756 Congrats Barry Bonds
 

It's done. What a night it's gonna be in SFO. Congrats Barry Bonds.:band:

woohoo:thumbup:

Way to go Barry!

Very nice recorded tribute by Hank Aaron.

Congrats Barry. Classy act by Hammering Hank!

I wonder if his trainer in Federal prison is happy for him?

Congratulations Barry Bonds! You are the man!

http://stopmikelupica.com/images/BarryBonds.jpg

Go roids, get your groove on. IMO, he doesn't belong in the same breath as Hank Aaron.

I think Victor Conte should get some recognition!!!!

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

Since 2000, when he turned 35 and at a time when sluggers traditionally see a sudden dropoff in their power numbers, Bonds has hit 311 home runs. That's better than 41 percent of his career total and 66 more than Aaron hit in a similar timeframe in his career. Aaron retired after the 1976 season.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...x.html?cnn=yes


Aaron, 73, wasn't at AT&T Park, either. He flatly declined to follow Bonds on this quest, citing his age, the uncertainty of when the record-breaker might come and the rigors of travel. Many around baseball suspect, though, that Aaron is disturbed by the charges of performance-enhancing drug use -- considered cheating by many in and around baseball -- that surround Bonds.

I guess they didnt make flaxseed oil in Aaron's time ;) I wonder what the record would be if Hammering Hank did take some performance enhancing drugs?? Joe Dimaggio could have possibly hit in every game instead of 56 straight(which I belive is one of the greatest records in sports and will never be broken)

Wish my trainer was locked up for distributing performance enhancing drugs "oh no officer, I didn't take any he was just in the room with me..."

Although, Mike Schmidt did say it best: "..if we had these drugs available in my time, we would have taken them.."

From baltimoresun.com, by Milton Kent:

About last night, dear: A sad morning

This is the longest, saddest day of my life as a sports fan.

Longer than the day after the Colts lost to the Jets in Super Bowl III, sadder than the days after the Orioles dropped the seventh games to the Pirates in the 1971 and 1979 World Series.

Blissfully, I was sleeping last night when Barry Bonds hit the 756th home run of his career to pass Hank Aaron for the all-time lead. The news that he connected off Washington Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik in the fifth inning on a 3-2 pitch to right-center was the first thing that confronted me this morning as I awoke. And it stinks.

While Bonds can claim with his perpetually dour countenance that his home run mark is not tainted, it is and always will be tainted. Because we know.

We will always know that Bonds cheated the great game of baseball and by extension, all of us, by taking performance-enhancing drugs. And he's done it without a seeming moment of regret or remorse.

Bonds' achievement is the ultimate symbol of the ends justifying the means, might winning out over right, the raised middle finger in all our faces.

Worse yet, for me, as a black man who has loved baseball my entire life, what I resent most about what Bonds has done is that he has driven a wedge between African-Americans, allowing, almost encouraging some to paint Aaron as a lesser man.

During his pursuit of Babe Ruth and in the years since, Aaron endured the slings and arrows of racism and death threats in silence and with a humble grace. Bonds, meanwhile, has been surly, defiant and belittling to any who challenge him.

The truth is and always will be that Henry Louis Aaron is an icon, a legend, a hero.

Until Alex Rodriguez or whomever catches him, Barry Lamar Bonds is now, and always will be just a place-holder, a despicable name on a page. Nothing more, nothing less. And knowing that makes me feel a little better.

Rock on.

Midia comments are like the rest just opinions: Read the comments at the end of his article and see how many agreed with him. :popcorn:

The only people I've talked to, and of course this is by no way a HUGE sampling, think Bonds obviously cheated. The only people I have ever heard say he was 100% legit, are my aunt/uncle in San Fran.

I think it's easy to concentrate on one individual for what may be reasons other than taking steroids. I seems to me that if Barry was well liked then the "we love you Barry masses" would be more inclined to forgive.

It's just puzzling as to why so much attention has been given to one person when baseball as a sport has been saturated with a pratice that almost everyone knew about and up until recently was legal. Now all of a sudden everybody and his mother has gotton religion but refuses to include the real perpatrator of this crime major league baseball.

