Barry Bonds Finally Passes Babe Ruth in Career Home Runs: Now What?

On Sunday, Barry Bonds hit the home run that both his biggest fans and his loudest critics have been hoping and dreading for some time. Babe Ruth is now officially in his rear view; only Hammerin' Hank Aaron remains, still 40 home runs ahead at 755. Sadly, though, even on this historic day, the talk is not focused on the accomplishment itself; instead, it remains distracted by other issues.

Baseball History has shown that passing any of Babe Ruth's home run records tends to be a touchy subject, no matter who is involved. Both Roger Maris and Hank Aaron went through exceptionally difficult times while treading on the Babe's legacy. Roger Maris actually lost hair during the high-pressure summer of 1961 when he passed Ruth's single-season mark, reaching 61 on the last day of the 162-game season. He still had to settle for an asterisk in the record books, however. Babe Ruth's original mark of 60 in 1927 was set in 8 fewer games.

Hank Aaron and his family regularly received hate mail including death threats while he chased, then passed, Babe Ruth's 714 for the all-time mark on April 8, 1974. He required FBI agents to not only escort him and his family but to even open his mail. Even now, Aaron has not fully healed, yet still enduring with the same dignity and class he showed during his history-making chase.

Like the others, Bonds' experience has been characterized by pain and controversy. Unfortunately, like Aaron, he has suffered some painful, racially motivated insults, though not nearly the same magnitude as Aaron, obviously. Still, there is another issue in the mix that is unique to Bonds that shadows the milestone for many.

The lingering doubt over the usage of performance-enhancing drugs tends to muddy the waters, creating an unnecessary distraction. For many, Barry Bonds has become one of the poster boys for the Steroid Era. Ironically, two of the other poster boys, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, were both celebrated by the nation at large when each shot past both Ruth and Maris for the single-season mark in 1998. To allow the proper context, the Home Run Race of 98 was seen as a rebirth for the game itself, emerging from the spiral descent toward oblivion caused by the 1994 Strike, which had cancelled the World Series for the first time in history.

Like Barry, neither has admitted to steroid use, though there is some damaging circumstantial evidence for both of them. As an example, both McGuire and Sosa suffered through the familiar pattern of 'roid users: muscles and ligaments tearing and ripping, forcing them to walk away prematurely. The circumstantial is especially damaging in Sosa's case, where even before his breakdown, his power numbers fell during each of his last 5 seasons since his 64-homer campaign of 2001. 2001 was also the same year Bonds hit 73 homers, the current single-season record, and the same year McGuire retired. In addition, it was the last "steroid-free" year in baseball, before they began to investigate possible abuses. For his part, McGuire's most damning evidence happened during the hearings before the U.S. Senate, where he answered any question relating to his possible steroid uses by stating, "I'm not here to talk about the past."

As far as Bonds is concerned, the only thing known is that any of the substances he is being accused of using was not actually outlawed by his sport during the times he is said to have allegedly used them. His notoriously bad relationship with the media has truly hurt him in this court of Public Opinion, robbing him of a needed advocate. Even today, most of the media has presented what can be only charitably called circumstantial evidence, like "increased hat sizes" and the like. Case in point, ESPN's Steve Phillips' whole argument is that since Barry Bonds' achievements after he turned 35 are unprecedented, that makes any of his accomplishments automatically suspect.

It is certainly true that Bonds, unlike most other hitters in history, actually got better with age. Bonds set the single season home run mark by hitting 73 in 2001, at age 37 after never hitting over 50 in his career, neither before nor since. He went from 500 to 700 homers faster than any one in the history of the game. He led the league in hitting(.370) in 2002 at age 38, becoming the oldest player to win his first title; then won another batting title in 2004(.362). From 2001 through 2004, he consistently led the majors in both slugging percentages and on-base percentages while smashing several very old records previously thought unbreakable. He owns practically every record relating to walks and intentional walks, including single-season and all-time records. Bonds improved offensively in every category related to power or patience, his performance declining only in steals and other speed-related stats.

Of course, if he had improved in steals as well, that would be certainly suspect. Not too many people get faster as they get older. However, Bonds just getting wiser with time and experience, while keeping his reflexes relatively sharp can easily explain the other improvements. He did hit some long home runs when he was younger and slimmer; although since he's gotten older and bigger, they certainly have come more frequently. Still, there are bigger and stronger guys in the game, who can hit the ball just as far as Bonds, if not farther. The only thing that seems to separate Bonds from the pack over the last half-decade is that he consistently makes the opposition pay when he gets his pitch. Many other power hitters will miss their pitch, either fouling it off or hitting it off the end of the bat, creating very long, very dramatic outs. Bonds rarely, if ever, missed his pitch.

That is a fact made even more remarkable when one considers that he kept setting and resetting his own single-season record for walks during these years. Pitchers often bent over backwards to avoid giving him anything even remotely good to hit. Even so, Bonds rarely missed and he usually hit it hard. Over his career, he tends to hit long line drive rockets. His home runs mostly tend to leave the yard in a hurry. The only thing a performance-enhancing drug might do for someone like Bonds is turn his already-long homers into longer homers, it won't increase his hand-eye coordination. It won't improve his batting eye. His approach is quite similar to what Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals is doing this season while reaching 24 home runs faster than any one else in history except two others and still remaining among the leaders in batting. Both of them think of themselves as good hitters with power, as opposed to just power hitters or sluggers, like Sosa or McGuire. The type of hitter who will either hit long home runs or but will much more frequently strike out, the classic all-or-nothing approach.

Should the controversy taint his record? How about we wait for Bonds to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt rather than convict him based on nothing more than guesswork and supposition. But what if he were clean? Then many people would've been cheated from enjoying something truly special that has only happened once before in history because of something they "thought" was tainted.

People are too busy thinking about what ifs and "woulda-coulda-shoulda's", instead of enjoying the greatest hitter of this generation work his magic. Sports should be an escape, and witnessing greatness in anything is truly rare. No matter what else you might say or think about him, no one can deny that Barry Lamar Bonds is one of the greatest players ever, a true master at his craft. Enjoy the moment while it lasts. You never know what you have until its gone.