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Home > Terence Moore > Archives > 2009 > February > 13
Friday, February 13, 2009
Aaron: Bonds can keep the record
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hank Aaron doesn’t want his old home run record back.
He really doesn’t.
“In all fairness to everybody, I just don’t see how you really can do a thing like that and just say somebody isn’t the record holder anymore, and let’s go back to the way that it was,” Aaron said Friday, referring to the controversy involving the legitimacy of sluggers Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez and their artificially enhanced peers.
So, at the very least, Bud Selig should use his power as commissioner to make “755” baseball’s official number again when it comes to all-time home runs. Selig wasn’t available for comment on Friday. Even so, he told USA Today earlier this week that he is considering such a thing, and that’s a wonderful thing.
But Aaron disagrees. This is the owner of the most homers during a career before the feds said Bonds used more than just a Louisville Slugger to slam his way past Aaron to 762.
“If you did that, you’d have to go back and change all kinds of records, and the [home run] record was very important to me,” Aaron said. “It’s probably the most hallowed record out there, as far as I’m concerned, but it’s now in the hands of somebody else. It belongs to Barry. No matter how we look at it, it’s his record, and I held it for a long time. But my take on all of this has always been the same. I’m not going to say that Barry’s got it because of this or because of that, because I don’t know.”
With apologies to Aaron, you have Bonds facing perjury charges for his role involving performance-enhancing drugs. You have Rodriguez as Bonds’ heir apparent to the home-run throne admitting this week that he was a steroid user. You also have USA Today estimating that 18 of the 52 MVP and Cy Young awards since 1996 went to those linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
In contrast, Aaron was addicted only to adrenaline during a 23-year career that produced enough other records to confirm that he remains the game’s most complete player. That’s why if Bonds is convicted next month, Selig should give Aaron his crown back.
Actually, courtesy of what we already know (Bonds doesn’t deny using performance-enhancing drugs but says he didn’t knowingly use them), Selig should restore Aaron’s record right now and be done with it.
“Really, it’s sort of a tricky call when you start going down that road of who is legitimate,” Aaron said. “I don’t know if Barry would have hit as many home runs or hit them as far — if that’s the case that he did use steroids — but I still don’t think it has anything to do with him having the kind of baseball career that he had.
“He could have had an excellent career, regardless of what he did. So it would be something that I don’t think the commissioner would like to get involved in, really. There are things out there besides worrying about a home run record that somebody now holds. Barry has the record, and I don’t think anybody can change that.”
Well, Selig can, and he has been Aaron’s pal for more than 50 years. According to Aaron, they’ve never discussed the possibility of this record-changing thing, not even last week when Selig was in town for Aaron’s 75th birthday bash.
As for this week, the talk around baseball and beyond has involved Rodriguez’s confessions. To which Aaron sighed, before saying, “It’s just a sad chapter in the game to have one of your star players come forward and say he’s been guilty of this, but Alex did admit guilt.
“To me, I don’t think there is anything else he could do. I don’t think any of us ever has walked on hallowed ground, that we never committed anything. Alex admitted he made a mistake, you know. That’s about all that anybody can do, I guess.”
That and try to remain as eternally humble as Aaron.
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