It's pretty funny how people make everything into a race issue.
If you don't follow baseball, you will still probably have heard that Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants is close to tying (and breaking) Hank Aaron's long-standing home run record of 755. Bonds has 754 as of today, July 31, 2007.
A lot has been made of the fact that Aaron and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has been lukewarm at best in showing their support for Bonds. It was only recently that Selig has decided that he will attend if/when Bonds ties and/or breaks Aaron's record.
Even though I have Barry Bonds' rookie card (for investment purposes only, not because I'm a fan), I am hoping that he will not break the Aaron record. Why? Isn't it obvious (ok, maybe it's not, if you don't follow baseball)? Bonds is an arrogant, obnoxious, jacked-up on steroids cheater, who does not care about the fans. Do you ever see his conduct during pre or especially post-game interviews? Absolutely devoid of professionalism.
If you don't think he's been cheating, have a look at the days when he played with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was skinny as a stick (I was looking at his rookie card the other day and definitely noticed this). Didn't hit that many home runs (think he was hitting around 20-30 a year), and that was, what, 15-20 years ago? Now look at him - it's like Dr. Banner vs. The Incredible Hulk - he's hitting tons of homeruns, and he's like, 42 years old? Baseball players (especially batters) seldom last past their mid-30s due to age and declining strength. Yet this guy's somehow getting considerably stronger with age? If you look at Aaron, he hit consistently throughout his career - his numbers never skyrocketed as he approach the twilight of his playing days. Also, did you know that Barry Bonds' hat size has gone up 2 sizes since he started playing? Working out every day will not do that to your head. Steroids will. I'd give Bonds the benefit of the doubt, if not for the fact that...
The guy's had federal purjury charges brought up against him, a grand jury has investigated him, he has been in steroids scandals many times where he admitted that he had steroids in him but had no idea how they got there or what they were, has been in controversy over breaking rules at various levels of play (if you don't care about the game, what will be your natural inclination?), his teammates for the most part all hate his guts, he has had "domestic issues" with his women - ie. cheating on his wife (by the way, an ex-girlfriend mentioned that he was definitely a steroids user), and the list goes on. Is this the guy who you want to see as the home run king? Even personal / character flaw stuff aside, the steroids scandals is enough to put an asterisk beside his name in the record books if/when that happens.
Compare that to Hank Aaron, a humble, skilled player, who NEVER got into controversy, and to this day, remains one of the most respected baseball players of all time (I believe he even won some Presidential medal for his civilian contribution). To see a character like Bonds break the record of a true baseball great (and a simply nice guy) like Aaron will pain me deeply.
Some supporters (the few that are out there) of Barry Bonds will claim that he is being unfairly targeted because he is black. Hold yer horses...
Hank Aaron is black.
Other baseball greats like Willie Mays, and the latest notable, Ozzie Smith (whose rookie card I have as well and it is both an investment and because I am a big fan) were black - did they get flak from fans and the media? No. Because they played the game fairly, smartly, honestly, ethnically and professionally.
Besides, does anyone, white or black, have good vibes on Mark McGwire (who is white) but also is artificially bulked up by steroids? Ok, he never admitted it explicitly, but on the stand at a steroids inquiry, he pleaded the fifth, and also refused to answer the questions about his own alleged steroid use, simply stating that he wasn't there to talk about the past. McGwire broke the home run record in 1998 (my wife and I watched it on TV in our dingy, centipede-infested basement apartment at the time), before the steroids scandals hit. A few years later, Barry Bonds breaks McGwire's record. In my mind, Roger Maris' record was never broken, even by Sammy Sosa, who broke it three times, came short of Bonds and McGwire, but he himself has people wondering how a guy has suddenly gotten so huge and is hitting home runs everywhere where he wasn't before. I don't think too many people in the future will regard McGwire or Bonds as legitimate record holders, if they haven't already.
Even if Bonds was a nice guy, the steroids use still taints any achievement he makes. The fact that he acts like a douche bag around fans and press, and baseball's hall of fame players, showing no respect for his predecessors or anyone in authority at Major League Baseball, just adds another reason to hope that somehow, miraculously, Hank Aaron's record will remain intact.
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