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Didn’t the Dodgers look absolutely miserable against Houston and Colorado?
With a couple of exceptions the pitching looked outright miserable. It looked like Hans Brinker sticking his finger in one of the dikes in Haarlem, Holland to prevent the city to be inundated with the ocean water. The only difference is the Dodgers are failing to conquer this leak.
That is one of the reasons why I was hoping for Barry Bonds to break the homerun record at home last week.
Imagine this scenario.
Barry is up to bat Wednesday night in the second inning against Mark Hendrickson. On a 2-1 fastball that hangs out over the plate Barry whacks the ball deep to the right field Pigvilion landing in someone’s over steamed Dodger Dog. Barry has just tied Hank Aaron!
The boos start raining from all over the stadium as ESPN’s cameras show the Dodger faithful giving the finger and throwing their plastic beer cups onto the field.
The camera then pans to the left field pavilion where a gang of Dodger fans pummels two Giants fans.
And for all eternity, that will be how Dodger fans are remembered.
Quelle nightmare, right?
Perhaps I’m being overly cynical about this, but I sure as hell this doesn’t happen. If Barry does happen to break the record when I’m at the stadium, I will stand up and clap.
True Barry most likely did do steroids, but so did some of the pitchers he faced. He might be a very unpleasant man, but this is history people. This is 755 home runs. Period. It’s the history I will be applauding, because steroids or no baseball transcends all of these scandals. It survived the Black Sox scandal. It survived Pete Rose. It has survived the St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series last year. And after 755 it will survive on.
For all of those who are saying that I'm not a true Dodgers fan, y'all can all fuck off. No I won't be happy that yet again the home run record will be broken against the Dodgers. But it will be quite a marvel to witness this historic moment firsthand.
And think of it this way. If Barry breaks Aaron’s record at Dodger Stadium, Vin Scully will have the privilege of having called both Barry’s home run and Aaron’s 715th to break Babe Ruth.
By the way, in a few hours of this post the trading deadline will be over. I’ll have more on this one later. Will the Dodgers get pitching, a bat or both?
AP Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez
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Nightmare? Dodger fans would be applauded themselves if this happened.
I hate Barry. His pirouette in '97 was a disgusting display of unsportsmanship during what was to be a competitive battle on the field and instead became a big F-You finger to us all. He can eat dirt, but it is inevitable that the career home run record will be his, and I can accept that. Sort of.
What baseball needs is a new era. The players of today are so much different than the players of yesterday, and so is the sport. No one has an off-season job (unless they are a youngster improving their skills in Mexico, Arizona, and wherever else Winter Ball is played). The ballparks are smaller and with considerably less foul territory. Players have operations that prolong their careers. And, of course, we've got enough Cream and Clear to turn the U.S athletic department into a musclebound East German women's swim team of the '80s.
This is the Ultra Modern Era of baseball, with Barry Bonds as the first perennial home run champion. Let's not be coy about it, and follow through with changing the early days of baseball's "modern era" by calling it the Segregated Era. Babe Ruth only played against whitey, and so Josh Gibson never had a chance to challenge either the 60 or the 714. That being said, Henry Aaron will forever the homerun champion of the Modern Era. No pills, more foul territory, a growing playing field, and 755 homeruns to prove how he conquered it all.
Barry built his legacy, too, which is why it will include boos, and jeers, and folks like me remembering more fondly the past than being amazed by the supposed prowessness of the present.
Perhaps a compromise?: We can boo all we want as he rounds the bases. We can let out all our anger and hatred and frustration in that first minute. But once he crosses home plate, and we're out of contempt, we can give some polite applause.
Surafel, that's a great idea. :)
Breaking news: Dodgers trade Wilson Betemit for Yankee's relief pitcher Scott Proctor. Proctor's ERA is a bit over 5 this season.
Or sit in the stadium club and order another round.