Barry Bonds is as likable as a sunburn. He is arrogant, childish and, much of the time, a miserable human being to be around, at least in public. And the easy thing to do right now is jump on him for talking smack about Babe Ruth.
How dare he! He can't say that about The Babe! Who does he think he is?
That was the reaction, more or less, after Bonds talked of "wiping out" Ruth and his mighty records.
"And in the baseball world, Babe Ruth's everything, right?" Bonds said. "I got his slugging percentage and I'll take his home runs, and that's it. Don't talk about him no more."
First off, whether you like him or not, he's right. When it's all said and done, Bonds will have eclipsed Ruth's records as a slugger. But put that aside. That isn't the point. That wasn't Bonds' point.
Bonds' comments about Ruth were a small part of a much larger discussion. If you read only his comments about Ruth, then his quotes really were taken out of context. Bonds, though he might not have said it clearly or eloquently, is making this point: Hank Aaron is the true home run king, not Ruth.
"Henry Aaron, to me, you're getting back to the history of it all," Bonds said. "I'm in the next generation of Negro League ballplayers, and Henry Aaron is one of the pioneers. (Aaron) can keep (the homer) record. Where he has come from, he has given us opportunities as African-American ballplayers."
Sift through what Bonds said and you'll find it's what most African-American players think: Aaron never has been given the credit Ruth has been afforded, even though Aaron blew away Ruth's record for career homers. Even today, Ruth is seen as this larger-than-life figure while Aaron isn't.
Why? That's what Bonds is asking.
Is Bonds playing the race card? Yeah, perhaps. But only because he believes the race card has been played against Aaron all these years.
And you know what? Bonds just might be right.
Maybe Bonds could have made his point without attacking Ruth the way he did. Maybe, though, that was the only way he could get his point across. You might not like Bonds, and you might not like what he said. In the end, though, once you understand his point, it's hard to argue with it.
WALK THIS WAY: Do you know that Boston's Nomar Garciaparra has been issued the same number of intentional walks this season as Roger Maris was when he hit 61 homers in 1961? That would be zero. Maris had Mickey Mantle hitting behind him, while Garciaparra has Manny Ramirez.
"Mantle or Ramirez - neither one is a good choice," Tigers manager Alan Trammell said.
ROYALTY: The Royals came out of the All-Star break with a seven-game lead in the AL Central. In the past 50 years, 33 different teams held leads of seven games or more at the All-Star break. Only two failed to hold on. The two exceptions: The 1993 Braves were 54-19 in overcoming a nine-game deficit to the Giants, and the 1978 Yankees were 54-25 in coming back from an 111/2-game deficit to the Red Sox.
The point is, the Twins, the defending champs, don't look like a team that can put together that kind of second half. They had lost 22 of 28 heading into the break.
"It can't get any worse," Twins pitcher Brad Radke said. "There's plenty of time. We have a weak division."
SECOND-HALF SWEETHEARTS: If there's a team to watch in the second half, it's Oakland. No team has had a better second-half record since 2000 than the A's, who were 154-70 in the second half over the past three seasons. And general manager Billy Beane might be the best in the business at pulling off big trades to fill holes.
"I don't know exactly what's out there, but Billy's the genius," first baseman Scott Hatteberg said.
By the way, the best second-half team in the NL the past two seasons has been the Cardinals, who were 144-84 from 2000-02.
THE WHITE STUFF: San Diego's Rondell White grounded out in his only All-Star at-bat last week, but it's an at-bat he'll remember forever.
"I got to hear them say, "Now batting for Barry Bonds. ... Rondell White,"' he said. "Wow."
LAYING IN THE WEEDS: Don't look for the Diamondbacks to make any deals before the deadline. The way they see it, they're adding a couple of aces with the return of injured pitchers Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson.
"We've got some All-Star players coming back, and guys who have a great track record in the second half throughout their career," manager Bob Brenly said. "There's reason for optimism."
BRAVE NEW WORLD: At the All-Star break, the Braves (61-32) had the league's best record, the largest division lead and seven All-Stars. Now for the really scary part. They don't think they've played that great.
"We haven't really played the way we're capable of playing," rightfielder Gary Sheffield said. "Our offense was good. Our pitching was okay, but I think they're going to pitch better. You haven't seen the real Braves team yet."
THE ARTFUL DODGER: Los Angeles closer Eric Gagne feels lousy about giving up the winning homer in the All-Star Game. After all, it cost his league homefield advantage in the World Series.
"I'll take the blame for the NL not having the homefield advantage in the World Series," Gagne said. "I'm sorry, but that's the way it works when you're a closer. Hopefully, it will be the Dodgers in there so I can redeem myself. It bothers me, but it's over. That's what closers have to deal with."
TRADE WINDS IN THE WINDY CITY: The Cubs wanted to trade for the Mets' Jeromy Burnitz, but the Dodgers beat them to the punch. So Chicago will search for another bat before the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline.
"We think we're right in the thick of it," Cubs GM Jim Hendry said. "We've got to get better. We've got to get healthier. I'm just going to plug along and hope I can do something to help the ballclub within the next couple of weeks, because they've certainly done their part in the first half. Their resiliency has been admirable."
SHORT HOPS: Despite picking up reliever Ugueth Urbina, the Marlins, who believe they can sneak into the playoffs, still appear to be searching for more bullpen help. ... Milwaukee still has not signed No.2 overall draft pick Rickie Weeks. The thought is Weeks is waiting for the Rays to set the market when (or if) they sign first pick Delmon Young. ... Amazing: the Cubs have used five starting pitchers this season. ... Padres GM Kevin Towers admits his worst move was trading Woody Williams to St. Louis for Ray Lankford. Duh. Since the trade, Williams has gone 28-8 with a 2.67 ERA. Against the Padres, Williams is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA. ... Florida's Mike Lowell was offered a spot in last week's Home Run Derby, but declined because of a groin injury.
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.
