756* Barry Bonds Breaks MLB Home Run Record, Hank Aaron Offers His Congratulations | MLB

1	Let the holier-than-thou, sanctimonious columns and blogs begin!

8/7/07

TurkogluForMVP

0	Moving night. I am happy for Barry in every regard. 756 Barry Bonds new HR King Congrats Barry on your prestigious achievement!! I have work in the AM and i stayed up for a gut feeling... Thank god for gut feelings :D

8/7/07

0	now maybe when sports center comes on i don't have to see this big fat cheater!

8/8/07

MrNFL

3	Very classy move by Hank Aaron to record that congratulations for Barry. Congrats to Barry, he's accomplished the one thing he wanted to do, and there is no doubt that he's done after this year.

8/8/07

Nick S

3	Come on, I hate Barry but no Asterisk is needed tonight.

8/8/07

0	I missed it and, to quote Michael Stipe, I feel fine.

8/8/07

Ty

4	IlliniBob72 wrote: I missed it and, to quote Michael Stipe, I feel fine. I haven't even bothered to turn on Sportscenter.

8/8/07

0	personally i think Hank Aaron is stupid for living up to society's expectations i mean Barry didn't show class by taking steroids, matter of fact when was the last time Barry and class act were in the same sentence prior to this one?

8/8/07

6

(Edited by kantwistaye)

Congrats to Barry. I'm so sick of him being singled out for steroids. If you want to hate him for being a dick, then go for it, he made that bed. However, to hate him because of steroids is a joke. Baseball has been a game of cheating since its inception, and that will never change. Not to mention that almost everyone in this era has been a user of some illegal performance enhancer. <End of rant>

Oh, and thanks to Hank Aaron for continuing to show just how classy of a guy you are. He showed far more respect and class than the commissioner of baseball did.

8/8/07

MrNFL

1	How is Aaron stupid for congratulating Barry? The fact that he did despite how much he dislikes this ordeal shows how classy of a guy Aaron is.

8/8/07

3	chad_is_god wrote: personally i think Hank Aaron is stupid for living up to society's expectations i mean Barry didn't show class by taking steroids, matter of fact when was the last time Barry and class act were in the same sentence prior to this one? And yet you chose to show a lot of it in your tag line. Way to go!!!!

8/8/07

joetrivwhiz24

2	************************************ what else is there to say?

8/8/07

0

MrNFL wrote:

How is Aaron stupid for congratulating Barry? The fact that he did despite how much he dislikes this ordeal shows how classy of a guy Aaron is.

I'm glad that Hank is a classy guy and it was kool that he showedd it, but to congradulate something that is truly undeserving just to prove all that is simply lowering your self to society's expectations, needless to say making it more enjoyable for Bonds as well

8/8/07

0	Flea_jm14 wrote: And yet you chose to show a lot of it in your tag line. Way to go!!!! Oh yeah, congratulations Barry!!!!

8/8/07

2	(Edited by gearhead) chad_is_god wrote: personally i think Hank Aaron is stupid for living up to society's expectations i mean Barry didn't show class by taking steroids, matter of fact when was the last time Barry and class act were in the same sentence prior to this one? Maybe Hank decided to be the bigger person and not act like a petty jerk because his record was broken.

8/8/07

8

(Edited by CriticalFanatic)
kantwistaye wrote:

Congrats to Barry. I'm so sick of him being singled out for steroids. If you want to hate him for being a dick, then go for it, he made that bed. However, to hate him because of steroids is a joke. Baseball has been a game of cheating since its inception, and that will never change. Not to mention that almost everyone in this era has been a user of some illegal performance enhancer. <End of rant>

Oh, and thanks to Hank Aaron for continuing to show just how classy of a guy you are. He showed far more respect and class than the commissioner of baseball did.

I'm sick of the singled out defense. We know why that is and it's justified. He's broke a long standing historic record in baseball. When any of the other current players do the same thing, they'll be "singled out" as well. Who else do you want us to complain about? Neifi Perez. We've ridiculed him plenty.

