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.

Time to Stop Ridiculous Hating on Jeter

Over the years I’ve heard a lot of hatred thrown Derek Jeter’s way saying that he’s the most overrated baseball player in the game, some even say ever. Well, Jeter went 5 for 5 against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday to become the 28^th player in baseball history to achieve 3,000 career hits. Only the 28^th and 3,000 is one of the most iconic, if not the most iconic, stats in the game. Now that Jeter has joined this class of all time greats that includes Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial and others people should drop the “overrated” bit and see that Jeter is an all time great. It’s always amazed me when people tried to claim that Jeter was something less than a legend before, now if they do it I’ll know for sure that they are indeed highly ignorant. Give Jeter his due as a baseball legend and get over your asinine hatred for the man.

Black History Month a Time to Celebrate Hank Aaron

Black History Month always reminds me of two of my heroes as an avid baseball fan: Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron. I’ve previously had the opportunity to write about Robinson before, so I’ll keep this centered on Aaron, one of the greatest, yet most underrated athletes of all time.

Greatest and underrated are two words that generally don’t go together in the sports lexicon. However, Aaron is exactly that.

He’s one of the greatest baseball players and athletes in general of all time simply based on his numbers on the field. Aaron finished his illustrious baseball career with 755 career home runs, a record until Barry Bonds cheated his way past it with steroids a few years ago, 2,297 runs batted in (first all time), 3,771 hits (third all time) and 2,174 runs scored (fourth all time- tied with Babe Ruth).

Despite these all time great numbers, Aaron is only considered to be the fifth greatest baseball player ever by The Sporting News. In my book, that’s the equivalent of saying Michael Jordan is the fifth greatest basketball player of all time.

Hank Aaron the great baseball player is only half the story about why he’s one of my personal heroes. Hank Aaron the man means just as much.

In the early 1970s, when it became apparent that Aaron had a shot at breaking the legendary Ruth’s all time home run record he started to receive hate mail and death threats. Many of these hate mail letters and death threats were published in Aaron’s autobiography “I Had a Hammer,” and are to this day some of the most vile, despicable things I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Not only did Aaron receive these threats, but so did his family and during a time when his focus should’ve been solely on baseball, things got so bad that he and his family had to be protected by FBI agents and he couldn’t even stay in the same hotel as his teammates while on the road as a safety precaution.

This led to William Leggett writing in Sports Illustrated in 1973: “Is this to be the year in which Aaron, at the age of 39, takes a moon walk above one of the most hallowed individual records in American sport...? Or will it be remembered as the season in which Aaron, the most dignified of athletes, was besieged with hate mail and trapped by the cobwebs and goblins that lurk in baseball's attic?”

It was a moment that should’ve been cheered by everyone in the country ­– both black and white – but, like so many things that came before, it divided the country.

Aaron refused to quit and kept on playing. On April 8, 1974, he hit career home run number 715 off of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing to break Ruth’s home run record. It was a moment that should’ve been nothing but joy, but unfortunately felt more like a burden had been lifted off of his chest.

Aaron said: “I read the letters, because they remind me not to be surprised or hurt. They remind me what people are really like" and “Babe Ruth never had to contend with anything like that when he was establishing his record.”

Aaron was the kind of athlete that kids today should aspire to be and more importantly he’s the kind of man they should aspire to be.

During Black History Month when students learn about great African-American leaders and heroes like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson and others I hope that Aaron’s legacy is being taught right alongside them. He’s every bit as important.

