Barry Bonds hit #756

[theapplegenius]

The question is, does anyone actually care?

He's been such a prick for so long, I'm just glad I never have to see him on my TV anymore.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

You obviously care enough to start a thread.

Congrats Barry.

[dmz]

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(Bonds will be needing this.)

[franksargent]

http://www.ocregister.com/newsimages/opinion/Bonds30806.jpg

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Go figure that image would be from Southern California...

[Denton]

The question is, does anyone actually care?

He's been such a prick for so long, I'm just glad I never have to see him on my TV anymore.

Congrats to Bonds.

[Denton]

*

(Bonds will be needing this.)

I don't see why. It's Bud Selig who should be the focus of anyone's scorn. He had the power to stop doping, but chose to turn a blind eye because the race to break Maris' 61 helped re-vitalise the game after the loss of the '94 season. Bonds is not nearly as complicit as Selig.

And on the same vein, it is a crime for McGuire not to have been selected for the Hall of Fame. Again, it is Selig's failing much more than McGuire's (or any other player involved in doping), who was just doing what was needed to survive given the environment at the time. If the league had been hostile to doping, then it would have been uncommon.

[Splinemodel]

I don't see why. It's Bud Selig who should be the focus of anyone's scorn.

Bingo. Plus, the pitchers are also juiced up. I gave up baseball around '92 or so, just because I got bored of it. I don't mind going to a game occasionally, but there's a reason why it struggles: it's fucking boring.

[iPoster]

I mean seriously, do you know anyone under the age of 40 who cares what happens in MLB?

This comic pretty much sums it up for me:

http://i19.tinypic.com/5xsgwad.gif

[BenRoethig]

Selig has disgraced te office of the commission during his tenure. It's time for him to leave.

As for Bonds, I say let it go. He has the record for now, but Arod will relieve him of that in the not too distant future and do it completely legitimately.

[BenRoethig]

Bingo. Plus, the pitchers are also juiced up. I gave up baseball around '92 or so, just because I got bored of it. I don't mind going to a game occasionally, but there's a reason why it struggles: it's fucking boring.

Look at it this way, it's still significantly better than what passes for sports on the other side of the Atlantic.

[AgNuke1707]

I wasn't excited about Bonds passing 755, and I don't really enjoy baseball all that much, but I paid attention for a few games because of it. I think anyone who truly loves sports can see the importance of a record like that being broken. Even if it was broken by someone with zero personality and a dubious past in relation to steroids. Why do people care? It's the same reason you care about the Tour de France, even if you don't ride a bike. It's the same reason you watched De La Hoya vs. Mayweather even if you despise what boxing has become. It's the same reason you tune in to watch the 100 m dash at the Olympics even if you hate running. There's something very compelling about the human aspect of sports. I'm obsessed with American Football - college and pro, but that doesn't mean I don't sit on the edge of my seat every 4 years and watch the World Cup. There are things you just know are big - you can say you saw that or you were there, whether they're surrounded in scandal or not doesn't erase the fact that it happened... and that's why I was watching baseball on TV when Bonds hit 756.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

I mean seriously, do you know anyone under the age of 40 who cares what happens in MLB?

This comic pretty much sums it up for me:

http://i19.tinypic.com/5xsgwad.gif

I'm pretty sure most of MLB's fan base is under 40...

[Splinemodel]

You were 10 years old or so.

Heh.

(I'll save you the suspense: it's still pretty boring today)

Most of my interest in baseball came from collecting baseball cards. Once that got boring (which, I suppose, often happens around age 10/11) the sport got boring.

Look at it this way, it's still significantly better than what passes for sports on the other side of the Atlantic.
I assume you're referring to Europe, which as far as I know plays most of the same sports we do (soccer, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, etc) and then a few that we don't. Cricket is boring, I'll agree, but that's an anomaly. US football takes a lot of patience to watch as well, since there are too many stoppages and commercial breaks. Soccer, basketball, and ice hockey are free-flowing and sparsely interrupted. It's hard to consider that boring, at least from my perspective.

[iPoster]

I'm pretty sure most of MLB's fan base is under 40...

Well, that could be true; but from personal observation: I'm 37, spent most of my adult life so far in the military and met people from all over the country, and I can count the baseball fans I've met on one hand...

NASCAR, NFL, NBA and NHL on the other hand...:D

[Guybrush Threepwood]

What were your favorite players back then, Spline?

Or even better, which were your favorite cards?

[SpamSandwich]

I enjoyed several ball games in person... about 10 years ago. Haven't been interested in it since.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

'91 Topps. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1991_Topps_Frank_Viola.jpg)

Just your average basic baseball card.

Sweet music!

[Splinemodel]

What were your favorite players back then, Spline?

Or even better, which were your favorite cards?

I seem to remember having the Donruss Bo Jackson rookie card, which was cool since he was hot shit at the time. I think I may have also had some Upper-Deck rookies of the Alomar brothers, which were sort of hot shit too. I had quite a few cards. I later sold them all, probably at a loss, but that was OK. They were fun in elementary school for whatever reason.

As for favorite players, Cal Ripken was the hometown hero in the Baltimore-to-DC area. I also remember liking Don Mattingly, perhaps mostly because of his mustache of comical proportion. So I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the Yankees. At least it gives me cred to hate-on the biggest bunch of assholes in the American sporting universe: Bostonians. Granted, Bostonians are pretty tame in comparison to scousers.

[Denton]

Arod will relieve him of that in the not too distant future and do it completely legitimately.[emphasis mine]

Right.:rolleyes:

[Denton]

What were your favorite players back then, Spline?

Oh, I want in on this game. My favorite as a kid was The Wizard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozzie_Smith). It was great to watch baseball back then, before all of the home-run hype. I still like small-ball, but I doubt we'll see it played so well again. People understand a home-run; they don't understand a hit-and-run. The most exciting play in baseball is the squeeze play, and you rarely see them anymore.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Will Clark. Hands down. He's the Chuck Norris of Giants baseball.

And of course, Barry. But that's a whole 'nuther story.

[franksargent]

Cardinals in the '60 for me, I also had a 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie card at one time, but I lost it in a move. It would have been worth a few hundred dollars today.

Don't follow sports at all today.

[Splinemodel]

My favorite team was probably the '94 Orioles with Palmiero, Ripken, Mussina, etc.

Mussina was a damn good pitcher. There were some games he had with the Orioles and Yankees where he just looked invincible. For whatever reason I have always watched the pitchers, and Mussina was one of the few who had enough variety that he was usually fun to watch.