So until there is proof that Mr. bonds has commited this murder (that is what we're talkin about right) then it would seem that as long as there is a reasonable doubt, reasonable people will be reasonable before sending someone to the gallows.. But then again I can't see how reasonable people could be reasonable when in fact it's those same reasonable People that keep relying on making excuses for and even voting for the greatest liars on the face of the earth. "politicians"

If Mr. Bonds did what he's accused of, he did what everyone one else was doing at the time which was not condemed and was an accepted part of the game. If Barry is now to be condemed then let's do the right thing and condem the entire sport for this great crime against humanity that the fans and Major league baseball supported. But please let's not be hypocrites and pretend that we were not sitting in the proverbial stands rooting our favorite player all the while accepting what everyone else was accepting; the general use of steriods.

Nah, Pete Rose is loved...and he can't catch a break....

Because baseball as a 'sport' isn't breaking the records set by real players, cheaters are. The "they did it so I can" excuse works up until your about 6 years old.

Another interesting fact is the amount the ball is supposedly worth, most experts are saying in the $300 to $400k range for a ball that broke a record that was said to be unbreakable, In contrast to Mark Mcgwire's 70th homerun ball went for $3.3 million but was appraised for $5 million. So could it be the ball may go for less? Will it be $3.3 mill..DOUBT IT, Just shows how much he is loved and what he is known for, Cheating

The truth is.............

The McGwire ball is viewed as something of an anomaly, because it sold during the height of the dot-com boom, when collectors were bidding up prices for balls that McGwire and Sammy Sosa hit during their entertaining game of home run derby.

Memorabilia experts said that the value of No. 756 could slip during coming months because, with each home run swing, Bonds will send another baseball into the collectibles market.

Actually the truth is
By Forbes.com
"Sports memorabilia collectors aren't exactly looking ahead with rabid enthusiasm to Barry Bonds' record 756th home run ball hitting the auction market.
Now that Bonds has passed Henry Aaron's career home run mark, memorabilia dealers are resigned to the reality that the historic ball won't be worth nearly what they would have expected a few years ago. And steroid suspicions, which have cast a pall over the accomplishments of the recent crop of home run hitters, are only part of the story"
I wonder what the other part of the story is?

Actually the truth depends on who you ask:

Dave Hunt, owner of Hunt Auctions in Philadelphia, the sports memorabilia auctioneers agree that Bonds and the ball deserve a place in baseball history.

"Whether he did or did not [use steroids], in my opinion, Barry Bonds is one of the top five players in Major League Baseball history — period," Hunt said. "The bigger question now is, if he did do it, and that's just an if, more than [Bonds] were doing it. So will they all be judged that way? Will there be asterisks next to all of these players in 20 years?"

Hunt suspects that the eventual buyer of the Bonds ball, should it go on the market, won't simply be seeking a piece of baseball history. Hunt recalled the public relations coup that comic book creator Todd McFarlane enjoyed after paying $3 million for McGwire's historic baseball.

"When you've got 300 news entities, including the 'Today' show, wanting to talk to you, it really was worth it" to McFarlane, Hunt said. "It was all about PR then and I feel strongly that the winning person who buys [No. 756] will probably be looking for PR rather than the ball itself."

So in my view you can go back and forth till the end of time bashing Bonds and it will be what it is until time passes and it becomes something else. :popcorn:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseba...rts-majorbaseb

CNN (Headline News) just stated Mark McGwire ball worth less than 1 mil right now (great return on the org. investment). Bonds money ball will be the final homer of his career....... Anyhoo, did you guys see the crowd go ape-shit trying to get number 756? Guess those are real fans, not kats sitting in their parents basements banging out bash talk.......

Just for the sake of perspective, keep in mind that Barry is/was a great player. "Homerun king" is just one aspect of his game, he was a GREAT fielder with several gold glove and he was a Great base runner too with many stolen bases, silver spike awards etc... That was before the roid era. He was arguably the best prior to the roid era and also during the era. Even prior to his homerun streak, I would take him on my all time fantasy team ahead of Hank. With or without roids, and according to a lot of players who played with him, he could be considered the greatest of all time. Obviously that is something you can debate. He's never been one of the guys everyone liked, but he's always been considered one of the best.

The FBI and Mithcell investigation has looked into Barry's alleged roid use for several years now and have come up empty. IF they actually do find out he did use illegal substances, then I'll throw a stone. But since they haven't come up with anything conclusive and just speculations, I'll just let Barry be the homerun king as well as a great player without an " * " or anything else.

I'm not a Barry fan, I just hate to see someone get convicted of something without it being proven. I also hate it when someone doesn't get the credit they deserve (good or bad).

Barry may not be a 'nice guy' like how Sammy or Mac were percieved, but let the guy have his record, fame etc. and then if something comes out later, then talk negative about him (like with Mac now).

:iagree: