I knew I would have to do this post someday. Blah. Here are ESPN’s plans for coverage of Barry Bonds’ chase for the career home run record:
- Live cut-ins and short turn-around highlights of Bonds’ at bats when he goes for home runs 754, 755 and 756 during all Major League Baseball game telecasts
- Live cut-in or taped highlights in non-MLB programming
- Short turn-around highlights of home runs 754, 755 and 756 on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS and ESPN on ABC
- Select cut-ins to Bonds’ at bats through home run 756 on ESPN.com
- Live cut-ins to each Bonds’ at bat once he reaches 754 home runs on ESPN Radio
- Comprehensive SportsCenter and ESPNEWS coverage – highlights, news and information – following on- and off-the-field storylines
Beyond 756 — An ESPN Town Meeting (Wednesday, July 25) This 90-minute SportsCenter special includes a collection of prominent baseball commentators discussing Bonds’ legacy and impact in front of a live audience at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts Theatre. Bob Ley hosts, with analysts featuring Dusty Baker, Ellis Burks, Kirk Rueter, Bryan Burwell, Buster Olney, Juan Williams and Game of Shadows coauthor Lance Williams.
In the Books: Barry Bonds #756 ESPN Classic will show a five-hour programming block dedicated to Bonds/Aaron coverage which would immediately follow Bonds’ record-setting performance. The block includes Classic Conversations: Barry Bonds, SportsCentury: Barry Bonds, SportsCentury: Hank Aaron and the 1996 Home Run Derby won by Bonds. (What? No encores of Bonds on Bonds?) The five-hour block will repeat itself until 8pm ET the next day when ESPN Classic’s coverage culminates with In the Books: Barry Bonds #756. In the Books is a studio show for major sports events and milestones that connects current perspective with historical events.
My personal stance on Bonds breaking Aaron’s record:
I grew up going to Milwaukee Brewers games at County Stadium, and we’d always pass a display case with Hank Aaron memorabilia in it on the way to our seats. I learned early on about Aaron’s accomplishment. I’d learn much later on exactly what he endured on the way to that accomplishment. So to see the record broken by anyone is bittersweet for me.
I was at the Brewers vs. Giants game at Miller Park on Friday. When Bonds would come up to bat, he was roundly booed, yet there were thousands of flashbulbs going off when he swung. (Though I can’t say for sure that the same people who were booing were also taking photos.) I neither booed nor took photos.
I’m just indifferent. As long as there is a cloud of suspicion over Bonds, 756 is just another number to me. It’s not like me, or anyone outside of San Francisco, is going to tell their grandkids decades from now how awesome it was to watch Barry Bonds’ home run chase back in Twenty Aught Seven. More likely, we’re going to tell them, “Yeah, Bonds is the home run king, but …” There’s always going to be that “but” attached to the record, to remind us of the hollow triumphs of baseball’s Steroid Era.
I’m not calling for asterisks or any of that. Let him have the record. Let him be officially recognized as the home run king. So be it. Ultimately, it’s us, the fans, who determine the true legacy of a player. It’s not determined by a number.
I’m fortunate to still be able to go to baseball games in Milwaukee, and I can visit the plaque in the parking lot where Aaron’s 755th home run landed in 1976.
