Christian A. Camerota

There is a certain amount of grooming and pedigree that seems to go into rearing a star baseball player these days. The noble lineages of the Griffeys and Bonds of the league seem to predetermine stardom.

After all, growing up around a Ken Griffey Sr. or a Bobby Bonds cannot help but improve a young child’s affinity and sensibility for the game. Just being the son of one of these notable figures deeply immerses one in the game’s culture, whether it be as a bat boy, an ever-present fan, or simply while constantly surrounded by their parents’ colleagues (who just so happen to be baseball stars, themselves). When cocktail parties are hosted at your house and guys like Willie Mays (your godfather) or Reggie Jackson (your cousin) are in attendance, you’ve got to figure you might glean some valuable insight from them. Sadly, it seems you don’t necessarily glean class.

This is the kind of lineage that Barry Bonds comes from…privileged, affluent, baseball-centric. He never had to struggle to find a glove or shoes to play with. He always attended the best schools, Junipero High School in San Mateo, and Arizona State University. He consistently met and exceeded expectations, garnering countless awards along the way. He was a prep All-American his senior year of high school, a Sporting News All-American in 1985 at ASU, and was drafted in the 1st round (6th overall) by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1985 draft. The man was groomed to be a star from a very young age. His only challenge was living up to the lofty expectations.

On the other side of the proverbial tracks, we have Henry Aaron. Born in Mobile, Alabama to two poor parents, Estella and Herbert Aaron, Hammerin’ Hank’s nickname was appropriate more for his layman’s pedigree than any bright, baseball future. He had seven siblings and little money, earning his hand-eye coordination through many hours of hitting bottle caps with sticks. He went to Central High School near his childhood stomping grounds of Toulminville and excelled there, helping his team to two Negro League Championships.

Despite showing some promise and resolve at a young age, though, he was nowhere near as fortunate as Bonds. Both were and are clearly blessed with innate talent, yet Barry’s was coddled and allowed to shine through to a much higher degree. While Barry was attracting scouts and major league teams during his tenure at a reputable university (and noted baseball breeding ground), Aaron spent his formative years playing for $10 a day in the Negro leagues.

We can’t fault Barry for his upbringing because, clearly, it was not his decision to lead a life of privilege. We can, however, applaud Aaron for enduring what must have been some very difficult years before making it to the majors, and appreciate his love of and dedication to the sport. We can also say that both upbringings were great factors in developing the men we have today.

Hank Aaron is a true champion, gracious with the media, elegant and humble in his responses, grateful for his gifts and his good fortune. Barry Bonds doesn’t display quite the same nobility when asked about his situation. He is curt, wary and critical of the media, seemingly unappreciative of the gifts and countless blessings he has received. Even when he accomplishes some great feat, his smile and words seem insincere, as if he’s putting on a show because he must, not because he wants to.

This was blatantly evident when Bonds moved past Aaron into sole possession of the All-Time Home Run Record last night in San Francisco. He hit the blast and stood at home plate to watch it. He rounded the bases with a swagger. He crossed home plate and stood on top of it, pointing to the sky, almost ignoring his son who embraced him with great admiration. The moment, as most Barry moments, seemed insincere…a formality more than an accomplishment. It smacked of pomposity.

Maybe it was the pressure leading up to the achievement, all the various second-guessing and steroid accusations, all the nonsense with commissioner Bud Selig (will he watch Barry? won’t he? who cares?), all the mammoth swings-and-misses in the days before he set the record. Maybe it was his acceptance speech: a trite, somewhat unintelligent, self-aggrandizing allusion to his amazing accomplishment, spoken in a voice curiously high-pitched for a man his size. Whatever the case may be, the moment didn’t seem that special.

When Hank Aaron hit his record-setting home run, he was chased around the base paths by congratulatory fans. When Barry hit his, fans sat in their seats and flashed pictures. And those reactions speak volumes about these men.

Hank Aaron was a man to admire, but he was not untouchable. Fans could relate to him and wanted to do so. They wanted to run the bases with him because they felt as if they’d been running the bases with him every time he rounded them. He made baseball real for everyone.

Barry, on the other hand, is quite untouchable. His evasive presence in the media makes us feel guilty for liking him and wanting to be a part of his history making. His wealthy upbringing seems to diminish his talents. And, of course, the cloud of suspicion surrounding his physical attributes and enhancements makes many of us leery of heaping praise on him. All in all, the spectacle that Bonds has become distances us from the game. It makes many feel like we’re watching a soap opera voyeuristically…a soap opera we will never be a part of.

All in all, it’s difficult to say how we ought to feel about Bonds being our new home run king. In one sense, Barry’s talents and accomplishments are undeniable. He is the rarest of rare combinations of speed, power, baseball intellect, defense, and capacity for living up to the power of a moment. He deserves to be respected for all of this. In another, more dominant sense, this man is an example of everything that is wrong with our society. He is the Paris Hilton of baseball.

That’s right, Barry Bonds is the Paris Hilton of baseball.

