A real Superman
Mr. Bonds has blasted out of his Bob Uecker like season to hit his first home run of the year. Now there are only five to go before he ties Babe Ruth's record of 714 HRs by a left handed batter.
This gives me an opportunity to opine a subject I have received a great deal of e-mail about. What is so great about Ruth's number 714? In reality, little but sentiment. (Unless we want to parse every record into "Most triples by green eyed lefties" or "Most steals in a game by guys named John".) Everyone knows that 714 is no longer a record. But Babe Ruth was nothing short of a natural Superman and it pains me to see his number surpassed by a synthetic one. Simply put, (and with all due respect to truthteller’s sentiments about Josh Gibson) Ruth was the greatest player of all time.
It is impossible to fairly compare players of different eras with one another. With the advances in equipment, training, nutrition, travel, not to mention the evolution of the game’s eligibility rules or strategy, it is impossible to imagine how a player plucked from 1916 would have performed in 2006 and just as difficult to imagine how a player from 2006 would have fared in 1926. What one can easily do however is to look at how players compared to their contemporaries. On that score, Ruth was Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne rolled into one. In 1920 he hit 54 home runs. That total was more than 14 of the other 15 teams in Major League Baseball that year (Phillies – 64). In 1927 when he hit 60 home runs, that was more than every other team in the American League and behind only the Cubs – 74, the Cardinals – 84 and the New York Giants – 109 in the National League. To put those achievements in perspective, imagine what it would have taken in 2005: For Bonds or anyone to have hit more home runs than 28 out of the 30 teams in Baseball, he would have had to hit 223 long balls, more than every team other than the Yankees 229 and the Rangers 260. Similarly, that would have been the same number necessary in order to hit more home runs than any team in the National League, Reds – 222. Of course, we’re talking about career numbers rather than just individual years. On that score Ruth is similarly Herculean, having during his 22 year career he won the Major League Home Run title outright nine times, shared it twice (with Tilly Walker of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1918 and Lou Gehrig in 1931) and won the AL title once more, his 49 in 1930, second only in the Majors to the 56 by the Cubs’ Hack Wilson. By contrast, in his 20 seasons Bonds has lead the Major Leagues only once, in 2001, and shared the prize once, with Texas’s Juan Gonzalez in 1993.
Just to muddy the waters a bit more, one must also remember that between 1914 and 1919 Ruth was a pitcher with the Red Sox. During his first 4 seasons he appeared in a total of 166 games and went to the plate only 285 times. During that time he hit a grand total of 9 HRs. (In 1916, while appearing in a total of 67 games – 44 as a pitcher, Ruth won 23 games with an AL leading 1.75 ERA.) Once again, by contrast, during his first 4 years Bonds played in 566 games and went to the plate 2082 times. During that time Bonds struck a total of 84 HRs.
The bottom line is that while 714 is no longer the MLB record, it has great sentimental value. Everyone knows that the real record of 755 belongs to the great Hank Aaron, but that does not change the fact that watching Superman’s mark get surpassed by a chemically enhanced pretender is any less saddening. It didn’t have to be this way. Bonds was born with great gifts in the first place. He very well may have been close to 714 naturally within a similar timeframe had he just decided to work hard with God gave him. Avoiding the Juice probably wouldn’t have made him any more likable a guy, but at least fans would have respected what he did on the field. (Ty Cobb was by almost all accounts a similarly unlikable fellow but everyone knows that in the batters box he was one of the greatest of all time.) The worst part about it is that Barry squandered his natural gifts in exchange for ephemeral abilities (and long term negative consequences) found at the end of a needle. In the process he has tainted his name and reputation forever, regardless of what MLB does and with or without an asterisk.
(Visit www.helpsavebaseball.com for shirts and e-mail links to MLB)
This gives me an opportunity to opine a subject I have received a great deal of e-mail about. What is so great about Ruth's number 714? In reality, little but sentiment. (Unless we want to parse every record into "Most triples by green eyed lefties" or "Most steals in a game by guys named John".) Everyone knows that 714 is no longer a record. But Babe Ruth was nothing short of a natural Superman and it pains me to see his number surpassed by a synthetic one. Simply put, (and with all due respect to truthteller’s sentiments about Josh Gibson) Ruth was the greatest player of all time.
