The Long Run And The Long Ball
Ken Griffey recently hit his 595th home run. My guess is he's a more popular player than Barry Bonds. And if only he hadn't lost a few prime seasons, he'd likely have around 700+ homers now. As long as someone's got to hold the record, it might as well be Griffey, and that looked possible not too long ago. In fact, around 2000, I'd have put some money on it. That's why career records in baseball are as much a testament to longevity as anything else.
posted by LAGuy @ 1:31 AM
8 Comments:
Longevity is an important quality and very hard to achieve. It reflects physical qualities such as resistance to injury and illness and mental/spiritual qualities such as toughness, drive and optimism. Sometimes it seems wrongly disparaged as not a real talent. (I'm not sure that's what you intended.)
I'd say longevity has a large component of luck. No matter how much drive or talent one has, all it takes is one bad moment to sideline a player for a few years or longer.
I don't know that longevity is disparaged. Especially in baseball. Satchel Paige and Nolan Ryan were revered for being so awesome for so long.
But now longevity can also be the result of performance-enhancing drugs so we may look at things differently. Certainly in the case of Bonds, his longevity is not always seen as an honest achievement.
It's amazing that Jr has reached 595 with all the injuries he's had over the years. (That's right. I call him Jr.)
Both Jr. and Barry are kids of great players.
The only words I've ever spoken directly to Willie Mays, while he was signing autographs outside PacBell after the first game of the '04 playoffs: "Say Hey, no matter how many dingers your godson hits, we know you did what you did at Candlestick, and besides you'll always have The Catch." He glanced at me, but didn't change expression at all.
Unfortunately A-Rod will probably pass up Griffey Jr in around 2012-13. A-Rod like Barry Bonds has an off-putting personality plus, even worse, he's Yankee, so expect a repeat performance of the the hand-wringing from the Summer of 07 about befouling the sanctity of records. The sportswriter guild- more close-minded than any survivalist polygamist sect or Weatherman cell, are desperate to find reasons to discredit him A-Rod a la Barry even to the extent of relying on Jose Canseco's not-quite accusations (though in Jose's defense- a lot of what he said years ago has proven to be true and was largely ignored because he is unlikeable and maybe a bit extortionate)
That is absolutely the best, most accurate description of sports writers I've ever seen. Well done.
It's good luck to be born with the genes for jumping high, or great hand-eye coordination too.
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