I don't necessarily hate Barry Bonds, I'm just disappointed that he went about in a way he didn't need to. Barry was a great player before he took steroids/clear/whatever they want to call it that was a performance enhance. We'll never know how many home runs that added, but it's worthy of an asterisk.

8/8/07

0	Flea_jm14 wrote: And yet you chose to show a lot of it in your tag line. Way to go!!!! lol my tag line has not changed in the past three weeks

8/8/07

2

kantwistaye wrote:

Congrats to Barry. I'm so sick of him being singled out for steroids. If you want to hate him for being a dick, then go for it, he made that bed. However, to hate him because of steroids is a joke. Baseball has been a game of cheating since its inception, and that will never change. Not to mention that almost everyone in this era has been a user of some illegal performance enhancer. <End of rant>

Oh, and thanks to Hank Aaron for continuing to show just how classy of a guy you are. He showed far more respect and class than the commissioner of baseball did.

The issue isn't that "almost everyone in this era has been a user of some illegal performance enhancer." The issue is that the man who previously held the record that Bonds just broke DID NOT use an illegal performance enhancer.

8/8/07

2

chad_is_god wrote:

I'm glad that Hank is a classy guy and it was kool that he showedd it, but to congradulate something that is truly undeserving just to prove all that is simply lowering your self to society's expectations, needless to say making it more enjoyable for Bonds as well

How can you say he's undeserving? Bonds hit more home runs than Aaron. Thus, he is the recordholder. A record book can not determine how a record was broken. All it can do is tally the numbers. No one has to consider Bonds a better player than Aaron, Ruth, Mays, or Musial just because he has the HR record.

8/8/07

Bravesfan23

1

I have been watching the game all night and there was definitely no doubt it was gone when he hit it. I thought it was very classy that Hank Aaron did that for him and I applaud Aaron for that. I also have to say that I gotta give Mike Bascik credit for not taking the cheap way out and he actually pitched to him instead of walking him. I also liked the fact that Bascik tipped his cap to Bonds and acknowledged him. I may not like Bonds all that much either but you have to give credit where its due and say that we just witnessed history! I think the interesting thing was that Bud Selig wasn't there for the game and I would like to hear what he has to say in the next day or so about the homerun and why he wasn't there. Anyway, congratulations on homerun 756 and letting everyone witness a piece of baseball history!

8/8/07

0	gearhead wrote: Maybe Hank decided to be the bigger person and not act like a petty jerk because his record was broken. i think that's the only excuse here for Hank but yea i agree

8/8/07

2

CriticalFanatic wrote:

I'm sick of the singled out defense. We know why that is and it's justified. He's broke a long standing historic record in baseball. When any of the other current players do the same thing, they'll be "singled out" as well. Who else do you want us to complain about? Neifi Perez. We've ridiculed him plenty.

I don't necessarily hate Barry Bonds, I'm just disappointed that he went about in a way he didn't need to. Barry was a great player before he took steroids/clear/whatever they want to call it that was a performance enhance. We'll never know how many home runs that added, but it's worthy of an asterisk.

But he is singled out. All these guys are taking steriods - heck even Neifi Perez is. Its so rampant, that none of us really want to know who's taking them. We'd all be very very dissappointed in our favorite players. Its the sad truth. Fact is, Barry didn't gain anything more from them than Jason Giambi or Raffy Palmerio or Neifi Perez or Clay Hensley - he was just that much better than them.

8/8/07

Nick S

0	While this is going on the Boston Red Sox are putting on a clinic on how to lose a 14.5 game lead in the division. And Terry Francona is putting on a class on how not to manage.

8/8/07

2

kantwistaye wrote:

But he is singled out. All these guys are taking steriods - heck even Neifi Perez is. Its so rampant, that none of us really want to know who's taking them. We'd all be very very dissappointed in our favorite players. Its the sad truth. Fact is, Barry didn't gain anything more from them than Jason Giambi or Raffy Palmerio or Neifi Perez or Clay Hensley - he was just that much better than them.

