756*
It’s official - Barry Bonds is baseball’s all-time home run king. With one swing of his bat, Barry Bonds crushed a pitch from Mike Bacsik of the Nationals 435 feet deep into the stands at AT&T Park to surpass Hank Aaron’s record of 755 career home runs. I’ll make no secret of the fact that I hate that Barry Bonds was the one to break the record, because there’s never been a player less deserving of breaking a record than Barry Bonds. His use of performance enhancing substances will forever cloud this record - at least until it’s broken by someone like Alex Rodriguez. Even without his use of performance enhancing substances, Barry Bonds would have been recognized as one of the best players of this generation - if not the best, which is why it’s so disappointing that he chose to raise his game through better chemistry. I know some Barry Bonds apologists will argue it’s never been proven Bonds has used performance enhancing substances, and while that’s true, I simply refuse to believe Bonds magically bulked up naturally, without the help of any illegal or illicit substances.
Bonds before and after steroids
What really pains me the most about Bonds breaking the record is that he broke Hank Aaron’s record. Hank Aaron has been an ambassador for baseball, both during his career and after, and he left a significant mark on Milwaukee, both as a baseball player and as a person. Hank Aaron really is one of the “good guys,” and so I think it’s a terrible shame that his record was broken by a recalcitrant, self-centered cheat.
I won’t be celebrating for Barry Bonds, and I can only hope he’ll finally retire after this season, so his record will be within the reach of someone like Alex Rodriguez.