Q: Should baseball commissioner Bud Selig attend the game during which Barry Bonds breaks the career home run record?
Troy E. Renck: YES
Commissioner’s awkward expression would be priceless
Let’s get this straight. It’s OK for commissioner Bud Selig to bask in the glow of baseball’s billion-dollar business – and stage a petty protest by skipping Barry Bonds’ 756th home run?
As much as we would like to credit Cal Ripken’s streak, home runs saved baseball after the cancellation of the 1994 World Series. They brought people back into the tent and captivated a nation in 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa staged their single- season duel.
Bodies grew. Rumors surfaced. Stories ran in this paper and the Los Angeles Times long before BALCO was a glint in Victor Conte’s eye. Baseball, for the better part of a decade, sold its soul for the home run. Now, the commissioner who held guard during this time wants to take a stand, placing his own asterisk with his absence?
He can’t get off that easy.
Two words effectively describe Bonds’ pursuit of Hank Aaron’s hallowed milestone: joyless and awkward. Selig needs to feel both emotions as he watches Bonds trot around the bases.
As the leader of the sport, Selig must be accountable for success and ugliness. Unless former Sen. George Mitchell produces the goods and magically comes up with a positive steroids test on Bonds, Selig has no excuse for missing the event.
His pained expression will forever be a reminder for future commissioners as to why they should remain vigilant in the fight against performance- enhancing drugs.
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
Patrick Saunders: NO
No-show best thing for baseball and Selig
Barry and Bud. They will forever be linked to baseball’s steroid era. But later this summer, when Barry Bonds blasts homer No. 756, Bud Selig should be conspicuously absent.
Yes, the commissioner turned a blind eye when sluggers with bulging biceps began blasting homers. But showing up and blessing Bonds’ milestone would give legitimacy to the soiled record. Selig can’t alter the past, but he can make history by not showing up.
His absence will serve as a reminder that the era of Bonds, Mark Mc- Gwire, Sammy Sosa and Jose Canseco was a tarnished era.
As Bonds’ slow, painful and sullen march past Hank Aaron continues, I’m hearing more and more players and fans shower Bonds with praise. Just the other day, Mets general manger Omar Minaya called Bonds “the greatest player I will ever see.”
But I believe Bonds cheated. I don’t want to hear that Bonds is only the biggest fish to get caught in the steroid net. And I don’t want to hear that nothing has been proven yet. Have we forgotten the cream and the clear? Last week, I asked sportscaster Bob Costas about the importance of 756 home runs. He was passionate about what many consider the Holy Grail of sports records: “When statistics are distorted and records are inauthentic, the record books are therefore poisoned,” he said.
So, Mr. Commissioner, do baseball a favor. Skip the circus when Bonds hits No. 756. Your no-show should be the asterisk next to this record.
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1319 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
