Bonds Home Run Chase 

Barry Bonds’ pursuit of #714 is being pushed in our faces to the point that many people are saying “get it over with already.” I am not one of those. Despite his steroid controversy, and at times very arrogant demeanor, he is one of the greats to ever play the game and I’m enjoying every last minute of the coverage. If you’re a Bonds hater, you can ignore all that I have to say, but if you’re someone who truly loves the game of baseball, at least consider the feat that Bonds is about to conquer a great moment in baseball history and feel proud and lucky that you will be able to witness it.

Sometimes, the problem with sports fans is that its easy to fall in love with the underdog. I think this is why a guy like Bonds is so hated and a guy like Mike Piazza is so beloved. Bonds rolled into the league on a red carpet with his father being an established major leaguer and his godfather being the great Willie Mays. It seemed as though he was destined to be great and he’s fulfilled every expectation and then some. I’m not asking that you respect him as a person, but at least acknowledge and respect this great baseball player despite his seemingly paved road to stardom.

With the immense media attention and public scrutiny, I have been impressed with the way Bonds has handled himself. After hitting #713 nearly a mile, many thought for certain he would reach the Babe’s mark during the following home stand. It hasn’t happened yet for Barry, but I’ve enjoyed the way he’s handled himself during a season in which everything isn’t coming out smelling like roses. He’s wearing his heart on his sleeve and he’s had to swallow his pride. He’s shown us all that he is human and now that he’s not hitting them out left and right, every one he hits from here on out is something to behold.

There are some dynamics at work surrounding this chase that are great for the game of baseball. First of all, pitcher’s aren’t just serving up meat balls for him. They are buckling down to keep their names out of the record books. He will have to earn his achievement and he may even have to hit a bad pitch out of the park. Also, it’s refreshing to see a player, who is supposedly all about the money, hobble to give chase after a fly ball in left in foul territory. But he does it to be in the lineup to try to take a part of history. It’s good to see a professional athlete care about a record. It’s good to see evidence of these guys getting paid big bucks to play a game care about anything else besides their money. I have heard things to the effect that this all about an ego trip for Bonds. My response to that is why wouldn’t you want to go down in history as the greatest home run hitter to ever live. Somebody has got to be it and we might be watching him play right now.

You can’t tell me that when you’re flipping through the channels and you see Barry Bonds is on deck that you don’t wait to see him bat before finding something else to watch. He captivates an audience that needs to be captivated. It wasn’t long ago that baseball was widely losing popularity. It was revived by the long ball, and this chase keeps baseball right where it should be this time of year, at the top of the headlines.