Wednesday, August 8, 2007
HANK AND BARRY
Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio vs. Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.My first memories of Major League baseball stretch back to the 1959 World Series...the fabulous double play combo of the "Go-Go White Sox" vs. the powerful pitching tandem of the Dodgers, still new to L.A.
Yeah, I'm old.
I vividly recall the 1960 Series between the Yankees and Pirates. The Yanks won 3 games by lopsided scores, but lost in 7 to the Bucs on Bill Mazeroski's home run. (I have a friend who says he still hasn't gotten over it. When he told me that, I hung up on him.)
But the first time I followed every day of a season with a religious fervor was 1961, when Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris engaged in their epic one-on-one battle to eclipse The Babe's record of 60 home runs in a season. The People's Choice (Mantle), hobbled by injury, finished with 54. Maris hit 61, off the inept Tracy Stallard of the equally inept Boston Red Sox.
It was thrilling, as was the race 37 years later between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to push Maris's mark aside.
In both instances, the nation celebrated the achievements of remarkable men.
But now we know what we know. Or don't know.
Neither McGwire, Sosa, nor Barry Bonds (who hit 73 in 2001) have admitted to taking steroids. Maybe we'll never know.
What should have been a national celebration of breaking baseball's greatest record (maybe the greatest record in American sport) Tuesday night was met (outside San Francisco) with a collective shrug.
The consensus is that Barry Bonds cheated.
America doesn't cheer for cheaters.
I can't buy the argument proferred by some that this is an issue of racism. Bonds didn't break Babe Ruth's record, he broke Henry Aaron's. And Bonds never had to come up to the bigs through the worst kind of racism that Aaron was forced to endure.
And there was Hammerin' Hank himself...on the scoreboard at the ballpark with videotaped congratulations to Bonds. I got the impression someone was standing off-camera on bended knee saying, "Please, please, please, Mr. Aaron, please do this for baseball."
Hank looked like he had just finished licking the lead paint off a toy imported from China.
When we moved a few years ago, I was going through some boxes, and came across a yellowed piece of paper in a WPOP folder.
It was Associated Press wire copy from 1974...a bulletin (when bulletins were really bulletins)...announcing Hank Aaron had just hit his 715th home run.
For whatever reason...that I'm a baseball fan or just the sense of history of the moment...I thought at that time it was important enough to tuck it away for posterity.
33 years later, Henry Aaron still means something to me. Something good. Something joyful.
The joyless Barry Bonds means something to me too. But it's not so good.
He managed to suck the life out of what should have been a national celebration of achievement.
Such a shame.
Posted at 12:47 PM by Gerry
4 Comments:
How can you have vivid memories of baseball in 1959???
You're not that old.
My first real baseball memory is of the '67 Red Sox.
...mike
Gerry, hello to you. On this exact Aaron/Bonds subject was an article from the Herald's Steve Buckley yesterday (Wed.), which touched my heart. Here is the link...I linked it on my blog yesterday, but here you go. So true, such well written words. Peter N. You might have to copy and paste, but I hope you and your great readers will. A two minute read that I will NEVER forget!
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/otherMLB/view.bg?articleid=1015464&format=&page=2
Mike...you're so nice.
And thank you, Peter.
Mike......Yaz, Reggie and Dewey in the outfield....Rico and Boomer in the infield, Lonnie and everyone! What a year....and I WAS a little kid.
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