Bonds and Aaron tied at 755

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 08/08/2007

Where do I begin? The great Barry Bonds has tied Henry Aaron for number one at 755 for the most homeruns in the history of Major League Baseball. Unfortunately, Bonds has had to weather the storm of controversy that has encircled his enormous accomplishment.

 For 34 years, Aaron has held the greatest record in all of sports. During his pursuit of Babe Ruth and the magical number 714, Aaron in all honesty never truly received the credit he earned and so richly deserved.

 Aaron did not get credit because we live in a racist society. The first Black player was not allowed to play in the Major Leagues until April of 1947 — the legendary Jackie Robinson. It is difficult for most White people to admit that a Black man is better; in reality, that is the bottom line.

 So the distortion is endless. Why is it so hard for the majority of our society to admit the truth?

 The truth is that Babe Ruth is number three on the all-time homerun list, and yes, that was also his famous jersey number with the New York Yankees. Ruth was number one all-time for 54 years because he never played against the best players — the best players were in the Negro Leagues.

 All 714 of his homeruns were hit off White pitchers. Aaron hit homeruns off Hall of Famers like “Bullet” Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Ferguson Jenkens, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Tom Seaver, just to name a few. Bonds has done the same thing — his victims have been pitchers like Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, and many others among the best pitchers in baseball the last 20 years.

 Bonds is a seven-time MVP; in 2003 he hit 73 homeruns in one year; he has never tested positive for any illegal drug or steroids ever. Yet, many in the major media have continued to downplay his enormous talent and achievement. The distortion makes me sick. They have tainted his accomplishments with personal bias.

 The simple truth is that two Black men, Aaron and Bonds, are tied for number one at 755, and many in our society have a problem with that.

 Tiger Woods is also number one

Tiger Woods has won 12 major championships and is number one in the world of golf by the widest margin in history.

He is the only golfer this year to win four championships. He’s number one on the PGA Tour money list with $6,564,385, number one in Fed-Ex points with 25,624, and number one in scoring average at 68.38. Tiger won the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone for the third straight year and the sixth time of his career.

Woods tied a PGA Tour record by winning the same tournament on the same course for the sixth time. Jack Nicklaus (Augusta National), Alex Ross (Pinehurst #2), and Woods are the only players to achieve that feat. Woods, however, is the first golfer to twice win the same tournament on the same course three years in a row.

WGC Tournaments bring together the best players in the world that qualify. There have been 25 of these elite field championships, and Woods has won 14 of them. Woods shot a final-round 65 to win by eight shots; he was the only player in the field to shoot under par after four days, finishing -8.

 This week, Woods will be defending champion in the final major championship, the PGA Championship at Southern Hills. Tiger is shooting for major title number 13. He has had a great year already, finishing second in both the Masters and the U.S. Open and 12th in the British Open.

Fitz Notes & Quotes

D.A. Wiebring birdied the last three holes to win the 3-M Championship in Blaine; Jim Thorpe finished fifth.

The Vikings play their first pre-season game Friday night at the Metrodome against the St. Louis Rams.