Baseball fans hold records sacred. That's why this has been a big deal. Let me know when Giambi, Raffy, or Clay Hensley approach a record and I'll care.

8/8/07

0

kantwistaye wrote:

But he is singled out. All these guys are taking steriods - heck even Neifi Perez is. Its so rampant, that none of us really want to know who's taking them. We'd all be very very dissappointed in our favorite players. Its the sad truth. Fact is, Barry didn't gain anything more from them than Jason Giambi or Raffy Palmerio or Neifi Perez or Clay Hensley - he was just that much better than them.

i dont know why you always think he is singled out, people that cheat, which there are a lot of nowadays are scum! i hate them all, but even if Bonds was singled out, mayb it would be because he just broke the most respected record in sports...yes?, no?

8/8/07

3

CriticalFanatic wrote:

I'm sick of the singled out defense. We know why that is and it's justified. He's broke a long standing historic record in baseball. When any of the other current players do the same thing, they'll be "singled out" as well. Who else do you want us to complain about? Neifi Perez. We've ridiculed him plenty.

I don't necessarily hate Barry Bonds, I'm just disappointed that he went about in a way he didn't need to. Barry was a great player before he took steroids/clear/whatever they want to call it that was a performance enhance. We'll never know how many home runs that added, but it's worthy of an asterisk.

Do they have an asterisk next to Gaylord Perry's name, he was known to use a spit ball or even vaseline on the ball, isn't that cheating. The answer is no. "Cheating" has always been a part of baseball, and all sports for that matter, and players will never quit trying. Whats the difference between loading up a ball before pitching and loading up ones body before hitting the ball. Really there's none (besides the obvious health issue). If baseball wants to put an asterisk they will have to go back and asterisk every player in The Hall that ever cheated and may have had improved stats because of it.

8/8/07

0

gearhead wrote:

How can you say he's undeserving? Bonds hit more home runs than Aaron. Thus, he is the recordholder. A record book can not determine how a record was broken. All it can do is tally the numbers. No one has to consider Bonds a better player than Aaron, Ruth, Mays, or Musial just because he has the HR record.

Records aren't truly records if they aren't earned on the same level playing field. In this case, one man used performance enhancing drugs that are illegal and one man didn't. It is as if 40 years from now someone breaks the home run record using an aluminum bat the last 6 years of his career. They weren't earned under the same criteria.

Now of course, workout regimens and nutrition has improved since the days of Babe Ruth. I'm not saying if one wants to be considered as great as Ruth he must eat hot dogs and drink beer in the dugout, but at least let's keep them from breaking the laws of the land in order to improve their OPS!

8/8/07

0

kantwistaye wrote:

But he is singled out. All these guys are taking steriods - heck even Neifi Perez is. Its so rampant, that none of us really want to know who's taking them. We'd all be very very dissappointed in our favorite players. Its the sad truth. Fact is, Barry didn't gain anything more from them than Jason Giambi or Raffy Palmerio or Neifi Perez or Clay Hensley - he was just that much better than them.

Or he 'roided up that much better. Who's to say?

8/8/07

1	chad_is_god wrote: lol my tag line has not changed in the past three weeks I just think there's little room to preach about class when you show little yourself.

8/8/07

4

CriticalFanatic wrote:

Baseball fans hold records sacred. That's why this has been a big deal. Let me know when Giambi, Raffy, or Clay Hensley approach a record and I'll care.

Hence, the singling out. Obviously this record is sacred (the most sacred in all of sports), but just because the other guys aren't as good doesn't make them any less of a "cheater" than Bonds.

I really think that as fans we need to sit back realize that we all witnessed something special tonight.

8/8/07

5	I witnessed nothing special. I saw a guy who has been taking illegal drugs to put up video game home run numbers after he turned 38 years old take a record from a man who did everything on the up and up. A man who has shown nothing but class in everything he's done with regard to the game of baseball. No, there was nothing special about tonight for me.

