Hammerin Hank

Saddened that Aaron would use the forum of his 40th anniversary
to get political.

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/04/09/hank-aaron-compares-republicans-that-oppose-obama-to-kkk/

I'm going back to recognizing Barry Bonds as the HR king.

 

Bud isn't.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2014/04/08/selig-hints-aaron-still-baseballs-home-run-king/7483779/

 

I still regard Aaron as the greatest power hitter of all time, given the whole steroid era.

 

Debatable. Did he have to face true closers an at-bat per game?

 

Hitting home runs under an avalanche of death threats > hitting home runs off specialized "closers" whom Bob Gibson would have never let on the mound in the first place.

 

Well, there's that, too.

 

Good for Hank.

 

He also would be banned for life under these PED rules.

 

I'm not going to go too far into a defense of Bonds, because a lot of his story is indefensible.

But what I've always said about PEDs -- you still have to have the eye-hand coordination to make solid contact. Bonds had a .311/.456/.624 before anyone said anything about his hat size.

 

I am actually of the belief that if these guys want to do irreparable damage to their bodies and shorten their lives to get better at a game and make more money, then that's on them. And if they are caught they need to pay for it, since it is against the rules and federal law. Bonds' hand-eye coordination and skill hitting a baseball are not in question. Same with A-Rod. What the PEDs do is give them that little bit more strength and recovery to be able to hit just a few more homers every year. I don't care a bit about the argument of who is the true HR king. Bonds was a great player and the record is his. But Aaron was a great player as well, and I respect him a hell of a lot more.

 

As for the political statement, you have to remember how Aaron was treated by a lot of fans and where he is coming from. Race is a part of his story. I do wish he had chosen a different time to make the statement.