How Baseball’s Big Fellows Have Knocked the Magic Out of the Park

I don’t recall whether Jacques Barzun, the French-born cultural historian, ever sat alongside me in the 60-cent bleachers at Ebbets Field in deepest Brooklyn once upon a time. But he got it right when he said, “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.” For now, on the eve of major league baseball’s opening day -- or, more precisely (with a nod toward network television), opening night -- Americans are awaiting a season with trepidation as much as anticipation.

For I believe the most hallowed records in sports -- home runs, in a season and for a career -- have come under a cloud that may take decades to clear. And that makes me wary of being excited. That’s too bad, for baseball, which quickly follows the first day of spring, has always symbolizedrebirth and possibilities for the fans, from followers of the lowly Cubs to those onetime dreamers from Boston.

Yet, can any of us ever look again at Barry Bonds swatting a home run and not wonder if his body was juiced? By extension, the record that he is approaching -- assuming he stops whining and plays when he is healthy -- is that hefty 755 career home runs held by Hank Aaron.

Long ago, in 1961, we witnessed Roger Maris’ record-breaking 61st home run in a single season. It broke Babe Ruth’s mark, which had lasted from before the Great Depression. Eventually, even Maris yielded to other sluggers’ single-season clouts.

But Aaron’s remarkable career record of 755 remained beyond everyone. Now Bonds starts 2005 with 703 career home runs, merely 12 away from passing Ruth’s other iconic number, 714 career clouts. Presumably, Aaron would be next.

As for me, I will be bored if Bonds surpasses Ruth. What am I supposed to feel? What are any of us, who thought we knew the heart and mind of America, supposed to feel? For I know that a hefty number of Bonds’ bashes were given a free ride, either by some cream he (unknowingly!) rubbed into his body or by something more sinister and illegal. Yes, the cat is out of the bag, littering all over the place, and we can’t make believe that we don’t know it.

Steroids have officially been illegal in baseball for only a few years, and this season more rigorous testing and policing will take effect. So it’s safe to say that home runs from this day forth will have been hit by players on a level field. But we’ll all have to wait many years to accept any sort of career home run record again. Oh, some of you don’t think there was anything unusual about all those home runs several big fellows were hitting just a few years ago. Well, consider this: Babe Ruth’s single-season record lasted 34 years. Roger Maris had his record for 37 years.

But starting in 1998, over a four-season period, Maris’ record was eclipsed six times by three players -- Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Sosa, in fact, did it three times.

Shame on you, Mark McGwire, for telling Congress, “I’m not here to talk about the past.” Don’t you get it? Don’t you understand that baseball is the past as much as the present? I hope you haven’t ruined the future.