The asterisk just doesn't apply (THE 2ND MOST CONTROVERSIAL HOME RUN IN BASEBALL HISTORY)

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | August 8, 2007 | CHRIS DE LUCA

[Chi-townChief]

There's no denying 756 home runs, and if Selig wants to try, he'd better examine the rest of baseball history

Baseball's most cherished record now belongs to Barry Bonds, and no matter what is said, written or alleged, there is no taking it away. Teeing off on a 3-2 pitch from Washington Nationals left-hander Mike Bacsik, Bonds launched his 756th career home run to the deepest part of AT&T Park on Tuesday night. The instant the ball left his bat and sizzled toward right-center field, there was no doubt the San Francisco Giants' controversial slugger had just elbowed his way past Henry Aaron for the all-time home-run record.

Critics can hate Bonds, they can swear that he became a home-run machine through performance-enhancing drugs, but they can't erase 756 home runs.

Not even commissioner Bud Selig, who tried to distance himself from the Steroid Era he helped create by not being in attendance, can erase this record. It stands until the next slugger comes along.

After Bonds left Wrigley Field last month with 753 under his belt, Selig made the most half-hearted pledge possible in trying to be a witness to history, saying in a statement: ''Out of respect for the tradition of this game, the magnitude of the record, and the fact that all citizens in this country are innocent until proven guilty, I will attend Barry Bonds' next games to observe his potential tying and breaking of the home run record.''

The numbers are safe Innocent until proven guilty? Guilty of what? Perjury, the biggest crime that any of us -- including Selig -- knows might be hanging over Bonds' head. Even if Bonds is convicted of perjury, his baseball numbers are safe.

Check baseball's record book. The all-time hits leader: Pete Rose, who has been banned by baseball and who was convicted of tax evasion, serving a prison term in Downstate Marion. There isn't a single asterisk next to any of his records -- and Rose committed the game's biggest sin, gambling on baseball.

Rafael Palmeiro, a slugger who actually was caught by baseball's testing program and suspended, remains a member of baseball's exclusive 500-homer club -- no asterisk attached.

But Selig leaves the impression he might wipe away Bonds' mark should damaging proof surface in the slow-going Mitchell investigation. In fact, Selig's flimsy excuse for not being in San Francisco on Tuesday was that he was meeting with former Sen. George Mitchell in New York to get an update on his probe into steroids in baseball.

If Selig tries to wipe away Bonds' accomplishments, then he'd better go after Mark McGwire and all of the other oversized stars of the Steroid Era. Otherwise, he'd better get used to the idea of Bonds owning what the commissioner has called ''the most hallowed record'' in all of sports.

Put an actual asterisk next to Bonds' name and you might as well do the same for every World Series won in the last 20 years -- unless someone can prove that every member of those championship teams, including the 2005 White Sox, was 100 percent clean.

The fact is much of Bonds' work from 1999 to 2004 -- during a time many of us believe he was juiced -- can't be touched by an asterisk. Baseball had no policy against steroids during this time. You can't break a rule that wasn't there.

Selig points to the little-known provision that using any illegal drugs is a violation of baseball rules. But none of the players caught with marijuana or cocaine or amphetamines in the history of the game has an asterisk next to his numbers.

Look at Detroit Tigers infielder Neifi Perez, the former Cub who is missing 80 games -- maybe the rest of his career -- because he ingested amphetamines, performance-enhancers that were as common as bubblegum in clubhouses during Aaron's era. Perez is serving a stiff penalty, but his numbers won't be erased.

Like it or not, Bonds represents one of baseball's eras that most of us would like to forget.

Babe Ruth belted a record 714 home runs in an era that didn't allow black players. Aaron's era was drastically different from Ruth's -- and just as different from Bonds'. What happened Tuesday night in San Francisco does nothing to weaken Aaron's career. He was the best of his era. Ruth the best of his.

And Bonds the best of his.

Deserving of the honor It would be one thing if Bonds were a unique case, the lone abuser in an otherwise clean game. If you believe that, you're as naive as Selig now claims he was back in the 1990s. Bonds faced something neither Ruth nor Aaron ever had to endure -- a slew of pitchers whose arsenals were enhanced by performance-enhancing drugs.

Love him, hate him, he's still the Home Run King. Ask his peers in clubhouses around baseball. Bonds still gets the ultimate respect.

And if you are a baseball fan, deep down, you know he deserves it.

Need further proof? How about Aaron's classy message congratulating Bonds on the giant screen at AT&T Park? ''It is a great accomplishment which requires skill, longevity and determination,'' Aaron said in the recorded message. ''Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball, and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years. I'll move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family.''

cdeluca@suntimes.com

[tlj18]

Is that an autonomous machine?

[JZelle]

Too Funny!

[dfwgator]

I don’t think A-Rod stays with the Yankees.

[Badeye]

There is one big similarity between Aaron and Bonds, neither of them really helped their teams.

