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May in review
Rooting against Bonds;
Baseball's hottest team
By Brenton Metzler
Outsports.com
Hank
Aaron was born in 1934, the third of eight children. He
excelled in baseball so much that he played in a semi-pro
league in high school. By 1951, he had become a first-rate
ball player in the Negro league, helping the Indianapolis
Clowns to a World Series title in 1952. In 1954, he made
his major league debut for the Milwaukee Braves and in his
first spring training game, he hit a home run. I was not
going to bring up the fact that in his first regular season
start he went 0 for 5, because we all know how this story
ends. With the most hallowed record in baseball and
possibly all of sports.
Barry
Bonds, after spanking a homer off of my beloved Colorado
Rockies’ Taylor Buchholz on May 27, stands at 746 home runs,
just nine shy of Hammerin' Hank's record. Why does this
affect us so much? Bonds has played well throughout his
career, has been an amazing athlete for his teams, the
Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants, has amassed
seven National League MVP awards, won 12 silver slugger
awards, made 13 All Star appearances, been awarded eight
Gold Glove awards and was named player of the decade for the
1990’s by Sporting News. He is talented, exceptionally
talented, so why do we hate that he is closing in on the
record?
Is it
the alleged steroid use? Maybe that has swayed some
people. It seems pretty obvious -- the physique, the voice
-- but I am no doctor. Prominent players have been
implicated just as much in steroid use as Bonds and have not
lost the adoration of their fans. I think there can be an
argument made for the purity of the game being diminished.
Steroids were not an issue in the days of Hank Aaron; he was
just a ball player. A man who played fewer games and still
did what no one had done since Babe Ruth. But while I think
some people have lost respect for Barry Bonds of the steroid
rumors, the hatred over his approach of this sacred record
goes much deeper.
I think
we just like Hank Aaron better. He is a likeable guy, known
almost as much for his heart as his play. He has downplayed
his record from the day he hit the hallowed home run that
eclipsed Babe Ruth’s record of 714. He said that records
are made to be broken, that baseball is not about records,
it is about playing to the best of your potential.
Then
there is Bonds, cocky and arrogant, wearing enough flashy
jewelry to eclipse Queen Elizabeth. He is so self-assured
that you can’t help but root against him. You want him to
fail just to wipe that vicious smirk off his face.
Bonds:
“I don’t have to (use steroids). I mean I am a good enough
ball player as it is. I don’t need to get any better.”
Aaron:
“I’m hoping that some kid, black or white, will hit more
home runs than myself. Whoever it is, I’d be pulling for
him”
Bonds:
“You are talking about something that wasn’t even illegal at
the time. All this stuff about supplements, protein shakes,
whatever. Man, it’s not like this is the Olympics.”
Aaron:
“You have got to play 150 games a year, so pick your spots.
You can miss two games a month; so pick the days you’re
going to be hurt or the days your gonna rest or you’re gonna
have a drink or two. The rest of the days be on the
field.”
You like
Aaron. He didn’t think he was above the game or better than
the game. Barry Bonds thinks he is the game.
I hope
Barry Bonds stalls at 746 home runs. He deserves them. He
deserves the accolades that come with them, but leave 755
for Hank Aaron.
The Hottest Team in Baseball
If you
read
my article for April, then you know that I have a
little thing for CJ Wilson of the Texas Rangers. There
weren’t a lot of other reasons to watch the Rangers, and
when I started watching, I was pleasantly surprised at the
eye candy.
 Ian
Kinsler (top left) is the second baseman, standing 6 feet
and weighing 200 pounds, this hunk is about ready to turn
25, and do I have a present for him.
Michael
Young, a shortstop, is 6’4", 240, 26-years-old.
He is tall and the picture on the Texas Rangers site does
him no justice.
 Willie
Eyre (left) is another pitcher, 6 feet, 205, 28-years-old.
He is even hot in the pic taken by whatever junior grade
photographer they use that usually makes these guys look
like hell.
Eric
Gagne, pitcher, 6 feet, 240, 31, has that
I-just-smoked-a-bowl-and-now-I-want-you-to-be-my-first look
to him. Really hot to me.
Matt
Kata, left fielder, 6’1, 185, 29, has that hot Midwest thing
going on.
Sammy
Sosa is there if you have a thing for thick accents.
And then
there is the beautiful CJ Wilson, pitcher, 6’1", 215, 26.
He is just hot. I guess the My Space link for him didn’t
work for some of you, so look him up and spend a day just
adoring.
FACTS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Michael
Young signed a huge contract extension in March, his base
salary this year is a massive $3.57 million, and he is not
playing like the guy that put pen to paper. He has hit over
.300 in each of his last four seasons; this year he is
hitting .252.
Craig
Biggio now has 652 career doubles, seventh on the all-time
doubles leader list and just five behind Nap Lajoie who sits
in sixth place.
Curt
Schilling extended his record of consecutive starts without
giving up an unearned run to 69 this month. Pretty
impressive.
Texas
Ranger first baseman, Mark Teixeira, another hottie on that
team, now has played 499 consecutive games for the Rangers,
besting the previous record of 482 set by Alex Rodriguez.
Because
I forgot about it in April, I want to give a shout out to
Troy Tulowitski, shortstop for the Colorado Rockies who
accomplished a feat only done 16 other times in Major League
Baseball history. He had an unassisted triple play on April
29 against the Atlanta Braves. He caught a line drive hit
by Chipper Jones on a 3-2 count. Both runners had big leads
and were running all out. He caught the ball, stepped on
second for the double and tagged the runner coming from
first. It’s a pretty special thing to see.
THE NUMBER ONE REASON MY ROCKIES SUCK THIS MONTH IS …
After
winning seven in row, they then went out and lost on a night
when the other four teams in their division all won
and ended the month in last place in the National League
West, but only 6.5 games out.
Brenton
Metzler is a writer in Los Angeles who suffers along with
his Colorado Rockies.
June 1, 2007 |
