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Today, it's just another record Bonds was kicked out of the office; Aaron, as he did most other nights at the start of his career, ate a dinner of pork chops and french fries. The point of this is not to compare the two players and their run for the all-time home run record. Plenty of media are doing that and we all know that story. Aaron was an incredibly disciplined and consistent athlete who routinely hit .300, while turning in 40 home run, 100 run and 100 RBI seasons. Bonds is a prodigy who remained relatively consistent throughout his career, but put together a streak in his final years that propelled him to where he is now - namely, the top of the baseball record books. Aaron was a hero. He played through segregation and had to endure threats on his life because of the color of his skin. It's hard to imagine that he broke the record in 1974 and had to endure pre-civil rights-era discrimination up until that point. In fact, you can make the case that that single moment in time, the moment that Aaron hit the recordbreaking home run, the moment those two white college students ran beside him and jubilantly slapped his back - that was the true turning point for race-based hatred in sports. Bonds is not a hero. He's just a damn good ballplayer who thinks he's the center of the universe and is nearly universally despised by all sports journalists who've ever met the man. There were said to be 40 beat reporters following Barry Bonds around as he went for the record-breaking shot. Bob Hope, who handled public relations for the Atlanta Braves during Aaron's day, laughs at that number. More than 100 reporters followed Aaron around. Bonds wants to know where his entourage is. Bonds wants to know why everyone was so upset when he pulled out of the home run-hitting contest during the All Star Game to "rest," but ended up admitting on national television that he was out partying with Jay-Z the night before instead. When Aaron was asked if he thought anyone could break his record in the late '90s, he said, barring injuries, Ken Griffey Jr. had the best shot. Griffey got injured, but Bonds got "the clear." It doesn't make the record any less of a record, but sometimes its not the end result that matters, it's how you got there. The sports world doesn't need to feel guilty for not falling all over themselves to congratulate the guy. When Aaron did it, it was something more. Now, it's just a baseball record. And it will eventually fall. Mark Vasto is a veteran sportswriter and publisher of The Parkville (Mo.) Luminary.
(c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.
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