Barry Bonds just became baseball's all-time home run king. He hit his 756th against a slightly familiar lefty on the Washington Nationals.
Some slightly familiar company he keeps:
Jack Fisher gave up the home run that tied Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.
Tracy Stallard gave up the home run that broke Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.
Steve Trachsel gave up the home run that broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record.
Chan Ho Park gave up the home run that broke Mark McGwire's single-season home run record.
Mike Bacsik gave up the home run that broke Hank Aaron's career home run record.
And the fan who caught Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run? Our old pal Dave O'Brien just reported with a touch of astonishment that he's wearing a Mets jersey.
Who says we're not a part of home run history?
In other news from Tuesday night, the team Hank Aaron used to play for and still works for beat the team Mike Bacsik used to pitch for...beat them rather handily. With a 756th career home run being hit across the continent, I consider the matter trivial. As Hank Aaron recorded a graceful, gracious, great message of congratulations to somebody he probably wanted nothing to do with, for one Tuesday night, I'm willing to let this Atlanta victory over the Mets go uncommented upon.
If Hank can extend a hand, so can I: Congratulations to the greatest hitter I've ever seen. However you did it, whatever happens to you as a result of however you did it, whyever you act the way you do, you could play some ball, with or without.
I wish you had done it without.
The blog for Mets fans
who like to read Search
GET THE BOOK!
Faith and Fear in Flushing: An Intense Personal History by Greg Prince (foreword by Jason Fry), is available now via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online booksellers.  Recent Entries
Recent Photos
This Month
Month Archive
About Us
Faith and Fear in Flushing made its debut on Feb. 16, 2005, the brainchild of two longtime friends and lifelong Met fans.
Greg Prince discovered the Mets when he was 6, during the magical summer of 1969. He is a Long Island-based writer, editor and communications consultant. Contact him here. Jason Fry is a Brooklyn writer whose first memories include his mom leaping up and down cheering for Rusty Staub. Check out his other writing here. To comment on the blog, register here. Or you can email us at faithandfear@gmail.com Use Facebook? Come check out our page, or drop by the personal pages for Greg and Jason. Or follow us on Twitter: Here's Greg, and here's Jason Faith and Fear Shirts
The Faith and Fear in Flushing "numbers" shirt has been seen from Verona, N.J., to Venice. You can get yours right here -- price about as cheap as we can make it. Blog Park @ FAFIF Yards
Dream Seats (Sit Back and Enjoy)
Amazin' Avenue Metphistopheles MetsBlog Mets Guy in Michigan Metstradamus Mets Walkoffs Mike's Mets Field Level (Close to the Action) Always Amazin' BlueAndOrange.net Eddie Kranepool Society Hot Foot MetsGeek The Mets Police Real Dirty Mets Blog Loge (Unique Perspective) The Ballclub Brooklyn Met Fan Dana Brand Mets Fan Blog The InterMet Loge 13 Mets Are Better Than Sex Mets Grrl Met Silverman My Summer Family No No Hitters Optimistic Mets Fan Remembering Shea Section 528 Take the 7 Train Yankees 2000 Curse Auxiliary Press Box Daily News: Surfing the Mets John Delcos' NY Mets Report Flushing Fussing Improve Conditions (Tim Marchman) Journal News: The LoHud Mets Blog Newsday: On the Mets Beat Post: Mets Chat The Record: Amazin' Stories Star-Ledger: On the Mets Times: Bats (Mets Posts) WFAN: Ed Coleman Mezzanine (Great Distance) 213 Miles From Shea Archie Bunker's Army Chicago Mets Fan It's Mets for Me Let's Go Mets Lone Star Mets Mets Fan in Chicago Southern Mets Transplanted Mets Fan Upper Deck (What a Crowd!) 24 Hours From Suicide Betty's No Good Bitter Bill Global NY Mets Fan Blog Go Mets Die Braves Gotta Believers I Hate the Mets Matt Himelfarb Met Baseball Mets Fans Forever Mets Fever Mets Heads Mets Lifer Mets Merized Online Mets Prospect Hub Mets Prospects Mets Today Metsies & Other Musings Misery Loves Company Mostly Mets Mr. Metzyzptlk Never Forget '69 Oh Murph Perfect Pitch Pessimets Pick Me Up Some Mets Priced Out of the Citi Rational Mets Musings The 'Ropolitans Seven Train to Shea Studious Metsimus The Wright Stuff Ya Gotta Believe Zisk Online Mets Extra
You Could Look It Up
