pcs hiding while judging the players they cover. As if they knew exactly what kind of dedication it took to be a star athlete. Heck. It doesn’t even have to be that. It could just be an everyday player who busts their ass.

Most sportswriters wouldn’t know the first thing about the kind of extreme levels these athletes put themselves through. So maybe they should stick to what they know.

As for myself, I was a long distance cross country runner in high school. So I do have an idea of how much preparation goes into getting ready for every race. Like many, I played sports when I was younger. Who doesn’t like to get out there and compete? Challenging yourself athletically is a real adrenaline rush.

Being able to cover minor league ballplayers these days, I don’t sit here trying to pretend I know every little thing these guys do. But what I realize is how hard they have worked just to get to this point in their pro careers. It takes an awful lot of commitment.

Did Bonds cheat? Probably. If he did, who’s at fault? A lot of players probably juiced during the period in question. The question which never seems to be asked is if this was such an epidemic, why didn’t Major League Baseball (MLB) step up to the plate and do something about it?

Up until our federal government stepped in and got involved with the well known BALCO investigation, baseball didn’t have any rules permitting players abusing performance enhancers.

Finally, commisioner Bud Selig and his cronies got involved and changed the rules dramatically even going as far to ban amphetamines (greenies) last year. Those had been around for half a century and you can bet plenty of the stars our parents and grandparents grew up idolizing used them to get by.

The point being that bending the rules had been going on in baseball for a lot longer than most want to acknowledge. The big difference is that back then, players of that Golden Era were more respected and weren’t front and center on papers for all to see. Their private lives were private which is really how it should be.

Today, everyone’s trying to get a good story and make a name for themselves. A few will do whatever it takes even going as far as to sneak into George Steinbrenner’s home by lying just to find out the Yankee Boss isn’t all there anymore. Like it was some big secret.

Does any of this change who Bonds is and how he’ll be looked at in the future? Probably not. Before he came into question after 1998, he had already hit 411 homers (first 176 as a Pirate), become part of the 40/40 Club (1996), won three MVPs, eight Gold Gloves, taken part in eight All-Star Games and seven Silver Sluggers.

That btw was all before he turned 34 the following summer and started ‘experimenting.’ From 1999-2004, he slugged 292 dingers including a new modern-day single season record of 73 in 2001 which passed Mark McGwire’s 70 set back in ‘98 when he and Sammy Sosa smashed Roger Maris’ 1961 record of 61.

That was the summer which helped save baseball and was widely celebrated if you recall. Nobody seemed to mind that the two players looked like a combination of professional bodybuilders and wrestlers.

One well known writer across the country even wrote a book about that epic home run race and made a lot of money off them. Years later, that same person would be crying foul and ripping into those same players along with Bonds and admitted user and current Yankee Jason Giambi. Kind of seems like they’re talking out of both sides, huh?

My stance on the Juiced Era is that baseball turned a blind eye to what was going on. They were far too preoccupied pushing the Chicks Dig The Longball ad campaign. You remember it. Every baseball fan does. Message. Hit as many homers as possible.
They bared the responsibility for what took place. You think Bonds didn’t notice all the positive feedback both McGwire and Sosa got? Both were star players but not on the level of Barry.

You just can’t have it both ways. Maybe we all just didn’t want to notice. I can still recall a funny skit on the old Wcw where wrestler Marcus “Buff” Bagwell dressed in a Cardinals jersey and pretended to be Big Mac and joked about steroids to boos in St. Louis on Monday Nite Nitro. It was quite hilarious but turned out to be prophetic for baseball and now wrestling.

Who can you trust these days? It’s a difficult question to answer. One can only hope that A-Rod is clean as he begins his chase of Bonds. The youngest slugger to ever reach 500 home runs at age 32, the current Yankee third baseman looks to have some prime years left.

With great power to all fields and a natural home run stroke, many will follow the future $30 million man’s pursuit. If he finishes with 50 homers this year (needs 14 more), A-Rod will be at 514 for his career. If he averages 40-per-season over the next five, that would put him at 714 at the age of 37. Who thinks he can’t get to that point? He keeps himself in phenomenal shape and rarely is on the DL.

Rodriguez is someone the general public will pull for to become the new home run king no matter what former Bash Brother and knucklehead Jose Canseco says. Talk about turning your back. The first ever player to 40/40 should meet Benedict Arnold. They have plenty in common.

So where do we stand on Bonds? He’s still a great player with phenomenal ability and should be a first ballot Hall of Famer regardless of all the questions as to the validity of his record.

We’re talking about a player who hit over 500 homers and stole over 500 as well. A guy who was also a dangerous hitter with one of the best eyes ever to step into a batter’s box. The ridiculous amount of walks (2,540) which increase daily are definitive proof.

What else is there to say of a guy who got the most out of his God given talent?

Well, he never was the most lovable which might explain why the media grew to loathe him as did fans. He’s just never been an engaging athlete. Had he had a different persona, does anyone really believe he’d be painted as being so evil even if he did cheat? I’m having a hard time with that one. It’s up to the general public.

Love or hate him, Bonds will always be part of baseball history and take his place among the all-time greats.