Greatest Athletes by Numbers

#99

1. Wayne Gretzky (Hockey)
2. George Mikan (Basketball)
3. Jason Taylor (Football)

#98

1. Tony Siragusa (Football)
2. Jessie Armstead (Football)
3. Casey Hampton (Football)

#97

1. Simeon Rice (Football)
2. Jeremy Roenick (Hockey)
3. Cornelius Bennett (Football)

#96

1. Pavel Bure (Hockey)
2. Cortez Kennedy (Football)
3. Bill Voiselle (Baseball)

#95

1. Richard Dent (Football)
2. Sam Adams (Football)
3. Greg Lloyd (Football)

#94

1. Charles Haley (Football)
2. Demarcus Ware (Football)
3. Dana Stubblefield (Football)

#93

1. Doug Gilmore (Hockey)
2. John Randle (Football)
3. Richard Seymour (Football)

#92

1. Reggie White (Football)
2. Michael Strahan (Football)
3. Ted Washington (Football)

#91

1. Dennis Rodman (Basketball)
2. Sergei Fedorov (Hockey)
3. Kevin Greene (Football)

#90

1. Bob Kurland (Basketball)
2. Neil Smith (Football)
3. Jevon Kearse (Football)

#89

1. Mike Ditka (Football)
2. Gino Marchetti (Football)
3. Fred Dryer (Football)

#88

1. Marvin Harrison (Football)
2. Michael Irvin (Football)
3. Alan Page (Football)

#87

1. Dave Casper (Football)
2. Dwight Clark (Football)
3. Sidney Crosby (Hockey)

#86

1. Hines Ward (Football)
2. Buck Buchanan (Football)
3. Dante Lavelli (Football)

#85

1. Jack Youngblood (Football)
2. Nick Buoniconti (Football)
3. Mark Duper (Football)

#84

1. Shannon Sharpe (Football)
2. Randy Moss (Football)
3. Stirling Sharpe (Football)

#83

1. Ted Hendricks (Football)
2. Andre Reed (Football)
3. Mark Clayton (Football)

#82

1. Raymond Berry (Football)
2. Ozzie Newsome (Football)
3. John Stallworth (Football)

#81

1. Tim Brown (Football)
2. Terrell Owens (Football)
3. Dick Lane (Football)

#80

1. Jerry Rice (Football)
2. Kellen Winslow (Football)
3. Steve Largent (Football)

#79

1. Harvey Martin (Football)
2. Roosevelt Brown (Football)
3. Bob St. Claire (Football)

#78

1. Bruce Smith (Football)
2. Anthony Munoz (Football)
3. Jackie Slater (Football)

#77

1. Red Grange (Football)
2. Ray Bourque (Hockey)
3. Willie Roaf (Football)

#76

1. Lou Groza (Football)
2. Orlando Pace (Football)
3. Marion Motley (Football)

#75

1. Deacon Jones (Football)
2. Howie Long (Football)
3. Joe Greene (Football)

#74

1. Merlin Olsen (Football)
2. Bob Lilly (Football)
3. Bruce Matthews (Football)

#73

1. John Hannah (Football)
2. Ron Yary (Football)
3. Joe Klecko (Football)

#72

1. Carlton Fisk (Baseball)
2. Dan Dierdorf (Football)
3. Ed Jones (Football)

#71

1. Alex Karras (Football)
2. Tony Boselli (Football)
3. George Connor (Football)

#70

1. Sam Huff (Football)
2. Jim Marshall (Football)
3. Art Donovan (Football)

#69

1. Mark Schlereth (Football)
2. Tim Krumrie (Football)
3. Jared Allen (Football)

#68

1. Jaromir Jagr (Hockey)
2. Will Shields (Football)
3. Kevin Mawae (Football)

#67

1. Bob Kuechenberg (Football)
2. Ed White (Football)
3. Russell Maryland (Football)

#66

1. Mario Lemieux (Hockey)
2. Ray Nitschke (Football)
3. Alan Faneca (Football)

#65

