It is very rare that you can witness one person stomp on an American mythology.
As Barry Bonds? career home run No. 715 landed in AT&T Park?s center-field bleachers Sunday, you could hear the hearts of millions of Babe Ruth loyalists breaking in two.
With Bonds passing Ruth to become the second-greatest home run hitter of all-time, it only strengthens the debate about whether or not the San Francisco Giants slugger arrived at this point “the right way.”
Despite the Babe?s well-documented partying, he holds a far more special place in the hearts of baseball fans than Bonds ever will. I would estimate that 99.9 percent of living baseball fans never saw the Babe play.
But, still, do we know the Babe like we seem to know Bonds?
If you live in Baltimore, you can connect with Ruth through two fantastic sports museums. One is named after him, and is housed right where he was born 111 years ago. We?ve seen the numerous photos of him with orphans, and have heard the stories of him visiting sick children.
Had the stories of womanizing and alcohol abuse always been known, would we hold on to his mythology so strongly? And what about the fact that he never faced African-American pitchers in a Major League game?
Who knows? Are far as we?re concerned, God stopped resting on the seventh day and created Babe Ruth and baseball.
In terms of sports culture, there is perhaps no one more god-like than Babe Ruth. Whenever his name is uttered, it?s often in reverent tones. No one, it seems, is his equal.
Unfortunately for Bonds, he lives in a media-scrutinized era where the pursuit of truth has shed light on all his character flaws.
I remember seeing an interview a couple years with Bonds where he basically said those who don?t like him we?re likely missing out on something great.
That is no doubt true. His career numbers as a hitter, base stealer and all-around baseball player are enough to put him in the top five among all-time greats. He is amazing on the field.
But, we?ve seen too much. We know too much. We, as a culture, can?t give ourselves over into believing in him or building a mythology around him, other than being a tragic hero.
Just like Hank Aaron and Roger Maris before him, Bonds has discovered you can not replace something more than a man.
Matt Palmer is a staff writer for The Baltimore Examiner.
