The 40th anniversary of Henry Aaron's 715th home run is being celebrated as though it were the re-coronation of the "King" of home runs.
But wait a second...Henry Aaron is #2 in that category, with his total being bested by Barry Bonds. And until MLB makes some sort of "finding" or "ruling" that there is something not legitimate about Barry's record, it is what it is. In the official record books, there is no asterisk or any other qualifier on Barry's stats - as was done for a while with Roger Maris and his 61 in '61. He is the lifetime leader in home runs. Period.
To consider Aaron as "The Home Run King," is to say that "we" think Barry Bonds cheated and his record shouldn't count.
Baloney. If somebody in authority in MLB thinks his accomplishments are tainted, then they have to make that case, prove it, and expunge the record books. And while they are at it, there is a fairly good sized laundry list of other players with flashy stats that are just as questionable, so don't leave them out.
Baseball did a terrible job of anticipating and dealing with the steroids/HGH issue. I personally believe that they simply did not believe that "big muscles" could make anyone a better player, so they didn't think steroids would be a problem in baseball as it was in football. The conventional baseball wisdom was that if you wanted to lift weights, you should stick to low-weight/high rep routines, because big muscles would take away from your quickness and coordination.
But they were wrong.
All hail Barry Bonds, the Home Run King! Whether you like him or not.
But wait a second...Henry Aaron is #2 in that category, with his total being bested by Barry Bonds. And until MLB makes some sort of "finding" or "ruling" that there is something not legitimate about Barry's record, it is what it is. In the official record books, there is no asterisk or any other qualifier on Barry's stats - as was done for a while with Roger Maris and his 61 in '61. He is the lifetime leader in home runs. Period.
To consider Aaron as "The Home Run King," is to say that "we" think Barry Bonds cheated and his record shouldn't count.
Baloney. If somebody in authority in MLB thinks his accomplishments are tainted, then they have to make that case, prove it, and expunge the record books. And while they are at it, there is a fairly good sized laundry list of other players with flashy stats that are just as questionable, so don't leave them out.
Baseball did a terrible job of anticipating and dealing with the steroids/HGH issue. I personally believe that they simply did not believe that "big muscles" could make anyone a better player, so they didn't think steroids would be a problem in baseball as it was in football. The conventional baseball wisdom was that if you wanted to lift weights, you should stick to low-weight/high rep routines, because big muscles would take away from your quickness and coordination.
But they were wrong.
All hail Barry Bonds, the Home Run King! Whether you like him or not.
