So now what? Whether you revile him or admire him, loathe him or love him, Barry Bonds is baseball’s home run king after an exhausting chase for history, and there’s a real sense of relief now that it’s over for almost everyone involved.
There was no drama – save Hank Aaron’s surprise video tribute – but it’s hard to imagine a chase for any all-time record having a lot of sizzle. All of a sudden, there’s a major vacuum in the baseball world. I guess we’ll all have to pay attention to the game on the field. It does go on.The record has fallen and we can’t go back. That’s why, I suspect, Bonds will be met with neither boos nor cheers on his next road trip, but instead something he probably hasn’t felt in many years, indifference.Of course, the controversy around Bonds isn’t going anywhere, not as long as there is a federal grand jury after the slugger. For members of the Bonds-tourage, people that, willingly or not, have been a part of this torturous chase, it’s truly over, though. The 15 minutes of fame are up. Time to move on to a new challenge. Who’s looking for something to do today? Here’s a short list.Pedro GomezGo home, man. Go home. The ESPN reporter has been following Barry Bonds every day from spring training to the end of the season for three years. That’s got to be the most thankless job in America this side of being Britney Spears’ publicist. Gomez isn’t just some television flunky. He’s a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America who has covered baseball since 1990. Hopefully he can find someone a little more cuddly than Bonds to stalk now.Bud SeligThe awkwardness can finally end. No more daily updates on the whereabouts of Major League Baseball's commissioner. No more questions about where he should be. No more questions about how he could celebrate it. And thank god. It’s hard to imagine someone handling the chase worse than Selig. Though we’re told he wants very little to do with Bonds, his constant waffling became a story throughout the pursuit.While Bonds is cast as a divisive figure – either loved or hated – I suspect most baseball fans feel as I do about the slugger – ambivalent. I’m willing to celebrate or at least appreciate his accomplishment, while realizing he probably took performance-enhancing drugs and also realizing that we just don’t have the context or the distance of history to really put his achievement in perspective. Who else cheated, after all?And that’s how Selig should have treated the chase. Celebrate it now and let the lacquer of history decide Bonds’ legacy.
For many fans, everything Barry Bonds does on the field is tainted by long-running suspicions that he has cheated by taking steroids.
The Hammer can go back to being one of the greatest home run hitters in baseball history. People will decide who their home run king is and that was true even before Bonds hit 756. Many still considered Babe Ruth the ultimate slugger when Aaron hit 715. Hank had already moved on anyway. He was in bed by the time his record fell. Nikolai Bonds Seeing him hop over the fence in excitement after his dad’s milestone clout was a nice moment, but he’s a little old to be a batboy isn’t he? By the way, did anyone else think it was odd that Barry didn’t hug his son back at home plate?Giants FansLost in all the Bonds hoopla is that he plays for a really, really bad team with little hope of getting better in the next few seasons. Only three teams in baseball have a worse record than San Francisco. Even the Nationals and Royals are better. AT&T Park is going to be a lot emptier over the next few months.Giants PlayersThe chase is over, now the national media can get out of your clubhouse. That’s a good thing, right? Not so fast. Now the local media can focus on just how lousy you guys are at baseball.The KayakersSorry. You guys are going to actually have to buy a ticket if you want another shot at grabbing history, unless, of course, A-Rod opts out of his contract and signs with the Giants.
I’ll go out on a limb and say giving up No. 756 will be the highlight of Bacsik’s career. He’s 29, he’s made just 30 major league starts, he has a career ERA of 5.21, and before this season his last appearance in the majors was in 2004.Baseball FansThe beauty of baseball is that the game goes on. (The Nationals actually beat the Giants last night!) After weeks of being held hostage by round-the-clock Barry-this-Bud’s-there coverage, the circus disappears and the sport returns.There’s plenty of Barry-free drama to be had in the majors. The NL MVP race is a free-for-all. No first-place team has a lead bigger than five games. More than half of baseball’s 30 clubs are in striking distance of a playoff spot. The Yankees are surging. The Mets and Braves are set to lock horns down the stretch.It’s fun to see history, but it’s also draining. Luckily, there’s plenty of baseball left to revitalize us.