It’s a bold statement, since Bonds has actually had to succeed in order to attain his level of fame, not just sit around and call things “hot” and make sexually explicit videos. Still, both are in the limelight and are successful because they have been given all the tools and support to get there…and both are woefully unappreciative of what they have.

Just as Paris says she’ll emerge from jail and devote her life to improving the world, Barry consistently says he doesn’t care about personal records and is more intent on being a part of a winning baseball team.

Really?

Because what everyone’s failed to mention is that although Barry hit his 756th home run last night, his last-place Giants lost to the even-worse Washington Nationals. But, you certainly didn’t hear Bonds talk about that.

You might also have expected Barry to choke up a bit when he started talking to the media about his accomplishments. If he were humbled by the game as he should be, he would have. Unfortunately, the only time he appeared to get choked up was in talking about his father…and even in that instance, the emotion seemed forced and unreal.

In fact, Barry Bonds’ entire career has seemed forced and unreal. And despite his vehement denials of using performance enhancing drugs, it’s impossible to fool the millions of baseball fans that follow the sport so passionately.

Let’s put it in some context. Hank Aaron started hitting home runs at age 20, when he hit 13 in his first year in the major leagues. From age 20 to age 30, Aaron hit 366 dingers. From 30 to 35, he hit 226. And from age 35 until he retired at 41, he hit 163 more. The trend is what you would expect from a star…excellent production in his youth, tremendous production in his prime, and a steady decline into his late 30s/early 40s.

Now, let’s take a look at Bonds. Barry began playing at age 22 in the majors. By age 30, he had hit 222 home runs. Granted, it took him 2 more years to reach the majors…but the fact still remains that Barry’s pace was much slower than Aaron’s at the beginning of his career. From 30 to 35, during what should have been the prime of his career, Barry hit 223 homers-remarkably similar production compared to Aaron’s. So, the argument could be made that Aaron’s power developed much earlier and, therefore, gave him the competitive edge in the race for the all-time home run record.

But, then something funny happened. While Aaron was busy hitting 163 in his last 6 years of baseball, Barry hit 312 homers in the last 8 years of his. His home run totals had never been so high, including a curious and almost incomprehensible jump from 49 to 73 between 2000 and 2001 (at ages 36 and 37). Say what you want about advances in conditioning and medicine and such accounting for some of those extras home runs. Nothing accounts for that kind of disparity at such a late age in baseball terms…nothing, that is, except certain topographical creams and syringes filled with magic. Instead of thanking God in his speech, perhaps Barry should have thanked Balco.

Hank Aaron’s numbers jumped from ages 36 to 37 as well…but they jumped only from 38 to 47. Sure, Aaron (like Bonds) had the highest total of his career at age 37. But, the difference was that Aaron didn’t almost double his previous best in one year. And Bonds did.

So, it’s no wonder that people take Barry’s “record” with a grain of salt. If they kept records of foot size and cranial circumference, I’m sure Bonds would have set those in 2001, as well. But, sadly, those records are classified.

Now, we have a man (if that’s what you will call him) in possession of not one, but TWO of the most hallowed records in baseball…and maybe in sports. One of those records (the single season home run mark) was already cloaked and clouded in suspicion, what with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both enjoying similar marked physical and statistical growth during that memorable season. But, you know what? Neither Sammy nor McGwire were as openly nasty to the media during their chase. Both made themselves readily available, put the game above their egos, and made sure to allude to the support of family and friends and fans as what kept them going. And neither openly denied using steroids, as Barry has.

Yes, it’s sad that McGwire and Sosa have not come out and cleared the air. But, at least they’re not lying to our faces. And this seems to be the difference. As a society, we can tolerate mistakes as long as we feel there they were made in a certain amount of innocence. In fact, one of the “banned” substances McGwire is accused of taking was even legal at the time. This is not to say that they may not have bent the rules a bit. But they weren’t trying to openly deceive anyone. They gave themselves selflessly to the fans and the media, they saved a troubled game, and were the centerpieces of one of the most exciting summers in the history of this great pastime.

Barry, conversely, seems selfish in his pursuit of both records because he never made it about the game. It was always about him. And if this is the case, then what it seems he should have done is hang up the cleats after 2005. If memory serves, Barry hit only 5 home runs that year and was forced to hit the disabled list for the rest of the season thereafter. At that point, he had 707 homers…which would have put him in 3rd place, all time. It was a humbling time for him, a time when age was finally catching up. And if he were truly in it for himself, as it seemed, then he should have been true to himself…and given up.

If Barry had called it a career after that year, all would have been right with the world. We would still have remembered him as an amazing player and an incredible home run hitter. We would still have appreciated his efforts for the game, however selfish their intentions. His ego would have been appeased, and the game’s sanctity would have been spared.

But, that is not what happened. Instead, baseball was robbed of two of its greatest heroes and saw them replaced with one of its greatest villains. Considering that Barry’s collegiate degree is in criminology, maybe he can help us figure out who the culprit is. He has no further to look than the mirror.