Baseball Almanac: Mets The Baseball Cube Baseball Library Baseball Prospectus Baseball Reference: Mets Cool Standings Cot's Baseball Contracts ESPN: Players ESPN: Scores Hall of Fame Metaforian Mets by the Numbers Retrosheet Salary vs. Performance Ultimate Mets Database The Youth of America Buffalo Bisons Binghamton Mets St. Lucie Mets Savannah Sand Gnats Brooklyn Cyclones Kingsport Mets The Braintrust Daily News The Journal News Newsday New York Post The Record (N.J.) The Star-Ledger New York Times Road Apples Atlanta Journal-Constitution Miami Herald Philly.com Washington Post Press Notes Ballhype ESPN Clubhouse: Mets ESPN Local MLB Press Pass Sports Illustrated: Mets Sports Illustrated Vault SportsSpyder Yahoo Mets Grant's Tombs Polo Grounds Shea Stadium CitiField Out of Town Scoreboard Ballparks, Arenas & Stadiums Ballparks of Baseball Ballpark Tour Baseball Pilgrimages Clem's Ballpark Diagrams Digital Ballparks Frank's Ballparks Jay Buckley Baseball Tours Mike McCann's Engaging Images Stadium Page Frequency Bob Murphy CW 11 Gary, Keith & Ron MLB Extra Innings Neil Best's Watchdog NY Baseball Digest Radio Roadtrip SNY WFAN XM Radio YouTube: JPhilips41 The Picnic Area 19th Century Mets 100 Greatest NY Days Armchair GM Bad Mets Brooklyn Ballparks Bugs and Cranks Carl's Mets Page CBS Sportsline: Mets Centerfield Maz Crosstown Rivals DGW Photo Blog Eephus Pitch Flushing University Forgotten New York Gotham Baseball Hot Dog Vending at Shea Howard Megdal I Heart Mets Inside Pitch Jackie Robinson Foundation Knuckleball From Hell Long Island Ducks Mathematically Alive Meet the Matts Met Camp Met Fan Book Mets Fan Club Mets Images Mets Pulse Mets Short Mets Tube Mets Zone New York Mets Hall of Records NY Mets Report NY Sports Day NY Sports Dog NY SportSpace A Piece of Shea Productive Outs & Cracker Jack Pro Sports Daily: Mets Rumors A Quest for Keith Record Online SABR NYC Save the Apple SportSnipe Steve's Mets Photos TNYM True Fans Bleed Blue & Orange Very Unofficial Mets Site Extreme Baseball At Home Plate Baseball Analysts Baseball Bookshelf Baseball Card Blog Baseball Crank Baseball Fever Baseball Limo Baseball Talmud Baseball Think Factory Baseball Toaster Blogging Baseball Bobby V's Way Brent Mayne Cardboard Gods Cardboard Junkie The Dead Ball Era The Dugout Dugout Central Excruciating Baseball Lists Hardball Times Israel Baseball League Japan Baseball Daily Jewish Major Leaguers Life in the Minors Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Quality At-Bats Rob Kirkpatrick 1969 SABR Sports Collectors Daily Squeeze Play Cards Stats on the Back Streetplay Super '70s Baseball Cards Topps Baseball Card Blog United States of Baseball USA Today Write On Sports Yard Work Multipurpose Stadium American Legends Blooming Ideas Brooklyn Mutt Can't Stop the Bleeding The Daily Fix Dan Shanoff Deadspin Gelf Magazine Getting Paid to Watch Get Untracked Gil Meche Experience Hot Stove New York Jeff Pearlman The Jestaplero Joe Posnanski Ladies... Legend of Cecilio Guante Mike's Neighborhood New York Magazine: The Sports Section Riding With Rickey Scratchbomb Straight Flushing Uni Watch Uni Watch Blog The Rotunda Amazinz Crane Pool Forum Grand Slam Single Happy Recap Board Mets Refugees The Mofo Talk Baseball Everybody's Comin' Down Mets: Official Site The 7 Train LIRR FAFIF Says...
Very Hot Stove
Met Hell First Circle Second Circle Second Second Circle Fourth Circle Fifth Circle Aw Heck Sixth Circle Seventh Circle Eighth Circle Ninth Circle Redemption Look Who's No. 100-1 Criteria 100-91 90-81 80-71 70-61 60-51 50-41 40-31 30-21 20-11 10-1 * Years to Remember 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Moments of Silence Hunter S. Thompson Bernie The Cat Nate Fisher Donn Clendenon John Spencer Lou Rawls Tom Belcher Five Years Later Cory Lidle Highlight Films Greatest Hits of 1986 Winter League 2005-2006 The 2005 Faith and Fear Yearbook 
|
Our Place in the 756 Club
Comments
Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
Laurie
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 12:49 AM EDT | Permanent Link
I'm disgusted. Not because of anything he took or didn't take, but that such a repugnant human being should shove Hank Aaron out of the record books. I admire Hammerin' Hank no end, and even if he'd never taken so much as Tylenol, Barry Bonds isn't fit to wipe his cleats. Great hitter. Horrible person. Questionable validity.
I watched Hank secure his record. This one... I would have sooner watched Jeter, Giambi and A-Rod dance naked on my lawn. Re: Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
Tonight, the TMI on your cap stands for Totally Misguided Imagery.
