The Home Run

I tend to find myself a bit of a baseball purist. I enjoy a good pitching duel. One of the best games I've ever seen in person was a 1-0 ten inning game between the Brewers and the Phillies back in 2008. That's also why I'm a bigger fan of the National League. I like the strategy of pinch hitting, pinch running, managing a bullpen, and so on. But one thing that never is lost on me is the home run.

I became the baseball fan that I am, like many others close to my age, in the summer of 1998. My allegiances were with the Brewers, but I found myself more interested in two of their division rivals, the Cardinals and the Cubs. The duel that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa had during the dog days of that summer will stay with me forever.

Yeah, the names of McGwire, Sosa, Canseco, Palmiero, Bonds, Rodriguez and so on have had a shadow cast over them by the clouds that are steroids, andro, the cream, the clear, and HGH. But is there really anything more exciting in sports than a dramatic home run? I argue no.

A-Rod still had intense media pressure on him to go from #599 to #600, and he admitted that he was pressing. He eventually got it off the Jays' Shaun Marcum, and he'll get a relieve until he gets until #700. He's in great shape, and I see no reason why he won't get there. Hell, I see no reason why he won't get to #800. Even with his name tied to performance enhancing drugs, he'll still get all of the media coverage that Craig Counsell would get if he was approaching the all-time milestones.

What I'm saying here is that the glorification of the home run is still superior to the clout of PEDs. Sure, the New York Post can put all the asterisks they want on their headlines, but like it or not, it's still a headline. I do think that all of these players should make the Hall of Fame, but also need to have a disclaimer on their plaques stating "This player admitted to the use of performance-enhancing drugs during the course of their career" or something like that.

The only player that is 30 or older that has a shot at the top of the career home run leaderboard is Albert Pujols, who seems to be baseball's saving grace during the steroid era. Everybody wants to believe that he is clean, and the consistency over the course of his career, different than the peaks that McGwire/Sosa/Bonds had.

The younger generation of baseball? That's a different story. There are so many talented young players with plenty of power who will be climbing the ranks over the next decade. This group is led by the likes of Ryan Braun and Evan Longoria, but also include Joey Votto, Jason Heyward, Buster Posey, Bryce Harper and more. These players already have plenty of pop in their bat, and considering many of them are still in their early 20s (and late teens), its very conceivable that these players' bodies could fill out, add even more power, and continue mashing late into their careers.

Is the worst of the steroid era over? I'd say so. But to me, nothing will tarnish the incredible feat that is the home run. I don't think Bonds's record will last forever, much less 20 more years.

(BTW, 2 posts in one day? I'm pretty proud of myself)

Finally got the internet hooked up...have you heard the news about Favre?

So I've recently put a new roof over my head, after being homeless for the better part of two weeks. I think I slept in seven different beds, one of those being the front seat of my car, in ten days. Over the course of that time, I've had ideas for a number of different blog posts. However, you can imagine that I didn't exactly have a reliable internet connection, so most of those ideas I've either forgotten or aren't really applicable anymore. The one thing I do want to ramble about is Brett Favre. I'm not really sure exactly how I feel about this situation, but I'll start writing and see where I end up.

I really don't see Favre as the diva/egomaniac type that he sometimes gets portrayed as. It wasn't only Packers fans that could see his excitement and passion for the game, whether it is booking it upfield after tossing a long TD to Andre Rison in Super Bowl XXXI or throwing snowballs at a referee. We knew he loved the game. Since his starts streak began in 1992 through about 2006, He was absolutely beloved by Wisconsin and the nation.

2007 was when things began to sour. Sure, the Packers had a great 13-3 season but the interception he threw against the Giants was the sign for Packers Nation that they needed to part ways with #4. The retirement that followed the season should have been his walk off into the sunset. He had a great season, retired with little shame, and would be revered and deified around Wisconsin, Mississippi, and most of the country for the rest of his life. However, I think Favre felt like the Packers were forcing him out. I wouldn't say that he was forced out by Ted Thompson and Co., but it was clear to them, and to most logical fans, that the Packers needed to go in a different direction. When Favre asked for his release and Thompson wouldn't give it to him, things definitely went sour.

I honestly think that the 2008 season was an eff-you to the Packers front office. He went to play with the Jets, basically to show Green Bay that he still could. After that season, he really was ready to retire and would have done so had Darrell Bevell not come calling. The two had worked together in Green Bay from 2003-05, so they had a relationship that Favre had with very few other people still working in the NFL. That, combined with the fact that the Vikings had a very solid roster, was the reason Favre came back in 2009. I don't think last year was a stick-it-to-the-Packers year at all.

2010: Favre's banged up, his mind wants to play, but for the first time in his life his body may not be able to. He feels loyal to his teammates, as the Vikings are revving up for one of their most promising seasons in history. He wants to be a part of that. And for the first time, he's realizing he might not be able to. I certainly believe that he'd play if he's healthy. I also believe that it's not about the money. He could have so much fun on an explosive offense with a suffocating defense that will get him the ball even more.

Do I think he needs to walk away? Absolutely. Images of Favre not being able to be the gunslinger that he once was would make Packers fans initially happy, but would taint the image they have of him running down the field at the Superdome, smiling and showing his braces to the world, happy as can be. They don't want to see the silver-haired man grimacing after every throw. Brett, I understand the end of your career. But it's really time to call it quits right now.