The home run king is dead, now the potential home run king is dead, long live the true home run King, Henry Aaron.
I acknowledge that I do not have or understand the mind set of people in the position of A Rod, Bonds, McGwire, Clemens et.al. From the moment they played in college their futures were virtually assured, by then end of their first contract it was guaranteed. I think I’m right in saying that by general consensus, they weren’t juicing in college or in their early years in the Majors and were almost certain of having tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars thrown at them. Yet this was not enough. Adulation, respect, wealth was to be their's. This is not everything I admit, happiness being conspicuous by it’s absence, but I don’t think it was likely to be found in a syringe of androstenedione either. What has become clear from the Mitchell Report, and other revelations, is that the clubs don’t control their clubhouses or training facilities. This may well be a matter of choice on the part of the clubs, with the star players and union wanting to take as much control away from the teams as they can, this is one of the consequences.
Is it time to resurrect the asterisk so egregiously applied to the single season record of Roger Maris? There is certainly more justification for it now than there ever was in 1961.
Let us finish where we began, with a man of talent, humility and someone who appreciates the game over self and continues to be a great ambassador for the game, despite how elements of the game treated him as he chased Ruth’s title, someone who still seems under appreciated. The true career home run record holder, and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future, Henry Aaron.
