I'm not a huge sports fan. I'm not one of those people who sit around all weekend watching every and any types of sports. I can't list off any stats for any particular team or player. Sure, I watch the Chiefs when the chance arises, I watch (or listen to ) the Royals when I can. But honestly? I can't tell you who one pitcher is on the team right now. I'm not certain I could tell you anything about the team except who they are going to play next. That is simple, it is who they usually play - the winners.
But when I was a kid I was baseball crazy. We had Freddie Patek, Cookie Rojas, Amos Otis, George Brett, John Mayberry and the pitcher who was the Mad Hungarian - I can't remember his name, but I remember he had the cooolest mustache - EVER.
I remember when Hank Aaron hit the ball that broke Babe Ruth's record. I had the poster. It was a pretty big poster. There, in the lower left corner was Aaron, he'd just finished his swing, the bat still in his left hand as he looked up at the ball. The ball, on the other hand, was really just kind of a white looking smudge. Whoever made the poster had put a large white circle around the ball in the picture. They had to or else I'm not sure most people would have seen the ball at all. In the lower right corner of the poster, was the home run wall the ball was going to breach. On the back, were the stats. It listed Babe Ruth's stats and Hank Aaron's stats. Of course, my pa, being the quintessential party pooper that he is just HAD to point out to me that Aaron only broke the Babe's record because he played in like 50% more games than Ruth did. Thanks, way to burst the bubble there pops! But that didn't really bother me all that much. I still had my Hank Aaron signature Louisville Slugger bat, and my Hank Aaron signature Rawlings glove.
Unless you have been living in a cave, I'm certain you know that Aaron's home run record has been topped. It was broken by a fellow named Barry Bonds. Again, unless you have been living in a cage, or just possibly don't watch TV, listen to the radio, read a newspaper or surf the 'Net (which, really, means you won't be reading this anyway, so please disregard that last one), you will know there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding Bond's breaking of the record. There is a lot of speculation (probably rightfully so) that Bonds is/was a steroid junkie. That many of his home runs came while he was juiced up. And many believe that Bonds does not deserve the glory if he was junked up.
I came across a website which seeks the question which is, I'm certain, on everyones' lips (no, not 'why am I wasting time reading this') which is "what to do with the record breaking baseball. The ball currently belongs to a Mark Ecko. He claims he purchased the ball to 'democratize' what happens to it. He has a website at http://www.vote756.com/marcecko/ - where he gives visitors the opportunity to vote on one of three ways the ball should be handled.
The voting ends on 25 September - so if you want a say in what happens, hurry on over. My guess is that the vote will say 'brand it'. But that is just me, I could be wrong. I didn't pay all that much attention when it happened. So I am way out of touch with what the average baseball fan's thoughts are on the subject.
I think, though, that I'm going to vote for the branding. I wish there was a "brand it and send it into space" option, but there isn't.
Technorati Tags: Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Homerun, Steriods, Marc Ecko
But when I was a kid I was baseball crazy. We had Freddie Patek, Cookie Rojas, Amos Otis, George Brett, John Mayberry and the pitcher who was the Mad Hungarian - I can't remember his name, but I remember he had the cooolest mustache - EVER.
I remember when Hank Aaron hit the ball that broke Babe Ruth's record. I had the poster. It was a pretty big poster. There, in the lower left corner was Aaron, he'd just finished his swing, the bat still in his left hand as he looked up at the ball. The ball, on the other hand, was really just kind of a white looking smudge. Whoever made the poster had put a large white circle around the ball in the picture. They had to or else I'm not sure most people would have seen the ball at all. In the lower right corner of the poster, was the home run wall the ball was going to breach. On the back, were the stats. It listed Babe Ruth's stats and Hank Aaron's stats. Of course, my pa, being the quintessential party pooper that he is just HAD to point out to me that Aaron only broke the Babe's record because he played in like 50% more games than Ruth did. Thanks, way to burst the bubble there pops! But that didn't really bother me all that much. I still had my Hank Aaron signature Louisville Slugger bat, and my Hank Aaron signature Rawlings glove.
Unless you have been living in a cave, I'm certain you know that Aaron's home run record has been topped. It was broken by a fellow named Barry Bonds. Again, unless you have been living in a cage, or just possibly don't watch TV, listen to the radio, read a newspaper or surf the 'Net (which, really, means you won't be reading this anyway, so please disregard that last one), you will know there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding Bond's breaking of the record. There is a lot of speculation (probably rightfully so) that Bonds is/was a steroid junkie. That many of his home runs came while he was juiced up. And many believe that Bonds does not deserve the glory if he was junked up.
I came across a website which seeks the question which is, I'm certain, on everyones' lips (no, not 'why am I wasting time reading this') which is "what to do with the record breaking baseball. The ball currently belongs to a Mark Ecko. He claims he purchased the ball to 'democratize' what happens to it. He has a website at http://www.vote756.com/marcecko/ - where he gives visitors the opportunity to vote on one of three ways the ball should be handled.
- Give it to the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Brand it with an asterisk, and then give it to the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Send it into space
The voting ends on 25 September - so if you want a say in what happens, hurry on over. My guess is that the vote will say 'brand it'. But that is just me, I could be wrong. I didn't pay all that much attention when it happened. So I am way out of touch with what the average baseball fan's thoughts are on the subject.
I think, though, that I'm going to vote for the branding. I wish there was a "brand it and send it into space" option, but there isn't.
Technorati Tags: Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Homerun, Steriods, Marc Ecko
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