Another Look at Barry and the Babe

Let me be the first to say “Bravo” to Bill Plaschke’s article comparing Babe Ruth to Barry Bonds [May 10]. It couldn’t have been more on point. Never in the history of sport will it be so sad to see a record broken by such an arrogant self-centered athlete. In a record book now invalidated by steroid use and no asterisks, Bonds is the poster child for everything that is wrong with the game. I pray that Bill’s prediction of weeping headlines is indeed the fact.

LEONARD BRYAN

Moreno Valley

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Enough already about how Barry Bonds’ record is “tainted” and can’t possibly compare to the giants of yesteryear, particularly Babe Ruth. The Babe, as great as he certainly was, is not on a level playing field for historical comparison simply because he was not competing against the best. Baseball’s policy of racial segregation saw to that. Without having faced the pitching of a Rube Foster or a Satchel Paige or having slugged it out with Josh Gibson, there will never be a definitive answer as to just where he (or Ty Cobb or Christy Mathewson or any of the other stars of baseball’s first half-century) would be ranked overall.

The sad, historical fact of the matter is that any Major League Baseball record before Jackie Robinson will be, inevitably, “tainted.”

EVAN PUZISS

Mar Vista