8/8/07

0	Flea_jm14 wrote: I just think there's little room to preach about class when you show little yourself. i am not preaching about anything, i am just saying that to show class towards a guy that has never shown an ounce of class in his life he pointless

8/8/07

0

kantwistaye wrote:

Hence, the singling out. Obviously this record is sacred (the most sacred in all of sports), but just because the other guys aren't as good doesn't make them any less of a "cheater" than Bonds.

I really think that as fans we need to sit back realize that we all witnessed something special tonight.

think about what you said for a second, he cheated to break a record and that's special? i can cheat in anything i do, but it's always more special and rewarding when you do it corectly, that's why when A-Rod and Pujols beat bonds i will tip my cap and aplaud because they desserve it a hell of a lot more than someone who decided to take drugs!

8/8/07

1

IlliniBob72 wrote:

Records aren't truly records if they aren't earned on the same level playing field. In this case, one man used performance enhancing drugs that are illegal and one man didn't. It is as if 40 years from now someone breaks the home run record using an aluminum bat the last 6 years of his career. They weren't earned under the same criteria.

Now of course, workout regimens and nutrition has improved since the days of Babe Ruth. I'm not saying if one wants to be considered as great as Ruth he must eat hot dogs and drink beer in the dugout, but at least let's keep them from breaking the laws of the land in order to improve their OPS!

The problem with is that baseball has never had the same conditions from era to era. True, most of the factors of the game today help Bonds over Aaron. There are stats out there though and attempt to make the era comparisons. A straight counting stat can't do that.

8/8/07

baseballchick2

3

Somehow it all feels out of place, like the whole world (and the whole world meaning baseball) is off, like there's something wrong with everything and no one knows how to fix it.

I'm glad Aaron sent that video congratulations, but I kind of understood where he stood (or stands). It's not about him seeing his precious record go away, it's about seeing it go away in the hands of someone like Barry Bonds, I don't think I need to explain that.

8/8/07

CUBBY4LIFE

0	Its is to bad that one of the biggest, wait, the biggest record in sports history has been broken and not all of the baseball fans around the world are celebrating. Why is that? Two words Barry Bonds

8/8/07

0	I wish I would have taken a screenshot, but YahooSports main graphic had an asterisk with it for at least 15 minutes after the home run. Just looked again and it's down.

8/8/07

0	CriticalFanatic wrote: I wish I would have taken a screenshot, but YahooSports main graphic had an asterisk with it for at least 15 minutes after the home run. Just looked again and it's down. While I completely disagree with it, thats kind of funny. YahooSports is the asshole fan of sports websites ( I say that in a good way of course).

8/8/07

CUBBY4LIFE

0

Why do we and the rest of baseball fans single out Bonds and roids? No he is not the only one, hell there are tons of people in pro sports thqat take roids but there are 2 reasons *Bonds* is at the head of the list. Reason #2: When went after the biggest record in all of sports and he did not go after it naturally(clear&cream) and the #1 reason *Bonds is at the head of the list is........................................... because *Bonds* is flat out the most arrogant, condescending pro sports player on the face of the earth!

8/8/07

Beat_LA415

1	The greatest hitter I've ever seen just broke one of the biggest records in sports. Until you prove exactly what he took, exactly how it helps you hit, and everybody else in baseball who ever took any illegal substance you can't take Barry's record away from him. I feel lucky to have seen him play every day for over a decade. Someday I will be telling my and grandchildren about this night.

8/8/07

MrNFL

0	You can't put an * on him or the entire era because of "I think they took steroids" Bonds did the same thing that most people in the majors did, he was just better than the rest.

8/8/07

Jubanator14

2	Why does it seem that many think that if you celebrate Barry breaking the record that it is somehow diminishing what Hank Arron did or forgetting Hank? I think what both men did is tremendous and should be celebrated. Congrats Barry, you are the Home Run King.

8/8/07

0

MrNFL wrote:

You can't put an * on him or the entire era because of "I think they took steroids" Bonds did the same thing that most people in the majors did, he was just better than the rest.

