Home Run Derby

First and foremost, Home Run Derby thinks Bugs & Cranks is one outstanding blog, written by excellent writers and passionate fans. 

So it is with the utmost respect that I say I must summarily disagree with their call to boycott the Baseball Hall of Fame and anything related to Marc Ecko (the fashion mogul who bought Barry Bonds’ record 756th Home Run ball that he will brand with an asterisk and send to the Hall of Fame).  

David Chalk begins the uprising with a call to boycott the Hall of Fame.  I am not sure I really understand this one.  The Hall of Fame isn’t complicit in the branding of the ball.  They are merely the recipient of a piece of history - baseball history.  And like it or not, the controversy over Bonds and his steroid use (please note the word “alleged” is purposely missing) is a part - no make that a huge part - of the history of the game, this era, and the career Home Run record that Bonds holds (please note that I am not one of the Bonds haters that refuses to acknowledge his record). 

The Hall of Fame, or more appropriately called the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, is in the business of recording the history of the game of Baseball.  Not just the statistics - but the history.  Barry Bonds will forever be known as the man who broke baseball’s most hallowed record with the help of steroids.  That is his history.

And here is the part that of David’s case that I really disagree with:

“This is The United States Of America.  Baseball is the National Pastime of The United States Of America.  If a man declares his innocence, he is considered innocent until he is proven guilty.  We cannot give that precious right away because someone paid money at an auction, or because other people voted on the Internet.”

People in this country have to stop associating the right of presumed innocence afforded to our citizens in a court of law with the nonexistent “right” that extends to arena of public opinion.  Just because Barry Bonds professes his innocence and he has not been convicted of anything doesn’t mean that I have to suspend common sense and buy into his legitimacy. 

The circumstantial evidence is pretty damning. 

His power stats exploded in 2000, his 15th season in the league, coincidentally after becoming a client of BALCO.  His helmet size increased and body mass changes.  His grand jury testimony admitted his use of BALCO steriods known as the “cream” and the “clear,” although he claimed he thought they were flaxseed oil and arthritis balm (meaning that he said he used the steroids but didn’t think they were steroids).  Just read Game of Shadows to understand what Barry and BALCO did. 

I don’t need a jury to tell me that Barry Bonds is a steroid user.  Likewise, if I needed a conviction to allow me to consider him guilty of double murder, I would need to be out with OJ Simpson searching for the “real killers.”  We can even apply this to baseball -   Eight players of The “Black Sox” scandal were acquitted of throwing the World Series in 1919, but Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis still banned the players from the game for life.   

Guilty people walk all the time in our legal system - it doesn’t make them innocent of the crime. 

Bugs & Cranks’ Steve Hulkower takes up the cause of extending the boycott to Marc Ecko.  Steve points us to another blog’s (The Starting Five) call to boycott his products.

Why? Is Ecko even relevant beyond being wealthy enough to buy the ball and then being stupid enough to think he is part of this story?  Not really.  I don’t own a single piece of Marc Ecko couture, nor will I.  But that is because I don’t like his style, not because he brands a ball. 

Of course, the call for the boycott by TSF goes beyond baseball and is rolled up in race issues, which are very well documented in the post.  Maybe the boycott of Marc Ecko makes sense for racial issues (Mark McGwire seems to get a pass for doing the same thing).  However, for baseball issues, not so much.   Marc Ecko has nothing to do with baseball.  He is merely an asterisk in the story of one hit and a fandom that has much to say about that hit (pun intended). 

Finally, I save this last piece for the slugger himself.   Barry Bonds has come out with some unbelievable remarks the past few days.

“You can not give people the freedom to alter history.”

Umm … Barry, everytime you deny using steroids, you are attempting to do just that. 

Barry, you missed one of the most important lessons of all time.  History is written by the victors.  The fact that you have been such an insufferable prick has severely impacted your ability to write your own history.

“I won’t go.  I won’t be a part of it”

That’s a bit presumptive, isn’t it Barry?  The Hall of Fame has done just fine without Baseball’s career hits leader, so what makes you think you are a sure thing to get in?

Writers can be a finicky bunch, and since you regularly alienate and berate them, I can say it is reasonably possible that enough of them will withhold their vote that you will be on the outside looking in. 

Barry, the game is bigger than you, not the other way around - no matter how much your head has grown (literally and figuratively) over the past decade.  If you are honored with enshrinement into the Hall of Fame, you are only hurting yourself by not showing up.  The Hall of Fame will continue to move forward - with or without you.

In summary, I would like to refer to the letter David Chalk received from the Hall of Fame in response to his letter informing the Hall of his intent to boycott.  The response includes the following paragraphs:

“We understand your consternation in the Museum accepting this donation, but we strongly believe it is a relevant and important artifact that belongs in Cooperstown.  As an American history museum, our core mission is to tell the story of baseball history, both in the context of how it unfolds on the field, and also as it relates to American culture.

As you know, the baseball from Bonds’ 756th home run is being donated with an asterisk affixed to it.  We do not condone defacing artifacts and would have preferred the baseball be donated in its natural state.  We were willing to look beyond that in this instance, because of the historical relevance connected to the baseball.  We will explain why it is defaced and what led to it being donated to the Museum in that condition.”

I think this explains the situation in a nutshell.  Sometimes history is offensive.  We may not like it, but it is history nonetheless.  As a history museum, the HoF is trying to capture the moment for future generations to understand.  This ball, and the circus that surrounds it, is an important part of the history of the game.  Accept the history as a reflection of the reality of baseball during the time that we live in right now, not the ideal you want it to be.  A boycott denies the reality of the history.

I have never been to the Hall of Fame, but I will go someday.  I certainly won’t forgo the experience because the curators of the museum decided to display a ball that captures the divisiveness associated with one the greatest players in history of the game.  

The game is bigger than any of its players … just ask Pete Rose.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 5th, 2007 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Barry Bonds, BlogThink, MLB Hall of Fame, Milestone Home Runs, Steroids. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.