1. Elvin Bethea (Football)
2. Tom Mack (Football)
3. Gary Zimmerman (Football)

#64

1. Randall McDaniel (Football)
2. Jerry Kramer (Football)
3. Jack Reynolds (Football)

#63

1. Willie Lanier (Football)
2. Gene Upshaw (Football)
3. Lee Roy Selmon (Football)

#62

1. Jim Langer (Football)
2. Guy McIntyre (Football)
3. Scot Shields (Baseball)

#61

1. Bill George (Football)
2. Curley Culp (Football)
3. Josh Beckett (Baseball)

#60

1. Chuck Bednarik (Football)
2. Otto Graham (Football)
3. Scott Schoenweis (Baseball)

#59

1. Jack Ham (Football)
2. Seth Joyner (Football)
3. Todd Jones (Baseball)

#58

1. Jack Lambert (Football)
2. Derrick Thomas (Football)
3. Jonathan Papelbon (Baseball)

#57

1. Dwight Stephensen (Football)
2. Johan Santana (Baseball)
3. Clay Matthews (Football)

#56

1. Lawrence Taylor (Football)
2. Andre Tippett (Football)
3. Chris Doleman (Football)

#55

1. Junior Seau (Football)
2. Derrick Brooks (Football)
3. Dikembe Mutombo (Basketball)

#54

1. Randy White (Football)
2. Goose Gossage (Baseball)
3. Brian Urlacher (Football)

#53

1. Don Drysdale (Baseball)
2. Harry Carson (Football)
3. Artis Gilmore (Basketball)

#52

1. Ray Lewis (Football)
2. Mike Webster (Football)
3. Buck Williams (Basketball)

#51

1. Dick Butkus (Football)
2. Randy Johnson (Baseball)
3. Ichiro Suzuki (Baseball)

#50

1. Mike Singletary (Football)
2. David Robinson (Basketball)
3. Rebecca Lobo (Basketball)

#49

1. Ron Guidry (Baseball)
2. Bobby Mitchell (Football)
3. Charlie Hough (Baseball)

#48

1. Jimmie Johnson (Auto Racing)
2. Torii Hunter (Baseball)
3. Sam McDowell (Baseball)

#47

1. Tom Glavine (Baseball)
2. Mel Blount (Football)
3. Jack Morris (Baseball)

#46

1. Lee Smith (Baseball)
2. Andy Pettitte (Baseball)
3. Todd Christensen (Football)

#45

1. Bob Gibson (Baseball)
2. Pedro Martinez (Baseball)
3. Archie Griffin (Football)

#44

1. Hank Aaron (Baseball)
2. Jerry West (Basketball)
3. Reggie Jackson (Baseball)

#43

1. Richard Petty (Auto Racing)
2. Dennis Eckersley (Baseball)
3. Jack Sikma (Basketball)

#42

1. Jackie Robinson (Baseball)
2. Ronnie Lott (Football)
3. Mariano Rivera (Baseball)

#41

1. Tom Seaver (Baseball)
2. Eddie Matthews (Baseball)
3. Wes Unseld (Basketball)

#40

1. Gale Sayers (Football)
2. Elroy Hirsch (Football)
3. Bill Laimbeer (Basketball)

#39

1. Roy Campanella (Baseball)
2. Larry Csonka (Football)
3. Dominik Hasek (Hockey)

#38

1. Curt Schilling (Baseball)
2. George Rogers (Football)
3. Rocky Colavito (Baseball)

#37

1. Doak Walker (Football)
2. Shaun Alexander (Football)
3. Lester Hayes (Football)

#36

1. Robin Roberts (Baseball)
2. Gaylord Perry (Baseball)
3. Jerome Bettis (Football)

#35

1. Phil Niekro (Baseball)
2. Frank Thomas (Baseball)
3. Rickey Henderson (Baseball)

#34

1. Walter Payton (Football)
2. Shaquille O’Neal (Basketball)
3. Hakeem Olajuwon (Basketball)

#33

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Basketball)
2. Larry Bird (Basketball)
3. Tony Dorsett (Football)