I'm not arguing with that, I'm just stating a direct opinion to it. Take McGuire out of the equation here because he is done. But of all the players who did take performance enhancing drugs of some kind, how many were/are actual threats to break a HR record? I don't know. When I hear A-Rod, Pujols, Vlad Guerrero, or some of these other guys that may have a chance to break the single season or career HR records have taken or suspected of taken enhancing drugs, I might look at tonight in a different perspective. When I hear of other people taking any type of drugs, none of them are in a situation like Bonds.

Like I said, I'm not arguing or debating your statement. I know there are others out there who are guilty of drugs of some kind, but they aren't in the same shoes as Bonds. They aren't a threat (that I know of). This is going to be a touchy subject for a long time.

8/8/07

0	And I honestly think I confused myself with that comment

8/8/07

0	Barry demonstrates his class, yet again, by dissing Pedro Gomez' first question during the post game press conference.

8/8/07

Beat_LA415

0	CriticalFanatic wrote: Barry demonstrates his class, yet again, by dissing Pedro Gomez' first question during the post game press conference. Thats just Barry being Barry. Pedro knows he's not going to answer any controversy questions. Pedro keeps pushing it and Barry pushed back.

8/8/07

Jubanator14

1	CriticalFanatic wrote: Barry demonstrates his class, yet again, by dissing Pedro Gomez' first question during the post game press conference. So should we count Barry hitting Pedro out of the park as Home Run number 757? Sorry I had to go there I thought that was hilarious the way he just shut him down.

8/8/07

drewstapes

0	CriticalFanatic wrote: Barry demonstrates his class, yet again, by dissing Pedro Gomez' first question during the post game press conference. Please, Pedro Gomez is such a little weasel. He is there just to cause trouble and deserved to get dissed all three times. He can go back to whatever the hell he does when not sniffing Barry's jock now.

8/8/07

flhsbagger

2	drewstapes wrote: Please, Pedro Gomez is such a little weasel. He is there just to cause trouble and deserved to get dissed all three times. He can go back to whatever the hell he does when not sniffing Barry's jock now. He can go back to whatever the hell he does when not sniffing Barry's jock now Theres no room on Barry's jock anyway...lunatic1680 seems to have dibs on it tonight!

8/8/07

Ryan

1	(Edited by Ryan) I'm SOOOOOOOOO happy right now..................... . . . . . . . . . that this thing is finally over. Goodbye - Barry Bonds hype. Hello - Pennant races!

8/8/07

1

Ryan wrote:

I'm SOOOOOOOOO happy right now.....................

.

that this thing is finally over.

Goodbye - Barry Bonds hype.

Hello - Pennant races!

Sorry to inject this here, but I would LOVE to greet pennant races again. Unfortunatley, pennant races have been extinct since 1994. Thanks BUD!

And... Way to go Barry! The Giants have 2 of the top four in home runs. The most wins by a franchise. The most Hall of Famers. Great and storied franchise.

8/8/07

5

ML31 wrote:

Sorry to inject this here, but I would LOVE to greet pennant races again. Unfortunatley, pennant races have been extinct since 1994. Thanks BUD!

And... Way to go Barry! The Giants have 2 of the top four in home runs. The most wins by a franchise. The most Hall of Famers. Great and storied franchise.

Unfortunatley, pennant races have been extinct since 1994.

I'm going to give you a thumbs up here because i'm amazed that you can always find a spot to put that in.

8/8/07

10	Ryan wrote: I'm SOOOOOOOOO happy right now..................... . . . . . . . . . that this thing is finally over. Goodbye - Barry Bonds hype. Hello - Pennant races! Are you jealous because you don't have his rookie card?

8/8/07

0	tpowell25 wrote: Are you jealous because you don't have his rookie card? thats actually pretty funny

8/8/07

Tron

0

I'm disappointed that the greatest player of my lifetime (griffey couldn't stay healthy) is a steroid user. Even more disappointing considering he would have invented the 500/500 club and been a hall of famer with out the "flaxseed oil." But you can't put an asterisk on this, steroids weren't banned by baseball until when 2004? How do you put an asterisk on something that wasn't banned by the sport? Secondly, you can't put a number on how many home runs were because of the steroids. It sucks, but that is life. Anyways, A-Rod will break it in 2016.

