Just Another Tainted Home Run Record

A friend of mine was watching an Atlanta Braves telecast a few days ago and texted me the daily trivia question from the broadcast. The question said Chipper Jones hit 433 career homers under manager Bobby Cox, which player has the most career home runs under one manager?

The first answer that popped into my head was Albert Pujols under Tony La Russa. Pujols hit 445 homers with La Russa as his manager, but that wasn’t the correct answer. Some other player/manager combinations that popped into my head were Babe Ruth and Miller Huggins, which ranks second all-time on the list with 467 homers, and Jimmie Foxx and Connie Mack, who combined for 302.

Then the correct answer hit me. I texted my friend, “I figured out the answer, but I don’t like it.” He responded: Mark McGwire and Tony La Russa? I said, “Yep.” He responded with an expletive, obviously not liking the answer much himself.

Mark McGwire hit a record 494 home runs under La Russa’s management, which is 85 percent of his career total. When you think about it the answer is actually quite simple, because Big Mac played the majority of his career under La Russa in both Oakland and St. Louis.

My friend and I didn’t care much for the answer though because those numbers were obviously tainted with McGwire’s use of performance enhancing drugs throughout his career. That wasn’t all we despised, but more so the fact that it seems nearly every important home run record in baseball is tainted.

Most career home runs tainted by Barry Bonds. Most single season home runs tainted by Bonds, after previously being tainted by McGwire. Most career grand slams tainted by Alex Rodriguez. Most Major League Baseball stadiums homered in tainted by Sammy Sosa. Most consecutive seasons with 30-plus homers a tainted tie between Bonds and A-Rod.

If you are a big baseball fan, like I am, you probably consider the home run to be the most majestic thing in all of sports and for the longest time baseball home run records like Roger Maris’ 61 homers in a single season or especially Hank Aaron’s 755 homers for a career were the greatest records in sports. The most treasured records in sports. Then came the steroid era and Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Rodriguez and numerous others just utterly and thoroughly trashed and made a mockery at of these sacred records. It’s something a baseball purist like me can’t get over and probably never will. And, when I see the answer to a trivia question on yet another big home run record is tainted it steams me a bit.

Oddly enough one of the greatest baseball home run records for most in a single game (four) has been done by 16 different players and none of them, at least to my knowledge, has ever been accused of using performance enhancing drugs. So, for now maybe most home runs in a game remains the purest of all of the great home run records in baseball history.

The Sweetest Swing

*This is about a week too old and I apologize for that, but I just had to write something about Ken Griffey Jr.

I’ve seen many baseball players with sweet swings over my 15 years of watching the sport, including Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson (who for some reason surprises people when I say that), but I’ve never seen any player’s swing that even came close to Ken Griffey Jr.’s.

Griffey’s swing was magical. His swing was so fluid and quick that it’s probably the single most beautiful thing that I’ve ever seen in sports. It was that swing that put butts into the old Kingdome in Seattle back when the Mariners weren’t that great and people showed up just to watch the player they affectionately referred to as “The Kid.” It really was similar to what Nationals Park in Washington will see every fifth day for the rest of the season when young phenom Stephen Strasburg takes the mound.

The pitcher (you name one, Griffey probably took them deep) would go into his wind-up and throw that ball no matter how fast or with how much movement and Griffey would put that sweet swing on it and hit it what would seem like a mile. It was gone. He knew it immediately, the pitcher would know it immediately and you watching on TV (or if you were lucky in the ballpark) would know it immediately. Then he’d do something that you wouldn’t see from every ballplayer … he’d smile … smile that kid smile that he always seemed to have on his face from day one until his last day in baseball.

You could tell that Griffey truly loved playing the game of baseball and it was that meshed with his epic talents that made him the most lovable athlete that I think I’ve ever seen in any sport.

The great thing about Griffey is that in an era that we now know was tainted by steroid use, with great sluggers like Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire using, we truly believe that Griffey was a clean player. It might come out one day that we are all wrong and that will be a horrible day in my life and any baseball purist’s life, but we’re pretty sure that Griffey was clean.

Griffey finished his career with 630 home runs, which is fifth all time. This brings us to the disappointing point of Griffey’s career.

How can 630 homers be disappointing?

Griffey, without a doubt in my mind, should be the all time home run leader in baseball history and not Bonds. The day Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s home run record my baseball loving heart broke a little because I knew he didn’t do it cleanly. Griffey would have had injuries not thoroughly destroyed the back half of his career.

In four seasons (not counting this one), including three consecutively (2002-2004) Griffey played in less than 100 games. In 10 of his 21 seasons (once again, not counting this one) he played in less than 140 games. If we assume that a healthy Griffey plays in 155 games for those 10 seasons, than he missed an estimated 569 games in his career. That’s three and a half seasons of missed playing time. In his prime, Griffey was averaging almost 48 home runs a year. So, Griffey really should have ended his career with around 800 home runs. No baseball player has ever hit 800 home runs in a career.

With Griffey’s retirement most of those legendary baseball players that I grew up watching have now gone (I think Chipper Jones and Ivan Rodriguez are the only two remaining). Unfortunately, I’ll never forget that injuries put somewhat of a damper on Griffey’s great and hall of fame career. But, one thing I’m glad that I never will forget is the sweetest swing that I’ve ever seen.