It is impossible to fairly compare players of different eras with one another. With the advances in equipment, training, nutrition, travel, not to mention the evolution of the game’s eligibility rules or strategy, it is impossible to imagine how a player plucked from 1916 would have performed in 2006 and just as difficult to imagine how a player from 2006 would have fared in 1926. What one can easily do however is to look at how players compared to their contemporaries. On that score, Ruth was Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne rolled into one. In 1920 he hit 54 home runs. That total was more than 14 of the other 15 teams in Major League Baseball that year (Phillies – 64). In 1927 when he hit 60 home runs, that was more than every other team in the American League and behind only the Cubs – 74, the Cardinals – 84 and the New York Giants – 109 in the National League. To put those achievements in perspective, imagine what it would have taken in 2005: For Bonds or anyone to have hit more home runs than 28 out of the 30 teams in Baseball, he would have had to hit 223 long balls, more than every team other than the Yankees 229 and the Rangers 260. Similarly, that would have been the same number necessary in order to hit more home runs than any team in the National League, Reds – 222. Of course, we’re talking about career numbers rather than just individual years. On that score Ruth is similarly Herculean, having during his 22 year career he won the Major League Home Run title outright nine times, shared it twice (with Tilly Walker of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1918 and Lou Gehrig in 1931) and won the AL title once more, his 49 in 1930, second only in the Majors to the 56 by the Cubs’ Hack Wilson. By contrast, in his 20 seasons Bonds has lead the Major Leagues only once, in 2001, and shared the prize once, with Texas’s Juan Gonzalez in 1993.
Just to muddy the waters a bit more, one must also remember that between 1914 and 1919 Ruth was a pitcher with the Red Sox. During his first 4 seasons he appeared in a total of 166 games and went to the plate only 285 times. During that time he hit a grand total of 9 HRs. (In 1916, while appearing in a total of 67 games – 44 as a pitcher, Ruth won 23 games with an AL leading 1.75 ERA.) Once again, by contrast, during his first 4 years Bonds played in 566 games and went to the plate 2082 times. During that time Bonds struck a total of 84 HRs.
The bottom line is that while 714 is no longer the MLB record, it has great sentimental value. Everyone knows that the real record of 755 belongs to the great Hank Aaron, but that does not change the fact that watching Superman’s mark get surpassed by a chemically enhanced pretender is any less saddening. It didn’t have to be this way. Bonds was born with great gifts in the first place. He very well may have been close to 714 naturally within a similar timeframe had he just decided to work hard with God gave him. Avoiding the Juice probably wouldn’t have made him any more likable a guy, but at least fans would have respected what he did on the field. (Ty Cobb was by almost all accounts a similarly unlikable fellow but everyone knows that in the batters box he was one of the greatest of all time.) The worst part about it is that Barry squandered his natural gifts in exchange for ephemeral abilities (and long term negative consequences) found at the end of a needle. In the process he has tainted his name and reputation forever, regardless of what MLB does and with or without an asterisk.
(Visit www.helpsavebaseball.com for shirts and e-mail links to MLB)
posted by Help Save Baseball at 4:38 AM
2 Comments:
The difference in tactics is something we have to accept with Ruth (or, do a ton of research on his home runs, and what fraction were off pitchers we could call fatigued). That's a fundamental flaw that is accepted when comparing baseball eras. One that isn't, though, is the racial element raised by barrybabe.
Bonds and Ruth both were playing by the accepted standards of their time. Any attempt to discredit their results after the fact will always be flawed (ie, to what extent was Bonds' steroid use offset by the steroid use of pitchers he faced?)
That being said, I like your baseball-only solution of pitching around Bonds until he goes away. :-)
If Barry hits 715, so what? That's only a marginally relevent number. If he hits 756, bummer. I guess we have to start rooting for A-Rod to stay healthy.
I wish people will stop glorifying the Babe in these terms... and making Bonds seem like the biggest heel of all time. There is only one arena that I believe steroids has absolutely no place and that is track. Steroids don't improve your hand eye coordination, it only helps you heal, supposedly... there isn't much that this post or anyother rabid rant about how Bonds has ruined the game, that proved your case. Let it go. Baseball has a very muddied history, so get off the high horse.
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