Bonds, Aaron, Ruth and Maris--The Court of Public Opinion

Asterisks---

We all know the Barry Bonds' story, and quite honestly...do we really care about him or his story at this point? He's reached a certain plateau of doing things the wrong way, and at this stage of his game, it's all just lumped together. Don't forget that this is a player that has 708 home runs and counting to go along with a storied career before his 1998 "power surge." Unfortunately for Barry, with all of his media mishandlings, fan ignorance, poor clubhouse relations, tax issues and the mafia-like dealing in his "alleged (yeah right)" steroid abuse, we're at that plateau of putting it all together into one melting pot of bad stew. Barry Bonds will be historically remembered as something along the lines of rancid meat. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this story isn't really about Bonds anymore...is it.

Steroids or no, this home run story is about the guy that all the home run stories are about in one way or another, George Herman Ruth, "The Babe." In the midst of all the squabble of what's happening with Bonds, the 'roids, the perjury and the tax evasion, is the real root of Bonds' problems, "passing" Babe's 714 home runs.

"What about Aaron," some will say? I agree, that when and if Bonds passes Aaron, it will be a big deal. Hank was and is still, an ambassador to baseball, but when it happens, it will be more about the numbers, and not the player. I'm sure there will be coverage about how graceful a man Aaron was, and how much HE had to go through breaking the record, but the reality will be that the number 755 will be more important than Aaron. This is no offense to Hank, but c'mon, it's never really been about "The Hammer." He's a great, certainly one of baseball's ten best players, but when we talk about the home run, he's an afterthought, fair or not, to the great Babe Ruth. Yes, "Hammerin" Hank has the most home runs of all time, and he deserves ALL the accolades that go with it, but when you think of Home Runs, it's Babe Ruth the player, Babe Ruth the myth, Babe Ruth the legend, and Babe Ruth, one of the greatest, if not THE greatest player to ever step foot on a baseball diamond.

Ruth is a rarity among sports. Here is a player that retired 70 years ago, and died nearly 60 years ago, but is still mentioned in a baseball article every single day. He transcends the game, and IS the home run. In 1920, Babe Ruth hit 54 home runs. The next closest? George Sisler with 19. The St. Louis Cardinals led the national league with 64 home runs, only 10 more than Ruth that season. In 1921, Ruth hit 59 dingers, and Bob Meusel and Ken Williams hit 24. Philadelphia hit 88 as a team that year. Still, Ruth had nearly 3/4 of that total. We are talking about a guy who not only led the league, but led MOST OF THE TEAMS that played during this time period. Ruth dominated in home runs unlike anything that we've ever seen. What Ruth did was change the game of baseball. He changed America's Pastime from a slap-hitting, singles game led by the derided Ty Cobb, into a game that could be won with one dynamic swing of the bat. The game was changed forever. Some, like Cobb, would say not in a good way. Of course, Cobb didn't like much of anything, did he.

Certainly, over the years, from Hornsby to Gehrig to Teddy Ballgame to Mickey Mantle to Harmon Killebrew to Willie Mays to Roger Maris to Mark McGwire to even Bonds, the immediate comparison with power always starts with Ruth. If you ask me...those are big shoes to fill in any sport, literally, and figuratively. It makes me think a lot of asterisks....

Asterisks...

Where am I going with this? Bonds will more than likely pass Ruth this year on that great list of home run hitters. Whenever someone says it, the next thing out of their mouths is the question of an asterisk. "Bonds needs an asterisk since we know he cheated. It's not fair to Ruth and Aaron (watch, it's always Ruth first). In my opinion...who cares about the asterisk. Forget about it. Let Bonds do whatever he does, and be done with it. Why? I'm getting there...

If you go back to the 50's, 60's and 70's, Henry Aaron was hitting home runs pretty regularly. His first year over 40 was in 1957, and he would do it seven more times over a 23 year career. He would never hit more than the 47 he hit in 1971, and minus his rookie season, and final 2 seasons, he never hit less than 20. From 1957-1973, he hit 30 or more in all but two seasons, and one of those seasons was 29. It was a phenomenal feat. Remarkable, our all-time home-run champ only led the league in Home Runs four times. To put it in context, Ruth led the league 12 times, Chuck Klein led the NL four times, and Mel Ott six times. My point being, that Aaron was great because of his consistency. I wonder how often Aaron feels slighted by Ruth. My bet is that if you asked Hank Aaron if he feels slighted a bit by Ruth even though he has 41 more career homers than "The Great Bambino," and if he would answer truthfully, he would say yes. The Ruth shadow looms large.

