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Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Howard HR mark soiled by others
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Bobby Cox is among the significant few who remember what Ryan Howard and the growing many don’t: “61” as one of baseball’s magic numbers. It’s just that Roger Maris’ old mark for most home runs during a season actually was buried long ago by the bats of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds.
Well, sort of. You know, if you ignore that little matter of baseball’s Tarnished Trio using more juice than muscle to shovel “61” deeper into the record books.
Cox shrugged Wednesday at Turner Field, where the Braves manager reflected on Howard’s rush out of nowhere with the Philadelphia Phillies this season to 56 home runs before the start of a doubleheader along the way to wherever. “It’s still magical if you can hit 60 [homers],” said Cox, referring to Babe Ruth’s record that stood from 1927 until Maris did his thing 34 years later for the Yankees.
Added Cox, “When Howard does it, I’m going to shake my head and say, ‘I don’t know how he did it.’ Like I do all of them. That just seems impossible.”
It’s so impossible that folks have two schools of thought regarding Howard’s brilliant sophomore season (.316 batting average and 138 RBIs with those major league-high 56 homers entering Wednesday’s action) after he did so much as a freshman to become the National League’s rookie of the year.
Thought One: The only juice Howard uses involves the five basic food groups. He’s big. He’s naturally big. In fact, the 26-year-old slugger from Wildwood, Mo., is 6 feet 4 and 252 pounds. That’s opposed to those among baseball’s Tarnished Trio who awoke one day during their waning years in the game and went from Olive Oyls to Popeyes. So, if Howard rips a 62nd homer, supporters of this thought say that he would become the first “legitimate” slugger to surpass Maris’ record.
Thought Two: As is the case for the rest of Howard’s peers from Generation S(teroids), he is guilty until proven innocent. After all, the game still doesn’t test for human growth hormone. Not only that, the reason the BALCO folks were around before the feds got involved was to develop as many ways as possible to help athletes cheat without anybody knowing about it. Supporters of this thought say, no matter what Howard does, he’s just like the rest of them.
Here’s my thought: I don’t know. I do know that baseball’s Tainted Trio has ruined it for everybody.
“It’s a little bit disheartening to … somebody can’t go out and do something well without kind of having all of that [steroids, HGH, etc.] brought up,” said Howard, a pleasant soul with a potent bat and a nice glove. That was a decent enough combination to allow the Phillies to trade the accomplished Jim Thome to the Chicago White Sox in the offseason. Added Howard, “Even though we’re at that point where [steroids, HGH, etc.] still will be brought up, hopefully, that cloud will go away.”
Not likely. The truth is, the sun won’t shine for the longest time in baseball when it comes to the bulk of the public believing that somebody just ate all of his vegetables to do all of those incredible things with his bat, glove, arm or legs.
Fortunately, for Howard, the Phillies are among the many in what is becoming a race for the ages regarding the NL wild card. That, along with his team-first philosophy, is enough to keep his focus away from the slew of suspicious eyes that are creeping into his world. Not because of anything he has done, but because of the Tarnished Trio.
“I mean, me, personally, I’ve just never seen the purpose for [taking performance-enhancing drugs]. Me, personally, I’ve never did it, and if somebody else does it, that’s on them,” said Howard, who confessed to knowing little about Maris or his tortured march to 61. “If I could get to 60 [homers] or somewhere around that number, that would be fantastic, but I know people are going to have their own opinions about this, that and the other.”
Yes, people will, and Howard will have baseball’s Tarnished Trio to blame for having doubters when it comes to this, that and the other.
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Tech lose? Perish the thought.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
So what happens if Georgia Tech really does lose to Troy on Saturday? Should the Yellow Jacket Nation scream or shrug, especially given the following that you’ve no doubt heard by now:
Troy almost beat Florida State last Saturday at Florida State.
Troy did beat 17th-ranked Missouri two seasons ago.
Troy once was coached by Tech’s Chain Gailey, who turned the Trojans into a Division II power after winning a championship.
Yada, yada, yada.
The answer is, Tech has no business losing to a Troy. Period. Then again, Tech also had no business losing to a Duke or to a Wake Forest, which the Jackets have done during the Gailey regime.
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