Why Even Red Sox Fans Should Pull for A-Rod
Barry Bonds signs a one-year deal with the San Fransico Giants needing only 22 home runs to tie Hank Aaron for the all-time home run record. I can see Barry hitting at least 30, so he’ll have the top spot all to himself before the end of the ‘07 season. Now, I’m a complete and total advocate for kicking Barry out of the league, and I’m hoping that he gets busted for some sort of substance abuse, and is forced to serve 50 games before or in the middle of his hunt. I doubt that will happen, so I need a good plan B.
Having Barry be #1 of all time is going to be painful. The man is a disgrace to the game of baseball, the S.F. Giants, his family, and himself. There is no person less deserving of sports’ greatest accomplishment. Nonetheless, I think he’s going to do it in 2007. The record has belonged to Hank Aaron since 1974, and will probably be broken just over 33 years later. I don’t think we’ll have to wait that long for Barry’s record to fall. Yankee third-baseman, Alex Rodriguez is on track (again, if he stays healthy) to shatter whatever numbers Barry posts.
A-Rod begins the 2007 season with 464 homeruns. He needs 36 to make the 500-club, which I think he’ll do in ‘07. That’s not bad considering he’ll turn 32 years old in July of this year. If he plays into his early 40’s like Barry did, he should have enough to pass Bonds without a problem.
So this is plan B. All us baseball fans need to start rallying behind A-Rod, even if you’re a disgruntled Mariners, Rangers, or Red Sox fan. The all-time home run record is more important that a contract signing (or MLB stepping in and nixing your signing), a bitterness when your favorite player left your favorite team, an intra-divisional rivaly, or hating a player’s current team. A-Rod has the chance to return the record to baseball. He can - in essence - undo all the wrong that Barry did. He can make Bonds an afterthought, just like Barry did to McGwire a few years after McGwire took the single-season crown from Roger Maris in 1998.
So let’s get the A-Rod pickets and signs out, even if you’re not at a Yankee game. Show some support for Alex. Help him help us all.
*Some might be wondering why I’m not include Albert Pujols in this conversation. I thought about it, but I just think Pujols is too young to be talking about a record of this magnitude yet. I think Pujols will get up there into the top 5 all time, but he’s got a long way to go before he gets close, so I stuck with A-Rod.