Aaron and his family faced death during his chase to pass Ruth. Aaron really is a humble man. Still, if you have read any of his autobiographies, you can hear just a tinge of bitterness in his voice. Sure, some of that hastle was racially motivated and deservedly so, of that you can be sure. Even in 1974, the thought of a black man passing the great Ruth was much to hard for most to take. Even I agree that race was a part of it. Still, the overbearing factor was more Ruthian Relations than race.

Ruthian Relations? Ruth had the games two most glorious records: Most Home Runs in a Season, and Most Home Runs in a Career. These were records that the world didn't think would EVER be passed. Sure, it was worse for a black man because of the racial tension, but ANY man would have felt the same sorts of pressure. Babe Ruth was bigger than the game because of the home run. That put an asterisk on Aaron's chase, whether he wanted it or not.

Asterisks...

Ask Roger Maris. Maris had one of the greatest seasons of ANY player in 1961. With Mickey Mantle protecting him with 54 homers of his own, Maris launched his 61st home run on the last day of a 162 game season, passing the great Ruth. Throughout Maris' September quest to pass the former great Yankee, he and his family received death threats. I'm sure that Maris' threats were just as violent and just as real as Aaron's were 13 years later. Mantle had felt the same treatment in 1956, when he was chasing Ruth, and ended with 52. To top it all off, Ford Frick, the commissioner, said that Maris had to break the record in 154 games, or it would be listed in the record books as the record for 162 games, not 154. Truth of the matter is that no special qualification was ever made of Maris' record, it's all urban legend. Maris remained bitter about it though, and was quoted as saying, before he died,

"They acted as though I was doing something wrong, poisoning the record books or something. Do you know what I have to show for 61 home runs? Nothing, Exactly nothing."

The following year, Maris hit 33 home runs, and had 100 rbi's. Mantle, who was derided by Yankees' fans for most of his career because of his Ruth-comparisons, won the MVP, with 30 home runs and 89 RBI's. The only way he could overcome his hidden asterisk from Ruth was to not be Maris. Baseball wouldn't forgive Roger Maris. The funny thing is that many other records were broken during an 162 game schedule over the years, but they weren't really that big a deal. Why? Ruth wasn't involved...Ruthian Relations you see...

Asterisks...

Aaron doesn't have an asterisk, but fair or not, it's there. He's not Ruth. Roger Maris NEVER had an asterisk, it's an Urban Legend, but fair or not, it's there. He's not Ruth. It's not a dig to those players (although Maris still isn't in the hall...Ruth Relations), as both were. Their only fault was that they weren't the Great Bambino. They will never receive an asterisk in any official record book, but it's there...

Asterisks...

Now there is an uproar over Bonds, and where his place is among the greats in the game of baseball. Look, in 1998, before he allegedly started using steroids, he became the first player with 400 home runs, and 400 SB's. Of course, it was overshadowed by the home run ball that year (yeah, it was Big Mac, and Sosa...but you can thank Ruth for the focus on the long ball). Bonds had already been the National League MVP three times, and was robbed from a fourth by Terry Pendleton. He was assured of a spot in Cooperstown. There's no question about THAT. Now, when you hear Bonds' name, the first thing that you think about are steroids, then you think about how he's been a jackass for his entire career, then you think about the steroids, then you think about his cheating the game, and then you might...just might think about how good he was before all of this. Unfortunately for Bonds, he'll have CHEATER printed across his forehead for the rest of his life. Fortunately for us, he'll have CHEATER printed across his forehead for the rest of his life. It doesn't matter where he ends up on any list, he will always be looked at as a parody of todays game. He's the poster child of steroids (although Rafael Palmeiro would certainly be right up there as well), and the picture next to the word cheater.

Many people look at Bonds being on the top of the sacred list as a bad thing. I see it as a good thing. Every time we look at THE LIST, three things will happen: 1. The preferbial head shake..."He shouldn't be there." 2. The mumbling..."He cheated...used roids...is a jackweed" and 3. The facts..."He's no Ruth."

The court of public opinion my friends. We don't need Bud Selig making a steroid home run list. The Court of Public Opinion will do it for him. And Bonds being at or near the top of a list that Ruth created will only serve as a "Scarlet Letter," something to be reviled, not rejoiced. Barry Bonds, more home runs than Ruth...wink-wink...yeah right...

Asterisks...

It does seem to be a bit Ruthian...don't you think?