8/8/07

Tron

3

ML31 wrote:

Sorry to inject this here, but I would LOVE to greet pennant races again. Unfortunatley, pennant races have been extinct since 1994. Thanks BUD!

And... Way to go Barry! The Giants have 2 of the top four in home runs. The most wins by a franchise. The most Hall of Famers. Great and storied franchise.

Seriously? You are trying to say that the Wild Card has been bad for baseball? Ok, you're an idiot. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul.

8/8/07

Ryan

0	tpowell25 wrote: Are you jealous because you don't have his rookie card? That couldn't possibly be his rookie card.....looks like he's already started to bulk up in this one.....

8/8/07

0	Ryan wrote: That couldn't possibly be his rookie card.....looks like he's already started to bulk up in this one..... Yeah, I didn't recognize the swollen head at first

8/8/07

0	Tron wrote: Seriously? You are trying to say that the Wild Card has been bad for baseball? Ok, you're an idiot. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. OK. It's official. Tron says that anyone who liked pennant races is an 'idiot'.

8/8/07

Pat

0	ML31 wrote: OK. It's official. Tron says that anyone who liked pennant races is an 'idiot'. It's official. You're wrong. He said no such thing. It's also official that people have made separate polls JUST for you and your WC soapbox. It would be great if you could be grateful for that and please not pollute the rest of the site with off-topic and ridiculous statements like your previous two.

8/8/07

BearDown97

1	tpowell25 wrote: Are you jealous because you don't have his rookie card? HAHAHAHAHA THAT IS FUNNY

8/8/07

0

Pat wrote:

It's official. You're wrong. He said no such thing.

It's also official that people have made separate polls JUST for you and your WC soapbox. It would be great if you could be grateful for that and please not pollute the rest of the site with off-topic and ridiculous statements like your previous two.

No so. I hit the ball right on the screws on this one. I was 100% correct.

The original post I responded to said he was looking forward to pennant races. A: What does that have to do with the Bonds topic? And B: I was making a correction for him. No malice in the comment at all.

Then Tron took it off topic with the spitefull comment about me being an idiot simply because I preferred it when pennant races existed.

And I'm the one you choose to rag on. (he says while rolling his eyes)

I have an idea... Why don't you practice what you preach and try to keep the thread on topic instead of using it as an outlet for your personal vendetta?

8/9/07

0	Someone said they were looking forward to pennant races. I corrected them by explaining that pennant races have been extinct since 1994. That's how. It's not like I mention this stuff for no reason at all.

8/9/07

1

Tron wrote:

I'm disappointed that the greatest player of my lifetime (griffey couldn't stay healthy) is a steroid user. Even more disappointing considering he would have invented the 500/500 club and been a hall of famer with out the "flaxseed oil." But you can't put an asterisk on this, steroids weren't banned by baseball until when 2004? How do you put an asterisk on something that wasn't banned by the sport? Secondly, you can't put a number on how many home runs were because of the steroids. It sucks, but that is life. Anyways, A-Rod will break it in 2016.

I don't believe there is a rule in the baseball rulebook against tampering with the opposing team's Gatorade, or taking a crowbar to opposing players' knees on the street. You know why? Because those things are against the law.

If Hank Aaron purposely ran over Bonds on the street outside the ballpark, while I would have loved him for it, Hank probably would have had the record taken from him. Don't understand why, though. Is there a rule against running people over with cars in the MLB rulebook?

8/9/07

0	The Onion has a great satirical piece on Bonds breaking the record. http://www.theonion.com/content/news/destruction_of_national_pastime

8/9/07

1	Let one of them wear a redsox thong or another team that has won the WS from the WC spot. Sorry i got off topic, i apologize.

8/9/07