#32

1. Jim Brown (Football)
2. Magic Johnson (Basketball)
3. Sandy Koufax (Baseball)

#31

1. Greg Maddux (Baseball)
2. Reggie Miller (Basketball)
3. Dave Winfield (Baseball)

#30

1. Nolan Ryan (Baseball)
2. Ken Griffey Jr. (Baseball)
3. Orlando Cepeda (Baseball)

#29

1. Rod Carew (Baseball)
2. Eric Dickerson (Football)
3. John Smoltz (Baseball)

#28

1. Cale Yarborough (Auto Racing)
2. Marshall Faulk (Football)
3. Bert Blyleven (Baseball)

#27

1. Juan Marichal (Baseball)
2. Carlton Fisk (Baseball)
3. Vladimir Guerrero (Baseball)

#26

1. Rod Woodson (Football)
2. Wade Boggs (Baseball)
3. Billy Williams (Baseball)

#25

1. K.C. Jones (Basketball)
2. Fred Biletnikoff (Football)
3. Gail Goodrich (Basketball)

#24

1. Willie Mays (Baseball)
2. Jeff Gordon (Auto Racing)
3. Kobe Bryant (Basketball)

#23

1. Michael Jordan (Basketball)
2. LeBron James (Basketball)
3. Ryne Sandberg (Baseball)

#22

1. Emmitt Smith (Football)
2. Elgin Baylor (Basketball)
3. Jim Palmer (Baseball)

#21

1. Roberto Clemente (Baseball)
2. Tim Duncan (Basketball)
3. David Pearson (Auto Racing)

#20

1. Barry Sanders (Football)
2. Mike Schmidt (Baseball)
3. Frank Robinson (Baseball)

#19

1. Johnny Unitas (Football)
2. Bob Feller (Baseball)
3. Tony Gwynn (Baseball)

#18

1. Peyton Manning (Football)
2. Dave Cowens (Basketball)
3. Charlie Joiner (Football)

#17

1. John Havlicek (Basketball)
2. Dizzy Dean (Baseball)
3. Matt Kenseth (Auto Racing)

#16

1. Joe Montana (Football)
2. George Blanda (Football)
3. Whitey Ford (Baseball)

#15

1. Bart Star (Football)
2. Hal Greer (Basketball)
3. Tom Heinsohn (Basketball)

#14

1. Pete Rose (Baseball)
2. Ernie Banks (Baseball)
3. AJ Foyt (Auto Racing)

#13

1. Wilt Chamberlain (Basketball)
2. Dan Marino (Football)
3. Alex Rodriguez (Baseball)

#12

1. Tom Brady (Football)
2. Terry Bradshaw (Football)
3. John Stockton (Basketball)

#11

1. Mark Messier (Hockey)
2. Isiah Thomas (Basketball)
3. Elvin Hayes (Basketball)

#10

1. Pele (Soccer)
2. Fran Tarkenton (Football)
3. Chipper Jones (Baseball)

#9

1. Ted Williams (Baseball)
2. Gordie Howe (Hockey)
3. Bob Petit (Basketball)

#8

1. Cal Ripken Jr. (Baseball)
2. Yogi Berra (Baseball)
3. Troy Aikman (Football)

#7

1. Mickey Mantle (Baseball)
2. John Elway (Football)
3. Craig Biggio (Baseball)

#6

1. Bill Russell (Basketball)
2. Stan Musial (Baseball)
3. Julius Erving (Basketball)

#5

1. Joe DiMaggio (Baseball)
2. Johnny Bench (Baseball)
3. Brooks Robinson (Baseball)

#4

1. Lou Gehrig (Baseball)
2. Bobby Orr (Hockey)
3. Brett Favre (Baseball)

#3

1. Babe Ruth (Baseball)
2. Dale Earnhardt (Auto Racing)
3. Allen Iverson (Basketball)

#2

1. Derek Jeter (Baseball)
2. Rusty Wallace (Auto Racing)
3. Charley Gehringer (Baseball)

#1

1. Oscar Robertson (Basketball)
2. Ozzie Smith (Baseball)
3. Warren Moon (Football)

#0/00

1. Robert Parrish (Basketball)
2. Jim Otto (Football)
3. Al Oliver (Baseball)

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.