I want the readers opinion on this post more than any other one I’ve written, mainly because I know there are a lot of baseball fans out there, and I want to see how your take differs/parallels mine. Plus, I don’t think too many people out there are going to be with me on this one…
Baseball is America’s pasttime. That doesn’t mean that it is the most popular sport in the country anymore; I think football has definitely overtaken that title; but there is something about baseball that just brings out everything America, from the National Anthem, to the popcorn and hotdogs, to the seventh inning stretch. If you had to pick one favorite stat in baseball amongst the fans, I would be surprised if the overwhelming majority was not home runs. They are the most exciting aspect of the sport, because it is instantanious. Having a complete/perfect game or hitting for the cycle are exciting, but the excitement builds as they go along. Hitting a homerun is instant gratification. The crowd goes nuts, the fan at home goes nuts, the dugout goes nuts…everyone lives it at that moment.
Now, single home runs are still very exciting, but is watching someone hit their 400th, or 500th, or even their 600th home run really all that exciting? I would rather watch someone hit 75 home runs in a year than watch their 600th, or even their 700th home run. I would rather watch a game tying/winning shot over the right field wall than track someone’s homerun career. In my opinion, the steroid era has trashed the all time home run record, but in the process, it has trashed the relevance of somone jacking over 600 balls into the stands. There was a time before I was around that 500 home runs was revered; now it seems as though you have to do so much more to get noticed. Alex Rodriguez is one shot away from getting to the 600 career home runs mark; so what? Do people really care that much? Is that something deserved of a standing ovation in todays game? Major League Baseball is brimming with fantastic pitchers, arguably more at one time than ever before, so hitting home runs is a great feat. But isn’t it more of a feat to leg out a triple? Isn’t it more of a feat to hit over .400? There was hardly a question of if A-Rod was going to ever hit 600 home runs. It was more a question of when. Get’r done A-Rod, I’m happy for you, but to be honest, I really just don’t care.
Will A-Rod ever hold the career home runs record? He is extremely young (he’ll be the youngest player to ever get to 600 career home runs, by far), so there is no doubt that A-Rod will be in contention for the most home runs of all time by the time his career starts winding down. But when home runs start to become a competition (see Mark McGuire versus Sammy Sosa in 1998), it immediately starts to cheapen the value of the home run as a statistical category. I don’t think Ted Williams’ .406 will ever get broken. It is unlikely anyone will play more than 2,632 games, solidifying “Iron Man” Cal Ripken, Jr.’s spot in history. Americans love competition, but when it comes to America’s pasttime, I would like to think we would rather have some records that just may never be broken. Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s record…it is only a matter of time before his record is broken, and I’m hopeful it is by so wide a margin it is unlikely to be touched ever again.
The 600th homerun itself may not be as exciting as a 75th homerun in that season, but it signifies a lot. 600 homeruns is a hell of an accomplishment. Think about that. If you played 15 years ( a very long time), you would have to AVERAGE 40 homeruns per season, which not many players are capable of. A-Rod is one hell of a player. As a Yankees fan, it will be exciting to see. But I’d rather see Jeters 3000th hit
I’m not taking away from anything A-Rod has done by any means. But, there are just some records I don’t care about anymore because it is tainted, and the career home runs record is one of them. Maybe if someone who is free of the controversy breaks the record I’ll be more apt to pay attention, but until then, it’s just another day at the ballpark for me.
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I have a hard time respecting A-Rod or Bonds for their Home Run Totals. To me, they have cheapened and hollowed the records. Baring injury, A-Rod will overtake Bonds for the career HR record. Here’s to hoping it doesn’t take long before Pujols becomes the new king, and I can only hope his name is never tainted.
As to your other point, to me, part of the draw is the building and the suspense of the game as it goes. I live for the 7th inning on to see the climax of the game, the end of the pitcher’s dual; to see who is more clutch; who will get the walk off? So I would agree, I’d rather see a specatular game saving catch in the 9th inning then see 5 Home Runs in the first 3.