Wait until HR record goes ‘ping’
For all of the people who think Barry Bonds shouldn’t go into
the Hall of Fame, or that when he breaks the all-time home run
record that it shouldn’t be validated because of Bonds’ on-going
steroid controversy I have this to say… It’s a thought that came
to me after watching this week’s Major League All-Star game and
homerun derby.
Wait until HR record goes ‘ping’
For all of the people who think Barry Bonds shouldn’t go into the Hall of Fame, or that when he breaks the all-time home run record that it shouldn’t be validated because of Bonds’ on-going steroid controversy I have this to say… It’s a thought that came to me after watching this week’s Major League All-Star game and homerun derby.
What happens 20 or 30 years from now when the environmentalists start beating the drum and demanding the use of aluminum bats at the Major League level since there aren’t enough trees to keep making the traditional wooden bat? If the choice were up to each team, San Francisco’s team certainly would have been using them years ago.
When that happens every player from then on will have an unfair advantage over Bonds and anyone else who played the game up to that point, right? At that point, say goodbye to Bonds’ homerun record because someone will no doubt hit a 1,000 taters when that era of baseball gets ushered in.
Just like today’s ball is livelier than the one Babe Ruth used Ruth had an advantage over today’s player because, for a brief period of his career, balls that one-hopped over the outfield fence were considered homeruns, not ground-rule doubles.
People are always looking for an advantage. Just look at what’s going on in baseball at the lower levels in the form of those lightweight bats that send baseballs jumping off of them much quicker than their wooden counterparts. As far as I’m concerned the use of an aluminum bat is much more of a performance-enhancing issue than some sort of vitamin-fortified supplements that bulk up muscles, legally or illegally.
Yet someday their use will be inevitable at the Major League level. And when that happens Major League baseball will instantly transform from America’s pastime into something that only a guy like Vince McMahon could dream up. You know, the WWE.
And, another question, if these bats are illegal at the Major League level now then why are these same bats being used on every ball field in America from Little League through NCAA Division I level?
Aren’t these same kids and college players that are using them trying to make the Majors one day? That’s why so many players never get out of the Minor League system, because when they aren’t allowed to use aluminum bats anymore they lose their power.
Thing about the audacity of it all… Aluminum bats aren’t legal at the Major League level but every kid in the nation needs to use them in order to, what kids? Answer: Enhance their performance in the batter’s box all the way through college so that they will get noticed by a Major League team and signed.
Here they are using a piece of equipment that is illegal at the place they want to work someday. Aren’t these players getting an unfair advantage? Aren’t they cheating in a roundabout way in order to get drafted?
The answer to all of these questions is simple: Lay off Barry Bonds – the greatest homerun hitter of all time…
