Thursday, July 26, 2007

The Brave vs. the Bold

A pumped-up giant (some would say ogre), Barry Bonds meets his match in the consistency of Atlanta pitcher John Smoltz. Incredibly, though Smoltz has allowed more homers against Bonds than any other pitcher, he has shown he can control the ball enough to keep the homerun king at bay in the homestretch. Bonds is still short of Hank Aaron's record, but Smoltz does not intentionally walk him as many others do.

I like that, though I have come to dislike baseball as a whole. The use of steroids has changed the game. It not only spoiled the results of the single season home-run race, it has spoiled the all-time home-run race as well. Just as there should be an asterick next to Roger Maris's old record (broke in a spectacular race by Mark McGuire against Sammy Sosa and then by Bonds three short years later), Hank Aaron's record will also be overshadowed in controversy.

Will Smoltz intentially walk Bond at his attempt at number 755 and/or 756? I think he will pitch as usual. But then, I don't follow baseball anymore.

Ironically, the New York Times article about this match-up has an html entitled "25Bonds.html"
This is strange, unless the bias of the sports writer is against the Braves or something. It sort of shadows the

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