Now, that sounds like an introduction you would hear at a wrestling match; an area no secret to the regular use of banned performance-enhancing products. But at a baseball game? Come on, that would be ridiculous! 10, 15 years ago, it…would…be…ridiculous! Today, however, not in the very least. When Bonds, so close to the elusive 755, should be receiving cheers and praise for getting to this monumental level of achievement, the exact opposite is being expressed into his direction (except in San Francisco, where a severe case of myopia apparently had spread throughout the whole Bay Area) each time he steps to the plate. Now why is that?
In 1974, Hank Aaron was dealing with the stress of breaking one of the most hallowed records in all of sports. For him, it wasn’t because of what he was putting in his body. The only performance-enhancing products out there during that time were caffeine and nicotine and everybody was using them so I guess you could say he was in a level playing field. No, for Aaron, it was more the issue of a black ballplayer that was about to surpass the ever popular, white predecessor, “Sultan of Swat”, Mr. George Herman Babe Ruth. Plus, Hammerin' Hank was to do this in the good ol' South. If that’s not pressure, I don’t know what is.
Now, I like to consider myself an amateur baseball historian and it is no secret that the home run is one of the sexiest feats in all of sports:
It has a flare for the dramatics.
Kirk Gibson
It can break your heart. 
Bucky Bleeping Dent
Bobby Thompson
It can also resurrect. 
McGwire's 62nd
And today, it is met with controversy 
.
Through the years, the home run, and its subject took on various forms. In the “dead ball era”, the home run was hard to come by, thanks to a softer ball and mammoth dimensions. Considered one of the first home run heroes was a player by the name of Frank “Home Run” Baker. 
In the 1911 World Series, Baker hit significant home runs in Games 2 and 3 against the mighty New York Giants that helped the Philadelphia Athletics take the series, thus earning said nickname. Frank “Home Run” Baker led the American League in home runs four consecutive years from 1911-1914. What were his HR totals? How about 11, 10, 12 and…9?! Let’s see, for those keeping score at home, that is a grand total of 42 homers in a span of four years. Frank “Home Run” Baker, huh? Well, that’s the “dead ball era” for you.
It really wasn’t until 1919, when a pitcher-turned-outfielder from 
Yes, it is Babe Ruth who I am referring to. Mr. Ruth, decided that 29 dingers weren’t enough so he smacked 54 out the next year and eventually hammered 60 homers in 1927, a record that would stand for 34 years.
With the arrival of Ruth, it meant the death to the “dead ball era” and the home run took center stage with many a star. There was Jimmy Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, Mel Ott, to name a few. 
The next generation of players (1940s and 1950s era) took over with ease. Players like Hank Greenberg, Ralph Kiner, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Stan Musial and Ted Williams went deep with regularity.
Williams
Musial
Hodges
Snider
Kiner
Greenberg
And despite all this, there seemed to be something missing; something that was not quite right. Where is the diversity in the game. Why does not the game have more… color? How can you even consider who’s best when not everyone has been given a chance to be the best?
In 1884, a player named Fleet Walker played for the Toledo Blue Stockings. It would be the only year Fleet played in a high level professional league. In a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ among owners, players like Fleet Walker would not get a chance to play professional ball for another 63 years! Why is this significant? Why were Fleet and many other ballplayers like him not allowed to play ball for so long? It wasn’t because of what he had done. It was simply because of who he was…a black man.
It wasn’t until 1947, when the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League and the Cleveland Indians of the American League, finally decided that enough was, indeed, enough and integrated Major League Baseball with the likes of Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby (and in all honesty, his number 14 should be permanently retired, alongside Jackie’s #42), and made the game better for it.
Finally, the public got a chance to see a whole new flood of talent (reluctantly, by some fans). With Doby (I will limit myself only to power-hitting black ballplayers or this list will be very, VERY long), along came Roy Campanella, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Hank Aaron. These ballplayers, and many other African-American ballplayers, when through a lot of racially motivated strife and turmoil, to play a game they so truly love, helped pave the way for today’s ballplayers, regardless of race. They taught us a lesson that it is only fair when everyone gets a chance to achieve greatness, not just a privileged few.
Let’s fast forward back to the present, back to what is going to be a significant achievement and, ultimately, a sad one as well. Let it be known that Barry Bonds will break Hank Aaron’s record. It is no longer a matter of, if, but when it will happen, and where.
Here’s the sad part, Barry Bonds was going to be a Hall of Famer regardless if he was injecting ‘beefroids’ in his buttocks and dropping ‘the Clear’ (an undetectable, highly potent synthetic form of steroids) under his tongue. His stats were well within the guidelines of a HOFer. He had speed and power. He hit for average. He was an above average outfielder. He even stole a lot of bases. Basically, he was a 5-tool player, a hard-to-find commodity in today’s ballplayer.
Now Major League Baseball is in the right frame of mind to take this record seriously and they will honor it as a huge moment for the game. They need to for it is their obligation to honor it for what it is...a changing of the guard. Hopefully, Barry will not be standing guard for very long…
…ARod, can you help us?
