The Sad Legacy Of America’s Pastime

The game of baseball has long been known as America’s Pastime. After all, more than any other sporting event it represents everything that has made our great nation the bastion of power and freedom that it is today: Hard work, dedication, and the possibility of tremendous success regardless of one’s station in life.

Ever since the end of the Civil War, a young boy could step onto a baseball field and chase a dream that would stay with him until his dying day, even if it never became a reality. And he knew that in order to fulfill that dream he would have to work hard every day and practice hitting and catching that elusive little white ball, giving his all on an individual level while doing his part to ensure the success of the team.

And just maybe, someday, all of that hard work and determination would pay off with a trip to the Major Leagues where he could play every night in front of thousands of adoring fans, and maybe, someday, even set a record that would stand for decades, inspiring countless other youngsters to follow their dreams as well. For well over a century, the game of baseball was held in the highest regard by most Americans - even by those who didn’t consider themselves to be “fans”.

In a nutshell, baseball was a game of dreams and possibilities, rewarding those who played by the rules and understood that it was just a game that offered a lifetime of pleasure and fond memories. But in recent years things have gone terribly wrong…

In the latter part of the 20th century, Major League Baseball came to a grinding halt when the players union decided to go on strike on two separate occasions. I guess it wasn’t enough that they were already making millions of dollars a year playing a game that most of us “kids” would gladly play for just enough money to “pay the bills”. But I digress…. All of a sudden, Major League ballparks all across the country fell silent and the dreams of countless youngsters were squashed like a bug on a windshield. America’s Pastime lost much of it’s luster because of those childish strikes, and the tarnish has never completely been removed.

Then, as if the strikes weren’t bad enough, along came the steroids scandal that still rocks the baseball world to this day. Apparently many of the players were no longer satisfied with the tried and true method of working hard to build upon their natural talents and asking God for favor on the playing field. Instead, they decided to look for an easy path to success, a “fast track” to getting their names printed in the record books. And they found it in the form of “Performance Enhancing Drugs”. They soon discovered that they could more easily and quickly find success in a syringe than in the weight room – and things have never been the same since. And sadly, they’ll never be the same again.

If there was any honor and dignity at all left in Major League Baseball, it vanished yesterday evening in San Francisco. With one swing of the bat, Barry Bonds rendered the most cherished record in all of sports meaningless and irrelevant when he hit his 756th career home run. With the help of a little “juice”, he demolished a record that had been held for the better part of a century by first the great Babe Ruth and later by Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron.

The sad thing about all of this is the fact that Bonds isn’t just some run-of-the-mill player who wanted to transform a mediocre baseball career into one of stardom. He was already a shoe-in for induction into the Hall of Fame before he even began hitting the juice! Blessed with amazing natural talent and the speed of a gazelle, he began his career fielding, hitting and stealing bases as well as anyone who ever played the game, and he had the stats to prove it. But apparently he wasn’t content with being a great baseball player – he wanted to be the very best.

Well into his thirties, it became clear that even though he was on a direct path to Cooperstown, breaking the game’s most hallowed records wasn’t in the cards. If he wanted to surpass Roger Maris’ single-season home run record of 61 and the holy grail of Hammerin’ Hanks 755 career homers he would have to step it up a notch. The problem was, he was already at the top of his game and in the prime of his career. Without a little help, his performance and the growth of his stats would soon begin to decline, squashing forever his hope of becoming the greatest baseball player who ever lived. That would never do, so he turned to the magic syringe…

And it worked like a charm. Virtually over the course of a single off-season, Bonds transformed himself from a lean, mean, base-stealing machine into a hulking home run virtuoso with arms the likes of which ”Popeye” could only dream about. Instead of his usual 20-40 homers a season, all of a sudden he began cranking out 50, even 60 or more a year, finally peaking at the record-setting level of 75.

And of course with all of those baseballs flying out of the park and into the next state, it became only a matter of time before he would find himself knocking on the door of Aaron’s 755 career home runs. Well, it all came to a head last evening with that one infamous swing of his bat. Bonds has now stolen the all-time home run record away from Hank just as easily as he had stolen all those bases back when he was playing the game armed with nothing more than his amazing talents. And the game of baseball will never be the same again. The tarnish has turned to a dirty shade of gray, and no chemical on the planet can ever hope to remove it.

As for Hammerin’ Hank, he is still nothing but class. Even though he knows in his heart that his record of 33 years was surpassed with plenty of  help from “the juice”, he still offered the following statement which was played during the 10 minute celebration following Bonds’ record-breaking home run:

“It is a great accomplishment which required skill, longevity and determination. Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years. I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historic achievement. My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams.”

I hope Hank is right about the new record inspiring others to chase their dreams, but I believe it will only inspire our youngsters to seek fame and fortune by whatever means they deem necessary; to always take the path of least resistance in a never-ending search for a shortcut to success and happiness. And that’s the saddest thing in this whole sad saga. America’s Pastime has become a thing of the past, and America will never be the same because of it.

Disclaimer: For the record, Barry Bonds has never failed a drug test. I base my opinions as stated above solely on the overwhelming mountain of circumstantial evidence that has been presented in various articles, books and news reports along with my own ability to comprehend what is possible under a given set of circumstances. Your opinions may vary, and if they do I’d love to hear them!