Last night I took my family to Dodger Stadium, and we all hoped we would see Barry Bonds break the all-time homerun record (the record is 755, Bonds has 754). There have been many news reports of the hostile, rude, boorish welcomes Bonds has been getting in visiting ballparks, and let me tell you, they ain’t lying.
Bonds was booed every time he moved. The fans would start booing and my wife would ask, “What did he do? What happened?”, and it would turn out that he was just catching a routine fly ball or stepping into the on-deck circle. Fans chanted “Barry Sucks, Barry Sucks” throughout the game–certainly an odd description of one of the greatest players in baseball history.
One charmer sitting near us kept yelling “Barry, go back to the Gay Bay,” and people had T-Shirts that said “Barry Swallows” and other niceties. Every time he came up he was given a standing boo, and as I stood up and applauded, I wondered if it was a wise and safe thing to do. Security was very tight.
I’m neither a defender nor a critic of Binds, and I’ll decline to go into the Barry Bonds/steroids controversy because it’s been beaten to death by people who have followed it much more closely than I. However, I will make one point which I haven’t heard, though I’m sure people are making it. Whatever steroids Bonds may have taken in the past, we know he hasn’t done it for several years because of baseball’s drug testing program. Barry Bonds is 43 years-old–very, very old for a baseball player. (My son asked me how old Bonds was and when I told him Bonds is the same age as me, the dear boy said, “I didn’t know ancient people could play baseball”). Nevertheless, Bonds has an on base percentage of .493 and a slugging percentage of .558, making him perhaps the best hitter in baseball, even now.
Unfortunately Bonds didn’t break the record, and didn’t get much of a chance to. He struck out on three pitches in the first inning, then drew an intentional walk, and then another walk. When he reached base on an error in the 7th inning they pinch ran for him, and that was it. I had wanted my daughter and my son to see a bit of baseball history, but it wasn’t to be.
But the night was not without its advantages–the game was long and boring and my daughter was very tired, so she spent most of the game curled up in my arms. Definitely worth the price of admission.
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