I mean Giambi? Naked? On your lawn? That's it, I'm calling the cops. Re: Re: Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
Laurie
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 08:43 AM EDT | Permanent Link
That's how repulsive I find Bonds doing what he did. Doesn't get much worse than that imagery, does it?
Unless you add Clemens. Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
dmg
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 07:24 AM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
what is the big deal here? a batter for a last-place team hits a homerun against another last-place team that leaves him merely 112 home runs shy of the career professional record (sadaharu oh, 868), and espn goes bonkers.
is this the kind of country we've become, corrupted by the lure of lowered expectations? a distant second place is good enough? sheesh. Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
J M
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 09:01 AM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
I wouldn't congratulate this guy with a hose if he was on fire. Didn't like him before he cheated, don't like him now.
I was what was once known as a "baseball purist"... but you don't hear that term much anymore. At least the most revered record in sports is now officially tainted and we can all just get on with the business of ignoring how screwy MLB has been since it died that ugly death in 1994. Congratulations, Bud. Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
elliot
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 09:16 AM EDT | Permanent Link
Congratulations to the San Francisco Giant fans. You got what you wanted. The goal for which your team sacrificed it's season has been realized. I hope that Bonds homer achievement makes the fact that your team is in last place and has a very poor outlook for the future more bearable. Maybe now Bonds will retire, and the team that he's been holding hostage can go on about it's business of trying to figure out how to win more than it loses.
Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
CharlieH
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 09:58 AM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
There was a game other than Mets/Braves?
I hadn't heard... Regarding that game, all I can say is FUCKPISSWANKBUGGERSHITTINGASSHEADANDHOLE! Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
Anonymous
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 10:42 AM EDT | Permanent Link
Congratulations go out to Barry. I hope it was worth it. Giants fans got what they wanted. All we want is to beat the Braves!
Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
Anonymous
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 10:43 AM EDT | Permanent Link
If the guy who caught Bonds' ball was a real Mets fan -- or a real baseball fan -- he would have thrown it back.
Re: Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
CharlieH
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 01:48 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
Would you throw back a potential million? If it were I, that baby'd be going right into a safe deposit box... Re: Re: Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
Back in the day of McGwire and Sosa "saving" baseball, I was with the "aw, give it to the player" crowd. Now, unless it's a Met (and not the next Bobby Bo), I imagine I'd be working with Leland's or Sotheby's or whoever could make me a buck. At least Bonds says he doesn't care. If A-Rod wants his 500th, give the guy who caught it a thousand bucks...per every homer you've hit in your career.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
pcelli60
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 04:53 PM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
Take a peak at the latest SI. Interesting Bonds article. It has a break down of his numbers- and I mean all his numbers including height and weight. It does seem something profound happened to his body starting in 96' extending through 2001..Try and remember that 73 home run season. The entire year seemed unreal. I could not help but thinking how he was doing it? For that matter I felt the same way about Mcguire and Sosa. Those numbers seemed so ridiculous! They still do!! I tried to rationalize it by saying the Ballparks are too hitter friendly or that the pitching was basically crappy through out the league and that the players where bigger and stronger based on better training..However I still wonder.. The fact is Greg is that I don't really want to know if all three of them cheated. I really want to believe that they didn't. I love the game so much that I want to believe it simply happened in the course of the games progression. But I am also not a child. I lost all my innocence in Baseball on a day in June in the year 1977..Nope I don't want to know. And I don't hate Bonds as he is the greatest hitter of his generation. His swing is too sweet his eyes too keen. I wish he was on our side..
Rich Re: Re: Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
Megan
on Wed 08 Aug 2007 06:34 PM EDT | Permanent Link
It's not a potential million. It's about $100,000, according to estimates. This is because many investors worry that the ball will drop in value if Bonds is found to have lied about steroid usage.
If you have a good job and a good life, $100,000 won't change much. That money will be gone soon enough, but if you have the guts to throw the ball back, you'll always be the guy/girl who threw back Bonds' record-breaking home run ball. And that would easily be worth $100,000 to me. Re: Re: Re: Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
Or as Nelson Rockefeller put it to reporters in one 1960s campaign swing, "Take your average family of four making a hundred thousand dollars..."
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
I'd like to say I'd throw it back. But holding $100,000 in my hand? I dunno.
Fortunately, I have the reaction time of a sloth on heroin, so this will remain utterly theoretical where I'm concerned. Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
Megan
on Thu 09 Aug 2007 11:13 AM EDT | Permanent Link
You can't bring reality in here. Realistically, there'd be no chance of me catching the ball because I'd duck and cover my head instead of grabbing it. Also, when I tried to throw it back, I'd probably toss it smack into the railing or something, setting off a new melee.
But this isn't about reality. It's about principle. Re: Our Place in the 756 Club
by
756 iWasThere
on Thu 16 Aug 2007 05:13 AM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
This is how I support our 756 home run champion: www.756iwasthereblogspot.com
I was there at the game and i was totally impressed when Barry Bonds finally broke the record. Also in attendance for ball 755. I have much love for the Bay Area. |