Same can be said of Griffey Jr.

[Badeye]

My 18 year old son, who used to love baseball, won’t even watch a game anymore (except for the little league world series). He equates baseball with professional wrestling....

Congratulations. You’ve raised a very astute son. And as we know, that ain’t easy.

Way to go.

[wagglebee]

He equates baseball with professional wrestling....

Yep, if they keep going the way they are, that's what it will be in another decade or so. Baseball will be on pay-per-view with a bunch of steriod junkies and all that will matter is how far you can hit the ball -- and the Selig and Steinbrenner families will own the whole damn thing.

[wagglebee]

I think Steinbrenner will offer him enough money that he never wants to leave.

[wagglebee]

Same can be said of Griffey Jr.

He's certainly NOT the player his father was.

[dfwgator]

I think A-Rod will end up with the Angels.

[Badeye]

Same can be said of Griffey Jr.
He’s certainly NOT the player his father was.

Indeed. Petulent comes to mind when I think of him, and Barry Larkin.

Larkin once looked at me, then his wife and my biz partner and asked ‘Who’s the white guy’....nuff said.

[HawaiianGecko]

All the pissing and moaning about this record is for naught. 756 home runs is still 756 home runs.  To consider these home runs phony necessitates that one must consider all RBIs from Bonds to be phony, which in turn suggests that ML Baseball adjust the outcome of every game that Bonds nailed a home run.  In fact, why only the HRs?  Shouldn't his base hits be taken away also?

To say that Bonds is not the home run king while still accepting the results of this man's slugging is a bit hypocritical.

I like this argument:  The man was still able to hit the ball over the fence even though he was on drugs.

[raybbr]

Ah, the old "Hey, it's unethical but legal" argument. No controlling legal authority. Bill Clinton and friends would be proud.

Who says it's unethical. There were no rules against it. Does that make individualized diets, working out, personal trainers, vitamins, etc. unethical, too?

[melancholy]

just check out how many more at bats bonds had compared to ruth and aaron (and aaron to ruth, for that matter)

I absolutely agree. The total number of home runs devided by the total number of at-bats should decide the all time home run hitter.

[LordBridey]

That's exactly it. The Keith Olbermann-wannabe sportswriters are leading the attacks, while real athletes like Mike Schmidt, Tony Gwynn, and Dusty Baker are all firmly backing Bonds.

yeah, and Willie Mays for gosh sake.

This is a phenomenal record. Like hitting 38 homeruns a year for twenty years. Just amazing!

And ray is spot on. The media has always disliked Bonds and that is his most appealing feature, that he is not a media whore, and not the programmed, "gosh-shucks" pseudo-humble jock. He is a hitting and stealing machine, the 7 time MVP. Hooray for Bonds.

[pjsbro]

1. Innocent until proven guilty.

2. Even looking at the numbers in the years when there was a very low or even no probability that Bonds was juicing, Bonds produced more HR's per at-bat than Aaron.

If you compare the first 10 years of each of their careers, (when Bonds was skinny and many fans feel he wasn't on the juice) Bonds' HR's per at-bats exceeded Aaron's six out of those ten years.

[wagglebee]

You might be right. I think free agency has done as much to destroy the game of baseball as anything else.

[wagglebee]

Innocent until proven guilty.

That's all well and good, but NOBODY is out there suggesting that he has not used steroids (and that includes Bonds himself).

[GOP_Party_Animal]

Who says it's unethical. There were no rules against it. Does that make individualized diets, working out, personal trainers, vitamins, etc. unethical, too?

I guess for some sort of ethical standard you could look at other sports and sports history. If Bond's accomplishments are weighed against his historical peers then it makes little sense to say he is better than Hank Aaron when Aaron had only the traditional training routs you list.

Further, I think you can make a distinction between natural body-building and the phoniness of steroids. I really think Bond's record should come with an asterisk, and McGwire's, and Sosa's... Baseball has entered the same realm of fakery that you see in professional wrestling.

[Teacher317]

I love how the article just blows past the issue:
"Yes, maybe he cheated, but he got 756 home runs!"

New to baseball, are you? Ever heard of Gaylord Perry? Corked bats? (I laughed out loud when Sosa's shattered and sprayed the contents of my old desk at work onto the field. Norm Cash, from 1961, was also proud of his loaded bat, so it isn't a new idea.) Stealing signs from the catcher? Denny McClain asking Mickey Mantle where to throw the ball to give him a HR to climb above Jimmy Foxx on the all-time HR list? (to 5th at the time, now 13th) Scuffing balls for the pitcher? Pine tar? Vaseline? MLB itself juicing the balls in 1998, including the one hit for McGwire's 70th? Performance-enhancing cheats are nothing new to that game.

How many games, wins, strikeouts, big names, etc do you want to toss out?

[Chuck54]

LOL

:)