It will be a sad day when Barry Bonds breaks Henry Aaron's all-time home run record. Aaron represents all that is dignified, proud, and decent not just in baseball, but in humanity.
In the face of intense hatred, intimidation, fear, prejudice and pressure, Hammerin' Hank went to work. His former teammates said there were days when he literally limped into the locker room before a game, played like a superstar during, and then limped home. In the 70s there was no major security for high-profile athletes. So when the hate mail and death threats came, Aaron knew he was on his own. He remained quiet, smiled and went to work.
He wasn't a big man by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, he played the game honestly. He hit 755 home runs on sweat and a systematic, scholarly approach to the game that has been matched by few before or after him. But the best part is that his home runs are not all that make him special. That was Henry the ballplayer. Henry the man used his celebrity to fight for equality and to advance the cause of civil rights. A king never rests on his laurels or gets caught up in his own press.
It's not that baseball fans thought his record would stand forever. It's that we hoped that someone who was as good a man or better would be the one to break it. Instead, baseball has given us Barry Bonds--the guy who ignores fans, charges little kids for autographs, blames the media for his rotten attitude, and tries to evade paying taxes. Even if we could forgive his despicable personality, what is unforgiveable is the fact that he will claim, and in so doing, deface Aaron's hard-won record.
Although he will never confirm or deny, many roads in the steroid contriversy lead to Bonds' doorstep. If you have followed the game for a few years, you remember what he USED to look like. He was much thinner and smaller. Human beings weather in the same way paint does over time. They don't spend their 20s tiny and then morph into the Incredible Hulk in their mid-30s. Bonds would have you believe that baseball is just picking on him because he's Black and because people don't like him. He publicly muses on why the sport is not targeting former white players like Mark McGwire. Hmm....maybe because he at least LEFT the game.
Whatever the reason, the fact that Bonds would have the audacity to play the race card in defense of his indefensible behavior is another testament to the level of his self-absorption. He does not get to play the race card! Most of the hate mail he gets is because the person he presents to the world is selfish, arrogant, and oozing with an undeserved sense of entitlement. It has little to do with the fact that he is Black.
Aaron has said he will not be there when his record falls. The only explanations he has offered are that he is not interested in following the circus around waiting for Bonds to hit 756 and that he does not want to be part of all the hype since he's been there and done that. Those close to him say that while there may be other reasons, we will never learn them because that's not Aaron's style. He has earned the right to make decisions without having to worry about what everybody else thinks.
It will be a sad day when the lion finally has to relenquish his throne to the challenger. While his accomplishment will pass into history, to those of us who love and respect the game of baseball and all that he went through to overthrow The Babe, Henry Aaron will always be the true king.
