Friday, April 28, 2006

No party for Barry

So Bud Selig has announced that Major League Baseball will not feature any formal celebration when Barry Bonds passes Babe Ruth in the record books, perhaps soon. The rationale is that MLB celebrated when Henry Aaron passed Ruth, but that it's not necessary to do anything for the second or third person to pass a record. MLB would do something official if Bonds breaks Henry Aaron's record.

Makes sense to me. The matter of Barry Bonds and his place in baseball history is a subject of much debate right now. There are a lot of people who question whether Bonds should be consigned to the nether region occupied by Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson and others whose conduct shamed the game. I still don't think so, but I sure hope that Bonds retires before he gets to Hammerin' Hank's mark of 755. It would be problematic to have someone as tainted as Bonds reign as the home run king. The good news is that if Bonds makes it, he may not hold the record for long. Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols, among others, are gaining on him. And, so far, no one has accused either of them of being participants in the steroid circus.

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