There was no drama – save Hank Aaron’s surprise video tribute – but it’s hard to imagine a chase for any all-time record having a lot of sizzle. All of a sudden, there’s a major vacuum in the baseball world. I guess we’ll all have to pay attention to the game on the field. It does go on.The record has fallen and we can’t go back. That’s why, I suspect, Bonds will be met with neither boos nor cheers on his next road trip, but instead something he probably hasn’t felt in many years, indifference.Of course, the controversy around Bonds isn’t going anywhere, not as long as there is a federal grand jury after the slugger. For members of the Bonds-tourage, people that, willingly or not, have been a part of this torturous chase, it’s truly over, though. The 15 minutes of fame are up. Time to move on to a new challenge. Who’s looking for something to do today? Here’s a short list.Pedro GomezGo home, man. Go home. The ESPN reporter has been following Barry Bonds every day from spring training to the end of the season for three years. That’s got to be the most thankless job in America this side of being Britney Spears’ publicist. Gomez isn’t just some television flunky. He’s a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America who has covered baseball since 1990. Hopefully he can find someone a little more cuddly than Bonds to stalk now.Bud SeligThe awkwardness can finally end. No more daily updates on the whereabouts of Major League Baseball's commissioner. No more questions about where he should be. No more questions about how he could celebrate it. And thank god. It’s hard to imagine someone handling the chase worse than Selig. Though we’re told he wants very little to do with Bonds, his constant waffling became a story throughout the pursuit.While Bonds is cast as a divisive figure – either loved or hated – I suspect most baseball fans feel as I do about the slugger – ambivalent. I’m willing to celebrate or at least appreciate his accomplishment, while realizing he probably took performance-enhancing drugs and also realizing that we just don’t have the context or the distance of history to really put his achievement in perspective. Who else cheated, after all?And that’s how Selig should have treated the chase. Celebrate it now and let the lacquer of history decide Bonds’ legacy.
For many fans, everything Barry Bonds does on the field is tainted by long-running suspicions that he has cheated by taking steroids.
The Hammer can go back to being one of the greatest home run hitters in baseball history. People will decide who their home run king is and that was true even before Bonds hit 756. Many still considered Babe Ruth the ultimate slugger when Aaron hit 715. Hank had already moved on anyway. He was in bed by the time his record fell. Nikolai Bonds Seeing him hop over the fence in excitement after his dad’s milestone clout was a nice moment, but he’s a little old to be a batboy isn’t he? By the way, did anyone else think it was odd that Barry didn’t hug his son back at home plate?Giants FansLost in all the Bonds hoopla is that he plays for a really, really bad team with little hope of getting better in the next few seasons. Only three teams in baseball have a worse record than San Francisco. Even the Nationals and Royals are better. AT&T Park is going to be a lot emptier over the next few months.Giants PlayersThe chase is over, now the national media can get out of your clubhouse. That’s a good thing, right? Not so fast. Now the local media can focus on just how lousy you guys are at baseball.The KayakersSorry. You guys are going to actually have to buy a ticket if you want another shot at grabbing history, unless, of course, A-Rod opts out of his contract and signs with the Giants.
I’ll go out on a limb and say giving up No. 756 will be the highlight of Bacsik’s career. He’s 29, he’s made just 30 major league starts, he has a career ERA of 5.21, and before this season his last appearance in the majors was in 2004.Baseball FansThe beauty of baseball is that the game goes on. (The Nationals actually beat the Giants last night!) After weeks of being held hostage by round-the-clock Barry-this-Bud’s-there coverage, the circus disappears and the sport returns.There’s plenty of Barry-free drama to be had in the majors. The NL MVP race is a free-for-all. No first-place team has a lead bigger than five games. More than half of baseball’s 30 clubs are in striking distance of a playoff spot. The Yankees are surging. The Mets and Braves are set to lock horns down the stretch.It’s fun to see history, but it’s also draining. Luckily, there’s plenty of baseball left to revitalize us.
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