COLUMN: Barry Bonds gave us 73 homes and 35 undeniable facts
When Mark McGwire set the single-season home run record at 70 just three short seasons ago, many people (yours truly included) figured it was a mark which would be around for quite some time.
Barry Bonds proved us wrong last week, tying Big Mac at 70 in his final game against the Astros and later surpassing him with two 400-foot shots against the Dodgers in Pac Bell Park.
So much for longevity.
Bonds’ 73 home runs taught us a number of truths both about the sporting world and life in general.
He showed us nothing is impossible, and nothing is unthinkable. He reminded us of many principals we already knew.
Sporting accomplishments have a way of doing this.
From Cal Ripken’s consecutive-games-played streak to Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, the sporting world serves as a way of reminding us just what is important in life and how much one can accomplish when determined to succeed. And as I sat here pondering Bonds accomplishments this season, I came up with a list of things he and many other athletes have taught us through their record-breaking performances.
These truths obviously hold true in the sporting world, and most of them are universal.
So, for your reading enjoyment, here is the list:
1. No record, no matter how prestigious or big, is unbreakable.
2. There is such a thing as “The Zone,” and once an athlete finds it, he or she is a level above the competition.
3. Nothing is impossible.
4. There is no single player greater than the team itself.
5. Regardless of what’s going on in the sporting world, there is always something more important happen ing somewhere else.
6. There is always someone else who can do it better.
7. Athletes over 35-years-old aren’t always washed up.
8. Baseball has seen a lot of great players, some of whom didn’t wear Yankee pinstripes.
9. You can’t become so obsessed with not letting the team’s best player beat you that you forget about the rest of the team.
10. Winning is the ultimate objective.
11. Losing fashionably is still losing.
12. Baseballs float.
13. Achievement is the reward for hard work and knows no racial boundaries.
14. Athletes are not heroes.
15. Belt-high fastballs make for the most breathtaking home runs.
16. Pitching is more than throwing hard.
17. Control is a pitcher’s best friend and a hitter’s worst enemy.
18. Baseball is still America’s pastime.
19. Not everyone goes through a slump.
20. Staying healthy is the key to success.
21. You still have to take your coat to Giants’ games, even though they don’t play in Candlestick anymore.
22. Sports are 20 percent physical and 80 percent mental.
23. Nothing is permanent.
24. Today’s athletes love the game, too.
25. The right to be cocky is granted only after an athlete shows he or she can walk the walk.
26. Pitching has been watered down by expansion.
27. There are more Barry Bonds fans in Montreal than there are Expos fans.
28. Every team has more fans in Montreal than do the Expos.
29. There are no Expos fans in Montreal.
30. Sometimes the best players aren’t the ones who get paid the most.
31. Money is always a factor.
32. Money cannot buy happiness and should not be the only motivating factor.
33. Baseball isn’t just a sport for fat guys anymore.
34. America is the home of the brave and the land of opportunity.
35. It is the people who make this country great.
We’ve been reminded of these truths by athletes throughout time. Whether it’s contract squabbles and negotiations or record-breaking performances, sports remain to be a place where all life’s lessons are taught. As the old saying goes, “Sports do not build character – they reveal it.”
All this being said, I still wish it was McGwire who held the single-season home run record.
Sorry, Barry. It’s nothing personal.
Casey Hobson is a senior majoring in journalism. Comments can be
sent to him at
hobsonhut@hotmail.com