753 (3 away) -- Barry Bonds All-Time MLB HR Record Pursuit thread

Wait for it, wait for it. Hold, hold.

 

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

When is "The Junction Boys" on again?

 

Here's a portion of Jay Mariotti's latest article on Bonds, a piece which could be placed with Rick Reilly's current SI column in the "concession speech" category:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mariotti/477034,CST-SPT-jayweb19.articleprint

There was hope, not too long ago, that a federal grand jury in San Francisco would bust Bonds for perjury. That could have been the impetus for commissioner Bud Selig to suspend Bonds, or consider a Pete Rose lifetime ban, before he passed Aaron. But without the testimony of Greg Anderson, Bonds' personal trainer, the grand jury will have to be extended for yet another term. And with Anderson preferring to stay in jail instead of answering questions about his former client -- which goes far beyond the duty of friendship -- Bonds has no legal obstacles before breaking the record. The feds have put the hot lamps on everyone from Jason Grimsley, the former major-league pitcher caught in a steroids probe, to Kirk Radomski, the former New York Mets clubhouse assistant who says he provided performance-enhancing drugs to dozens of current and former major-leaguers. And they still haven't been able to nail Bonds, the most-wanted suspect in the dirtiest scandal in baseball history, dirtier than even the Black Sox and Rose.

Which is why it pained me to hear Bonds acknowledge, at last, that he can feel the record in his grasp. For now, anyway, he has beaten the feds, the system, the media, the fans, everyone who believes the stench is too wicked.


Expect more of the same from those who have been most emotionally invested in bringing down Bonds before he could become the all-time MLB home run king. Some will soften their stance, but many who were most adamant and hopeful of derailing Bonds' pursuit of Aaron will likely have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the reality of 756. Embarrassment and premature glee often bring bitterness when things don't work out as we have written them to be or how we wanted them to be; no one prefers to write himself into a corner as a number of prominent journalists have chosen to do in Bonds' case.

If things stay the same vis-a-vis BALCO, etc., prepare yourself for more such through-gritted-teeth admittances of defeat similar to Mariotti's and Reilly's. Alternatively, some will seek to glorify Aaron (as Verducci does this week in SI) instead of making direct rhetorical assaults on Bonds.

And so, on to Milwaukee. From this point forward, every Bonds home run is an enormous event. One more longball and Bonds stands but one swing away from tying Aaron. Then 755. Then sole ownership of the all-time MLB HR record. Then however far out he sets the record after that.

Many believe Alex Rodriguez will surpass Bonds' eventual record. He certainly is on pace to do so. But then you remember that Ken Griffey, Jr. was going to surpass Aaron's record, and how things have materialized in that instance.

No one knows the future. Bonds could get injured tomorrow and it is all over. Many have openly expressed their ability to be quite content if just this happened. Not that they're rooting for that...

But unless an injury or a major turn in the BALCO case develops in the next several weeks (and it could well, as the grand jury's term is set to expire), we are about to witness a feat never seen before in major league baseball's 100+ years of existence. The greatest record in all of American sports is about to go to one of the legendary 'black hat' figures in the annals of professional athletics.

Like it, or not.

History beckons.

 

Bonds will get the last laugh. The hater sports journalists around the country will cry and pout. So what. Bonds is THE MAN. Nobody can stop him from breaking the home run record. Bonds will even pick and choose when and where he will break the record. If Selig doesn't show up, then he'll look like a total jerk. Selig harbors and promotes steroid the use of steroids for two decades, then goes before Congress and says, "steroid problem, we don't have a steroid problem." Bonds will punk the hater journalists and they deserve it.

 

I could see him hitting 754 and 755 on the road, but no way does 756 get hit anywhere other than SF. I would have zero problem with them pulling him from the lineup if that becomes the case.

 

And creamora will finally have his first orgasm.

 

Bonds will have the record, but he won't have the respect, admiration and love from a goodly many baseball fans who had a hard time liking him before the steroid allegations. I suspect that as he gets older, that will eat at him more than what any writers said or wrote about him.

 

thanks for stopping by barry ... we hate you, as does most of america, too.

 

Tom, why do you hate most of America?

 

i don't know what you're talking about. you know how webby hates it when people change quotes.

 

Typical Barry response in Times story, speaking about fans:

Somehow, Bonds noticed all of this interplay. “I was hoping they’d throw the balls back like they said,” Bonds said. “But I guess they lied.”

Barry brings so much of the hating upon himself, instead of just realizing that there are stupid people out there in the world who react sort of crazily toward celebrities.
He invariably chooses (or winds up doing so) to show his ass.