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The Chase For the Real Home Run Record

MFS62 Sep 06 2006 10:39 AM

Do you agree? Later ] As Howard gives chase, Maris is still the man By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports September 5, 2006 If Ryan Howard clubs nine more home runs this season, giving him 62, then the Philadelphia Phillies first baseman should be recognized as the single-season, 162-game home run champion. It's as simple as that. Maybe not for Major League Baseball, which is not planning on commemorating such a feat because, technically, three other players Barry Bonds (73), Mark McGwire (70) and Sammy Sosa (66, 64 and 63) have posted bigger numbers, surpassing the long-standing record of Roger Maris, who hit 61 in 1961. But since when has MLB been correct about things, particularly when it comes to the use of performance-enhancing drugs? Baseball is loath to admit that it blew it during the late 1990s and early 2000s when Bonds, McGwire and Sosa – each as juiced as a glass of squeezed oranges – made a mockery of the record book and spit in the face of Maris' accomplishment. But every reasonable, intelligent and rational person knows otherwise. Those three's numbers were achieved not with natural skill but with superior chemistry. And that is why people – if not the powers that be – should recognize Maris' 61 homer mark as the rightful record. And it's why if Howard, the big-swinging second-year player, can drill nine more dingers in his final 24 games, then he takes over. "If he breaks it, it's legit," Roger Maris' son, Rich, told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday. Yes, the sudden rise of this 26-year-old causes pause. As I wrote earlier this week, the fact that MLB does not test for human growth hormone or many other favored drugs means declaring any player 100 percent clean is a leap of faith. And after a summer of scandal courtesy of Floyd Landis, Marion Jones and others, it is natural to be skeptical. But this is what we have. This is the new reality. We can either take each performance on a case-by-case basis or write off the entire operation and no longer believe any accomplishment ever again. What we have is this: Baseball is testing for some performance-enhancing drugs and Ryan Howard has not failed any tests. Moreover, with his big frame – 6-foot-4, 250 pounds – that doesn't look bloated or strained like the previous three, and his history of being a power hitter back to high school, he at least looks clean. Maybe he winds up burning us, but at this stage he passes both the drug test and the sniff test. "In my mind," said Rich Maris, "I feel Ryan Howard's clean. If baseball's doing what they're supposed to be doing and say they're doing – I feel bad for people bashing him. "Right now people should be looking at baseball saying it's cleaned up. I know if I were a baseball player, there would be no way I'd come close to touching that stuff. Look at Rafael Palmeiro. He had first-ballot Hall of Fame statistics. And then that stuff comes out." If Rich Maris is for it, then that is good enough for me. This is a painful subject for the Maris family, who were burned by the steroid boys. They rightfully consider their father the single-season record holder and, truth be told, aren't that interested in seeing someone else break it. Worse, they had a front row seat to watch the McGwire fraud show back in 1998, an empty uniform trying to pretend he was their dad's equal. He certainly was not. "At the time, it was quite a feat," said Rich Maris. "We were in awe. It seemed to happen so fast. We were along for the ride like the rest of the country. Every time McGwire hit one, it was like, ‘Wow, he did it again.' And now you just look at that and laugh." I wouldn't blame them for crying. The truth is Roger Maris is the home run champion right now and nothing the official MLB record book says changes that. Which is why baseball fans should flock to Howard's historic pursuit. If MLB lacks the courage and conviction to do what's right, then the people should, out of respect for Ryan Howard and out of respect for Roger Maris. ESPN should be cutting in for each at bat, newspapers should chronicle the count down, the honest should be celebrated, the cheats ignored. Anything less is to reward the crooked and condemn the truth. Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist.

Johnny Dickshot Sep 06 2006 10:40 AM

No.

cooby Sep 06 2006 10:44 AM

I agree, I heard the Phillies announcers talking about it the other night. Trouble is, how do you go about doing it?

Yancy Street Gang Sep 06 2006 10:45 AM

Me neither. If he hits 62 homers, he should be awfully darn proud of himself, but it shouldn't have any official sanction as a record. Like it or not, and whether he cheated or not, Barry Bonds did hit 73 homers. This whole notion of erasing history because it's bad just doesn't sit right with me.

Edgy DC Sep 06 2006 10:48 AM

I think working with a standard of, "But every reasonable, intelligent and rational person knows otherwise," in place of due process is terrible.

MFS62 Sep 06 2006 10:51 AM

I'm torn. My heart says yes (62 would be the real record) but my head says no. Later

sharpie Sep 06 2006 11:00 AM

No. He has to hit 74 homers to hold the home run record.

soupcan Sep 06 2006 11:05 AM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Like it or not, and whether he cheated or not, Barry Bonds did hit 73 homers. I gotta go with this.

86-Dreamer Sep 06 2006 11:20 AM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Me neither. If he hits 62 homers, he should be awfully darn proud of himself, but it shouldn't have any official sanction as a record. Like it or not, and whether he cheated or not, Barry Bonds did hit 73 homers. This whole notion of erasing history because it's bad just doesn't sit right with me. what he said.

