In my first post on professional athletics, I looked at a unique experience I had with Al Downing when we were both 21-year-old’s…in short, I attempted to “think like he thought” regarding some specific questions about life and interacting in society, for a college term paper. If you read the post you know that my attempt at putting myself in his shoes was a miserable failure.

In this post we narrow our focus considerably, looking at one of the greatest players in the history of baseball. It’s interesting to see, once again, our different takes on a subject.

The questions herein are taken (paraphrased) from an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, May 29, 2007. The article titled “The Bonds Man” was written by J.A. Adande.

Is Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s reluctance to be a part of the historic moment (being present at the game when Bonds hits #756 and passes Aaron’s record) right?

Downing: Bud Selig represents Major League Baseball and he should be there. This is a monumental moment in the history of Major League Baseball.

Bob Meyer: I agree. Selig’s represents the Game, his personal preferences should take a back seat to his duties as Commissioner. This is another historic baseball moment and a phenomenal feat by a very gifted and dedicated athlete. But, it too will soon be in the archives, as in another decade Bond’s record will be broken by one today’s superstars, Alex Rodriguez.

Is Selig’s hedging a message in and of itself, saying he’s part of a large crowd that believes Bonds numbers are tainted by the use of performance-enhancing drugs?

Al Downing: I think it’s a disgrace that people go to such means to condemn a guy for something that they have no proof has ever occurred. It seems like they’re trying to distract him from trying to break the record. Some people are even hoping he retires before breaking the record. What kind of attitude is that?

Bob Meyer: Not knowing what Selig’s beliefs are, I would venture to say he’s projecting the thinking of white America, i.e. 65% believe Bonds took steroids. Whereas 35% of Black Americans believe he did. It’s also about perception, his questionable attitude toward fans, teammates and media. Bonds public image hurts him as much as the allegations.

In fairness, we really don’t know if the media’s picture of him is totally accurate. I saw this first-hand in New York, where the public perception of Roger Maris was far different (in a negative way) than the real Maris…due to the sports writers.

Pro athletes are young and quite naive in this regard. With maturity and understanding (of the importance of their image) they could interact with the press differently, and most likely be presented in a different light. Major league baseball should provide counselling in this regard, because pro athletes are role models to many young kids. And society certaintly could use any and all help possible in this area.

Charles Barkley contends that parents should be the role models for their kids. That’s fine as far as it goes, but what about the millions of kids that grow up in a broken home, or a very disfunctional one.

The message that Bonds provides (his enormous dedication, effort, mental toughness, and focus) is often overlooked. Unfortunately, because of his demeanor and attitude, he’s not as likeable as he could be, and therefore missing an unusual opportunity to help millions of kids.

Shouldn’t we look at any accomplishment in the last 10 years with a skeptical eye? Doesn’t the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race of ’98—and every home run milestone since then—look increasingly tainted with every scandalous book, congressional hearing or federal raid?


Al Downing: First of all, the people who have been bellyaching about these numbers, start off by saying the pitching’s watered down. Then they say the ballparks are smaller. Then they say these guys have (chemical) help hitting these home runs. If the previous things are true, they didn’t need help.

Pitchers today have not refined their skills as much as hitters have. Hitters are much better at recognizing pitches, pitchers are less deceptive and more reliant on trying to over power-batters.

Bob Meyer: If you look at the physical statures of McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds when they were younger, and then compare them to the late ‘90s with their linebacker physiques, there is little doubt in my mind that they were using some kind of enhancements. Now the question centers around the ethics of doing it, inasmuch as these enhancements were not banned at the time.

And, in this highly-competitive profession, an “edge” is always sought. If you were to interview former ball players, most would admit they too would take an enhancement if it would improve their on-field performance, and wasn’t against the law.

Athletes zero-in and are totally focused on the next three hours of their lives (the upcoming game), the intensity of the moment is so exhilerating. Then throw in the enormous, in many cases preposterous salaries of today’s players, and you can imagine what a player might be willing to do. So this whole issue is more complex than first imagined.

Regarding Downing’s comments on pitchers today, I believe many young pitchers coming to the big leagues throw a wider assortment of pitches than back when we played. Hitters today are into weight lifting, something frowned upon in the ‘60s when it was discouraged because it “makes one too musclebound.”

But the biggest difference today is that pitchers don’t pitch inside as often, nor are the Drysdale-like “knock-down pitches” employed. So the hitter has greater confidence at the plate, not to mention greater arm extension.

And when ahead on the count, not having to be concerned about the inside pitch, they can concentrate on a smaller zone and therefore they are much tougher to deal with. The game has changed, fans want to see scoring and home runs. Pitching battles are secondary to the typical fan.

Years ago I was coaching a little-league team and I was talking with the kids about their favorite players. Harkening back to my pre-teenage years, I recalled how I had memorized all of the statistics of the players on their baseball cards. And I rated them accordingly.

To my amazement, which reinforces our changing world, today’s kids rated the players on their salaries, not on the players exploits on the field.

The enormous money in professional baseball has forever changed the game, and talking with these 11-year old kids was an eye-opener…the reality and message of the present game wasn’t lost on them.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007 at 1:37 pm and is filed under Professional Athletics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.