Farewell, RFK!
To give you a sense of RFK Stadium, check out the presidential sausage race from last night's game- the last Nationals game ever to be played at RFK, as the Nats are set to move into a sparkling new facility next spring. Look for dp's stadium feature coming soon to the FLICKsport Rap.
“Shooting Stars:
Taking Aim at Bonds’ Stock in History”
While Aaron braved a racist backlash of boos, hate mail, and death threats as he chased Babe Ruth’s mark of 714 homers, Bonds has also faced controversy. Yet while the bigotry that plagued Aaron has faded, the issues that swirl around Bonds are stickier. Even though Bonds’ name has replaced Aaron’s atop the homerun leader board in the history books, myriad questions concerning the record’s legitimacy—and ultimately Bonds’ legacy—linger.
Indeed, bouncing back from a horrid July, in which Bonds batted a paltry .186, is the least of his concerns, as the possibility of a federal indictment for tax evasion and perjury charges related to his testimony before the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) grand jury still remains. Yet perhaps even more damaging to Bonds’ ego—and major league baseball’s image—is the court of public opinion.
More polarizing than shock jocks like Don Imus, Howard Stern, and Rush Limbaugh, Bonds inspires passionate debate about the presence of performance-enhancing drugs in professional sports. The vast majority of local fans in
Meanwhile, very few current players will publicly rip Bonds. These guys understand the pressure to perform. They may not particularly like him, but they admire his talent and respect the contributions he makes toward his team’s success. Moreover, these guys have dealt with, or perhaps are still dealing with, the temptation to use performance-enhancing drugs. Judging from the wall of silence offered to George Mitchell’s investigation into steroid use in baseball, the players’ perspective is simple: look the other way. See no evil; hear no evil; most of all, speak no evil—not about yourself, but especially not about your teammates.
If nothing else, ballplayers are realists, recognizing the sports industry for what it is—a multibillion-dollar transnational empire. With that reality in mind, is it reasonable to discount Bonds’ accomplishments? By all accounts, Bonds was already the best player in baseball before he allegedly used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. What about the countless other ballplayers who were secretly juicing and competing at the same time? Even the “magical” 1998 season, when fans embraced Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa as they pursued the single-season home run record, now seems more chemical than magical, as both players are strongly suspected of steroid use. In “Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero,” Jeff Pearlman reports that in an alleged 1998 private conversation with Ken Griffey Jr., a conversation Bonds denies and Griffey reportedly does not remember, Bonds expressed frustration and jealousy over the fan appreciation enjoyed by McGwire and Sosa, and Bonds decided to take steroids the following off-season, figuring that he may as well enjoy the same benefits himself.
So, how do average fans who grew up innocently loving baseball process these sobering revelations? Like most baseball-loving boys growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, my brother and I collected baseball cards. My brother’s most prized treasures were two mint-condition rookie cards: Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds. Of course, these two shared more than center stage on my brother’s trophy shelf: both possessed a baseball pedigree, having grown up as the sons of former major leaguers; both were five-tool superstars who could hit for average and power, steal bases, and win Gold Gloves in the outfield; both players have averaged 41 home runs per 162 games played over the course of their careers. In short, both were the best players in their respective leagues throughout the 1990s.
Yet after their alleged conversation in 1998, Bonds’ and Griffey’s paths diverged in the next decade. From 2001-2004, the years in which Bonds is accused of juicing, Bonds won four consecutive MVP awards, stringing together an incredible stretch of mind-popping statistics including the single-season record 73 home runs in 2001 and batting titles in 2002 and 2004. Meanwhile, the injury-prone Griffey strung together long periods on the disabled list. But now the tables have turned again, as Griffey enjoys a strong bounce-back season while Bonds is greeted with boos wherever he goes.
Certainly, Bonds’ aloofness and hostility toward the media has not endeared him to some, but is he really the villain that he is made out to be? What has Barry Bonds done that is so bad?
By most accounts, it seems that Bonds’ biggest crime is his physical transformation from the wiry lead-off hitter as a rookie in 1986 for the Pittsburgh Pirates to the bulky, hulked-up slugger of today. It’s true that Bonds broke into the big leagues as a 21-year old, 190-pound lead-off batter who hit line drives and stole bases. He still hit his share of home runs but did not become a middle-of-the-lineup threat until 1990, when he won his first of three MVP awards in the 1990s by recording his first 30-homer, 100-RBI season. Meanwhile, he averaged 34 stolen bases per year in his first 13 seasons. While steroids may have made him bigger, it seems they did not make him faster, as he has not accumulated even 20 steals in a single season since 1998. So steroids must have turned him into a home run hitter, right? Yet even before he allegedly began juicing in 1999, Bonds had already won a home run title with 46 in 1993 and finished among the top four in six other seasons.
I tend to agree with Chris Rock, who said, “At worst [Bonds] pulled a fast one on us.” As Rock pointed out to Bob Costas recently on HBO, “You have to have a rule in place to break a rule.” While most outside
As bleak as his legacy may seem now, only time will tell how Bonds is ultimately viewed in the annals of history. While Bonds is criticized for not being more like the universally respected Aaron, Aaron himself was knocked for not being like the larger-than-life Babe Ruth. Unlike the folk hero Ruth, who ate and drank prodigiously, chased women, and clashed with teammates and authority figures, the quiet and private Aaron kept to himself and steered clear of the spotlight. Unlike the spectacular Ruth, who blasted moon shots high into the sky and deep into the bleachers, Aaron yanked line-drive lasers barely over the fence. Unlike Ruth, who amassed some of the most incredible single-season performances ever, including the fabled 60-homer mark in 1927, Aaron never hit so many as 50 home runs in one year. Yet years later, Aaron is admired for his enduring humility and consistent excellence.
Perhaps one day Bonds will also be remembered in a positive light. The good news for Bonds right now? There is even worse news breaking in other major sports, like the Tim Donaghy gambling scandal in the NBA and the Michael Vick dog-fighting indictment in the NFL. And baseball does not have a monopoly on performance-enhancing drug scandals: just recently, cycling’s doping epidemic surfaced again at the Tour de France, and professional wrestler Chris Benoit killed his family in a violent rage. In the end, the controversy over steroids may fade, but the home run record will remain… at least until A-Rod breaks it in five or six more years.
Here's a couple of kindred FLICKsters, Jemaine and Bret, riffing around their FLICKnames
Prince Fielder hit his 49 and 50th home runs of the season to lead the Brewers to a crucial 9-1 win over the Cardinals. In addition to being the youngest ever to hit 50, Fielder joined his father Cecil in forming the only father-son tandem to both hit 50 in a single season. Combined with NL Central leader the Cubs' 4-2 loss at Florida, the Brewers inched to 2 games back with 5 left to play.
