Baseball

People who know me well know that I love baseball. I grew up with my Mom watching the Mets on tv at every opportunity she had. When we moved to Florida I bought her cable for one mother's day so that she could get the New York channel that would air the Mets games. I grew up listening to the history and the values of the game.

When Florida got the Marlins I was ecstatic. I still loved the Mets but I could have my own team. I've been through the whole ups and downs with the Marlins - from the World Series to the selling off of the team, to the "we need our own stadium" mantra that management keeps trying to sell. It saddens me that there are so few die hard fans in Florida. Those are fans that stay whether it rains, is hotter than a furnace, whether they are winning or losing. Loyalty. Honor. Determination. Being there until the end. What baseball means or meant in the past.

Unfortunately, so few things are the same in the current baseball legacy. It seems that manners are gone and so is responsibility and honor. I grew up on stories about Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and Reggie Jackson to name a few of the greats. Not that these men were perfect they had their issues - drinking, women, anger. But today's players seem small compared to the larger than life players of the past.

Mostly I am speaking regarding the Barry Bonds issue of breaking Hank Aaron's home run record. Barry broke it yesterday - he has hit 756 home runs in his career. A career that has been riddled with doubt, skepticism and rumor. Has he done drugs? Has he used steroids? Compared to the great man Hank Aaron who hit 755 home runs on his own, dealing with prejudice not only from the fans but from other players. A man that as far as I know a scandal has never been attached to his name. I have heard him speak and I have heard testimony about him and he seems like a genuine, honorable man that did amazing things. Now compare him to Barry Bonds. It saddens me that the record had to be broken by someone who has such a reputation. It saddens me that he is compared and considered in the rank of Hank Aaron. I do not deny that he has broken the record and is a very good baseball player. But baseball is not just about the individual it is about the spirit and the tradition.

If this is what the tradition and the spirit is going to be like in baseball - then I pray for our country and our youth who follow and mimic what they think are heroes. God help us.