Barry Bonds has tied Hank Aaron's home run record. If you are a baseball fan, you may or may not believe the record is "clean." Otherwise, you are probably ignoring the event.
I grew up in Milwaukee when the Braves played there. I could take a rail "streetcar" from the stop across the street from my home to County Stadium, with a couple of transfers, for 10 cents. Bleacher seats were cheap and fine. And I would watch Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette pitch to Del Crandall, while Eddie Matthews [3B], Johnny Logan [SS], Danny O'Connell/Felix Mantilla [2B] and Joe Adcock [1B] anchored the infield. But it was Hank Aaron that drew the crowds.
Hank Aaron was small by Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire standards: 6 feet 180 lbs. But he could snap that bat around like a whip. He always seemed to hit over .300 and knock 40 or so home runs per season, although his production fell off quite a bit in later years playing in Atlanta. Regardless, for the first 90% of his career, he was amazingly consistent in batting average and home run production.Barry Bonds should be recognized for how quickly he has achieve this success: in about 3/4 of the time that Aaron did it. He should also be recognized how he transformed from an "average Joe" player for four years to an outstanding hitter in just one season. Probably a great batting coach or intensive weight training.
Athletes today are bigger, faster, stronger and trained better than a generation or two ago.Unfortunately, transformations like McGwire's and Bond's leave many suspecting that some of their success came from "talent in a bottle."
Now about that "hopped up" baseball....
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