HahnSolo Sep 06 2006 11:40 AM

Not trying to imply anything, but... How does the author know that Ryan Howard is any more or less clean than those other guys?

cooby Sep 06 2006 11:42 AM

Probly cos he's skinnier

Edgy DC Sep 06 2006 11:47 AM

HahnSolo wrote: Not trying to imply anything, but... How does the author know that Ryan Howard is any more or less clean than those other guys? Exactly what I'm getting at. What we have is that Maris' son feels he's clean. The Maris family seemed pretty OK with McGwire in 1998, though.

Willets Point Sep 06 2006 11:50 AM

No, the witch hunt technique of saying McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds are evil steroids-abusers when use of performance-enhancing drugs was wide-spread (and possibly still is) is wrong. The end game is that these guys were the best of their era even if that era was tainted and the records. Trying to strip away records of a select few undermines the overall problem. MLB and the media who turned a blind eye to questionable training techniques are just as guilty. The correct thing to do is to prevent use of performance-enhancing drugs now and in the future. You can't change the past.

seawolf17 Sep 06 2006 12:05 PM

="cooby"]Probly cos he's skinnier Everyone is skinnier than Ryan Howard. And as much as I hate Barry Bonds, his record is still the record.

Johnny Dickshot Sep 06 2006 12:14 PM

What gets me more than anything in that article is the writer's eagerness to become a complete dupe as a storefront for the righteous indignation he's selling. I mean, who was naive enough not to at least entertain the idea that McGwire/Bonds used roids, or at least blind enough not to recognize the news they did use as an indication of anything but an epidemic? People are just dying to be lied to and abused, aren't they?

ABG Sep 06 2006 04:29 PM

Nobody in this country gives a shit about ex post facto anymore.

smg58 Sep 06 2006 05:25 PM

Until baseball finds a way to test for HGH and anything else being used by athletes, you can't make any assumptions about guys being cleaner now. So don't go there. As far as the records are concerned, the league and the fans wanted more home runs, most people cheered loudly while looking the other way, and we got what collectively we asked for. And singling specific people out for essentially being better players than the other abusers is unfair as well. What's done is done.

Zvon Sep 06 2006 07:03 PM

Its funny but just this same sentiment occured to me watching the game smacked 3. I know Bonds has the official record, and I can accept that. And all the other juice fueled homer records. But in my mind itll be Howard who truley breaks the record,......if he gets there. And thats what Ill tell the kids when Im an old man.

Valadius Sep 11 2006 01:41 PM

I'm glad I found this, so I can add my two cents. All the sportswriters nowadays are pissing me the hell off!!! I have never seen a group of people so bent on revisionist history since right after no WMDs were found in Iraq. It absolutely sickens me. The fact is, players are a product of their times. Do we yell and scream about pitchers who used spitballs or who pitched before the mound was lowered, carrying on that they had an unfair advantage? No! Did we disqualify George Brett from the Hall of Fame for the Pine Tar Incident? No! Did we disqualify Gaylord Perry from the Hall of Fame for using a spitball and other illegal pitches? No! The fact of the matter is, people who cheat have been a part of the game since the beginning, and we have enshrined them in Cooperstown despite their misdeeds. Therefore, if Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds & company are not voted into the Hall of Fame, it will be an act of absolute hypocrisy. You simply cannot ignore, cast aside, or sweep under the rug an entire era of baseball history. These players MUST be represented in the Hall of Fame, PERIOD.

Yancy Street Gang Sep 11 2006 01:51 PM

I don't agree with that. Their records have to stand. But nothing says that they have to be honored. I wouldn't vote for McGwire for "fame" because he'll be remembered more for bringing infamy to the game than anything else. That's unfortunate, after all the good feelings of 1998, but that's how it is. He had a chance to make an important statement in front of Congress and instead he disgracefully kept his butt covered. The Hall of Fame is a mess anyway, and pretty much irrelevant. I'd have no problem with keeping McGwire and Bonds out.

Edgy DC Sep 11 2006 01:57 PM

Word to Yancy.

Vic Sage Sep 11 2006 02:08 PM

Valad is valid.

Willets Point Sep 11 2006 02:32 PM

I have no problem with McGwire and Bonds in the Hall where they'll almost certainly end up (unless hard evidence of their guilt is found). As I said in my previous post, punishing a few noteworthy individuals is the witch hunt approach which inevitably leads to the greater problems being swept under a rug. A transparent openeness on the part of MLB, the players association and the sports media that yes, performance-enhancing drugs were commonly used in this sport but now we're making the effort to educate, test, and prevent their use to level the playing field will be much more effective.

metsmarathon Sep 11 2006 03:28 PM

i just hate that all these sports writers and broadcasters and fans are lying to themselves and to us that the game is not clean.

Edgy DC Sep 11 2006 03:38 PM

I don't really consider taking the facts into account in a Hall of Fame vote punishment. It's not like anybody has a right to a particular honor. You earn it, and the known facts are laid out when judges consider whether you've earned it. Evidence that Bonds and McGwire have brought disgrace on the game is pretty hard as it is.