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Paul Ladewski: You sure you want the HR record, Bonds?

Posted July 16, 2007 11:00 pm

By Paul Ladewski

The single-season and career home run records are reputed to be the King Kong and Godzilla of athletic achievements, the kind that produce numbers that need-a-lifers can recite better than the birthdates of their wives and girlfriends.

If you ask me, though, Barry Bonds' pursuit of the all-time mark also is the most hellish, thankless, steak special-tough, Ben Stein-joyless sports endeavor of them all.

Here Bonds is, 42 years old with 84-year-old legs, mired in an 0-for-20 slump, stuck on 751 career homers, practically unloved and unwanted everywhere outside San Francisco, a supersized, steroids-induced cloud over his head.

"It's an embarrassment to me wearing this (bleepin') uniform because of the way I'm playing," Bonds huffed at reporters after another 0-fer on Sunday afternoon. "There -- that's it. Now go away. I'm embarrassed to have this (blippin') uniform on the way I'm performing. Now get outta here."

On Monday, Bonds was in a really good mood -- he blew off the media at Wrigley Field and then sat out the series opener.

Excuse me, Mr. Wonderful, are you sure you want this record?

Just ask the family and friends of Roger Maris about their warm-and-fuzzy memories.

In the summer of 1961, Maris was in hot pursuit of the single-season home run record owned by Babe Ruth, the most beloved New York Yankee of them all. "I'm not trying to be Babe Ruth," explained Maris, who played the same position with the same team that Ruth once did, no less. "I'm trying to hit 61 home runs and be Roger Maris."

As far as Babe Nation was concerned, to be Roger Maris wasn't good enough. Finally, commish Ford Frick became so desperate that he threatened to attach an asterisk to any new record. The copout was that Maris had the benefit of a 162-game schedule, eight more than Ruth had in his day.

As Maris closed in on the unthinkable, the pressure became more brutal each day. Fans sent him death threats. The New York media were on him like Rottweilers on raw meat. He even lost some hair along the way.

When Maris went deep for the 61st time, all of 23,000-something fans were at Yankee Stadium to see it. Teammates had to push him out of the dugout to make a curtain call.

"As a ballplayer, I would be delighted to do it again," Maris said later. "As an individual, I don't think I could possibly go through it again."

Maris passed away at 51 years of age.

Now tell Hank Aaron how much fun this home run thing can be.

As an African-American who had the nerve to challenge the career mark of 714 home runs, another Ruth production, Aaron began to feel the heat in 1972, nearly two full years before he shattered the record. He received death threats and ethnic slurs, enough icy stares to freeze Haiti fives times over.

By his count, Aaron received 930,000 pieces of mail, which included this beauty:

"Dear Hank Aaron, I got orders to do a bad job on you if and when you get 10 from B. Ruth record. A guy in Atlanta and a few in Miami Fla don't seem to care if they have to take care of your family too."

"All that hatred left a deep scar on me," Aaron confessed in his autobiography. "I was just a man doing something that God had given me the power to do, and I was living like an outcast in my own country. I resented it, and I still resent it. It should have been the most enjoyable time in my life, and instead it was hell. I'm proud of the home run record, but I don't talk about it because it brings back too many unpleasant memories."

Is it any surprise that Aaron won't be in attendance when -- if? -- Bonds passes him?

Only Mark McGwire got royal treatment in his chase of a monumental homer. After Big Mac mashed his then-record 62nd tater in 1998, there were hand-shakes, high-fives and back-slaps all around. Even broadcasters and sportswriters were moved to applaud and more.

Fast forward nine years. After McGwire wimped out at a congressional hearing, his name might as well be Hester Prynne these days. Now Big Mac wears the same scarlet letter that Bonds does, a career 583 home run hitter who may not get a call from the hall for a while, if ever.

No sooner will Bonds be able to kick back in his La-Z-Boy and enjoy the record than he'll have to give it up, anyway.

Let's say that Bonds dodges the authorities long enough and stays healthy long enough to retire with 800 career homers, an iffy proposition at best. If Alex Rodriguez averages as few as 40 longballs per season, then he'll hit No. 800 at age 39 early in the 2015 season.

If I'm A-Rod, then I don't hope what I wish for.

Paul Ladewski can be reached at pladd@aol.com.

For more baseball coverage, go to www.dailysouthtown.com/sports.

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