[轉錄] 關於Hank Aaron的全壘打紀錄
每次有人討論到Hank Aaron的全壘打紀錄，
一定會提到Barry Bonds及A-Rod. 這一篇文章大致也是如此，
如果有空的話不彷看看吧。
From: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/02/sports/BONDS.php
If Bonds passes Aaron, his hold on record could be brief
By Tyler Kepner The New York Times
MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2006
The home of the Braves is at 755 Hank Aaron Drive in Atlanta. That was
the address given to Turner Field, which opened in 1997, as the successor
to Fulton County Stadium, which had stood next door. It was there, in
1974, that Aaron propelled an Al Downing pitch over the left-center field
fence and into history.
Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record then, and for the next
quarter-century nobody challenged it. Then, alleges "Game of Shadows," an
explosive new book by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, Barry Bonds
started using steroids. Now, Aaron's record may fall.
Bonds enters this season as the game's most intriguing, and most
vilified, character. He is 41, with 708 home runs and a right knee that
required three operations last year. There is no doubting his ability to
crank homers - he hit four in his first 16 at-bats this spring - and if
he stays healthy, Aaron's record of 755 is in reach.
The cause of Bonds's expanded physique since 1999 has been endlessly
scrutinized; he has repeatedly denied knowingly using steroids, and
baseball only began testing for them in 2003.
But considering the way Bonds has improved his home-run hitting late in
his career, baseball may be better off if he merely rents the record.
Years from now, the owner may be the Alex Rodriguez, a New York Yankee
who has never been linked to performance-enhancing drugs and has a
renowned work ethic.
"I've never seen anybody as physically prepared as A-Rod is every day,"
the Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said. "What he does to get ready, to me,
is unbelievable. The way he works out. But when you get to 36, 37, 38,
39, 40, it's a little different."
Of course, Jackson was told, those are the years when Bonds actually
improved. Jackson, who hit 563 homers and never topped 30 in a season
after turning 37, was silent for a moment.
"They don't make those vitamins anymore," he said.
Jackson said he believed Bonds might pass Ruth, who had 714 homers, and
leave Aaron's mark untouched. But Jackson acknowledged that he does not
know Bonds well.
Bonds could be driven to break Aaron's mark, despite periodic hints about
retirement.
"I wouldn't put much merit in anything Barry says," said Andy Van Slyke,
a Detroit Tigers coach who sometimes clashed with Bonds when they played
together for six years with the Pittsburgh Pirates. "His track history
proves that. But I think, deep down, he wants the whole thing."
The Tigers' manager, Jim Leyland, who was Bonds's first manager in the
majors, said the record matters greatly to Bonds.
"I know Barry Bonds," Leyland said. "Ever since I met him, he wanted to
be the best. That's one of the reasons he's such a great player."
Leyland told a story about Bonds as a young player. One day in the
Pirates' clubhouse, he said, Bonds noticed a large box in front of Van
Slyke's locker. Bonds asked what was in it, and Van Slyke told him it was
a Gold Glove award. Bonds declared then that he would win one, and now he
has eight. When Bonds makes up his mind, Leyland said, he can do almost
anything.
It seems inevitable that Bonds will pass Ruth to become the career leader
in homers by a left-handed hitter. Baseball will have a thornier issue if
Bonds closes in on Aaron.
Aaron, who is 72, could speak powerfully simply by showing up on the
night Bonds breaks the record - or by snubbing him. For now, according to
his assistant, Susan Bailey, Aaron will not publicly discuss Bonds. Aaron
did say, in an e-mail message, that he has always believed his record
would be broken.
Referring to Rodriguez, Aaron wrote: "It depends on how long he plans to
continue playing and that he stays in good health, which would be key."
But if it is Bonds who passes Aaron, it would surely take some luster off
755.
Van Slyke, host of a radio show in St. Louis before joining the Tigers'
staff this year, said: "Do I think it's a bad thing? Well, I would think
the public would be more concerned about that than I would. The record's
the record. It's irrelevant whether it's suspicion of cheating or not. I
mean, Gaylord Perry had a lot of wins cheating, too, so let's not forget
that. Cheating's cheating to me. But, absolutely, people don't want him
to. I think, generally speaking, fans do not want Barry Bonds to have
that record."
Explaining Bonds to future generations will be complicated, because he
was bound for the Hall of Fame well before the 1999 season - the first,
"Game of Shadows" asserts, in which Bonds began using steroids. Starting
with that season, he nearly doubled his home run rate, from one every
16.1 at-bats to one every 8.5 at-bats. He hit 73 homers, the
single-season record, in 2001.
The Yankees' manager, Joe Torre, who was the St. Louis Cardinals' manager
when Bonds won three Most Valuable Player awards with the Pirates in the
early 1990's, said fans would probably discredit all that Bonds had done.
"Instead of questioning the period, they're going to question the player
for the whole time, and I don't think that's fair," Torre said. "Because
he was a heck of a player as a skinny kid. He hit a lot of home runs
against me. I would walk him intentionally even then, so that kind of
respect was earned at that point in time."
Now, Torre manages Rodriguez, who is the only player to have hit 400 home
runs before his 30th birthday. He begins this season with 429, turns 31
in July and has the best shot at catching Bonds. Even Leyland, who speaks
nothing ill of Bonds, does not expect him to hold off Rodriguez.
"If Alex Rodriguez stays healthy and they pitch to him," Leyland said, "I
think he'll hit more home runs than anybody."
Rodriguez said he had no idea how long he would play past his contract,
which expires after the 2010 season, when he will be 35.
"How I've gotten to this point is by really treasuring each day and
treasuring each season, without allowing myself to say, 'Where will I be
at 30?'" Rodriguez said. "So I'm not going to allow myself now to start
thinking about 40 or 35."
When Rodriguez was a free agent after the 2000 season, his agent, Scott
Boras, said he would hit 778 homers. Now, if he averages 35 a year for
the next 10 seasons, he will end up with 779.
The Seattle Mariners did not make such projections when they chose
Rodriguez first in the 1993 draft, but they knew he was special. He cared
about his diet, for one thing. Roger Jongewaard, who ran the draft for
Seattle, noticed that while other kids gobbled pizza, Rodriguez resisted.
"Chicken and vegetables, that's all he'd eat," Jongewaard said.
Rodriguez was in the majors before his 19th birthday, and his power soon
became obvious. Early in Rodriguez's Mariners career, a scout who worked
with him in the winter excitedly filed a report to Jongewaard.
"Alex was hitting balls over the center-field fence off the tee," said
Jongewaard, who has been in baseball for 50 years. "Our scout said he had
never seen that, and I got to thinking, and I'd never seen it, either.
Usually the ball has to supply a little bit of energy coming in.
"But Alex is very, very strong, and he's gotten big, too. He used to be
rangy. Now he's thickened up, and he's gotten stronger with maturity.
He's a pretty impressive specimen."
The worst accusation against Rodriguez is that he bragged too much about
his workouts in an interview last spring. Whatever people think of him
personally, the legitimacy of Rodriguez's performance has never been
questioned.
"I never like to compare myself to anyone," he said. "But I am proud of
everything that I've done in this game." Rodriguez has not been on the
disabled list since 2000. In the first five years of his 10-year
contract, he has played in all but eight of his team's games.
If he continues to avoid injury, the home run record could be his. If
Bonds is the man whom Rodriguez is chasing, it is safe to say baseball
will be rooting for him.
"It would be better than Barry - much better," Jongewaard said. "Because
if it's true that Barry used steroids and steroids are against the rules,
it's like pitching from 58 feet away. You're breaking the rules."
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