Warren Goldstein: The Conundrum That Is Barry Bonds
[Warren Goldstein is chairman of the history department at the University of Hartford. He is author of William Sloane Coffin Jr.: A Holy Impatience (Yale University Press, 2004).]
The san francisco outfielder Barry Bonds, one of the most talented hitters ever to play major-league baseball, as well as probably the single most disliked player in the game, is about to break one of the most hallowed records in all sports: Henry Aaron's lifetime home-run record of 755, which Aaron took away from the game's legendary and beloved Babe Ruth.
Bonds's run-up to this extraordinary record is complicated by many factors, not the least of which is the likelihood that he used steroids for several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, probably lied about it to a grand jury, and could be indicted for perjury sometime this year. There's also the fact that he appears to be a genuinely unpleasant human being, who reserves special hostility for the reporters charged with covering his exploits, but also manages simultaneously to whine about not being treated fairly while refusing to relate to fans.
Did I mention that he's black? In fact, he has a family pedigree reaching deep into baseball's history of segregation and reintegration (a few African-Americans played big-league ball in the 19th century, until the late 1880s). His father, Bobby Bonds, came up with the San Francisco Giants in 1968 and played for eight teams over 14 seasons. Then there's his godfather, the Hall of Fame slugging outfielder Willie Mays, who began playing baseball for the Birmingham Black Barons and then integrated the New York Giants in 1951, and whose 660 home runs now rank fourth in baseball history. Bonds holds a raft of career and single-season records — including seven Most Valuable Player awards — from before and after he came under suspicion for steroid use.
Not only is Barry Bonds African-American, he's a "race man." In 2004 he set off a firestorm by telling a Boston sportswriter that he'd never finish his career in Boston as a designated hitter. "Boston is too racist for me," he said, noting that racist treatment of athletes had "been going on ever since my dad was playing baseball." The reporter suggested that Boston had changed since the days when the Red Sox passed on a chance to sign Jackie Robinson, claiming the honor in 1959 (!) of being the very last major-league team to hire a black player. Bonds was unimpressed. "It ain't changing," he responded.
Bonds's approach to his coming batting record has tied baseball fans and writers in knots. Ask most baseball fans whether they think he should be elected to the Hall of Fame, and get ready for a lot of passion, a whole lot less reason. I teach a course on sports history and try to help my students to understand this controversy in context — of baseball history and of race....
Read entire article at Chronicle of Higher Education summary of article in The Hedgehog Review
The san francisco outfielder Barry Bonds, one of the most talented hitters ever to play major-league baseball, as well as probably the single most disliked player in the game, is about to break one of the most hallowed records in all sports: Henry Aaron's lifetime home-run record of 755, which Aaron took away from the game's legendary and beloved Babe Ruth.
Bonds's run-up to this extraordinary record is complicated by many factors, not the least of which is the likelihood that he used steroids for several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, probably lied about it to a grand jury, and could be indicted for perjury sometime this year. There's also the fact that he appears to be a genuinely unpleasant human being, who reserves special hostility for the reporters charged with covering his exploits, but also manages simultaneously to whine about not being treated fairly while refusing to relate to fans.
Did I mention that he's black? In fact, he has a family pedigree reaching deep into baseball's history of segregation and reintegration (a few African-Americans played big-league ball in the 19th century, until the late 1880s). His father, Bobby Bonds, came up with the San Francisco Giants in 1968 and played for eight teams over 14 seasons. Then there's his godfather, the Hall of Fame slugging outfielder Willie Mays, who began playing baseball for the Birmingham Black Barons and then integrated the New York Giants in 1951, and whose 660 home runs now rank fourth in baseball history. Bonds holds a raft of career and single-season records — including seven Most Valuable Player awards — from before and after he came under suspicion for steroid use.
Not only is Barry Bonds African-American, he's a "race man." In 2004 he set off a firestorm by telling a Boston sportswriter that he'd never finish his career in Boston as a designated hitter. "Boston is too racist for me," he said, noting that racist treatment of athletes had "been going on ever since my dad was playing baseball." The reporter suggested that Boston had changed since the days when the Red Sox passed on a chance to sign Jackie Robinson, claiming the honor in 1959 (!) of being the very last major-league team to hire a black player. Bonds was unimpressed. "It ain't changing," he responded.
Bonds's approach to his coming batting record has tied baseball fans and writers in knots. Ask most baseball fans whether they think he should be elected to the Hall of Fame, and get ready for a lot of passion, a whole lot less reason. I teach a course on sports history and try to help my students to understand this controversy in context — of baseball history and of race....