Bonds beats Aaron, Hits 756
Giants Slugger Barry Bonds breaks Hammerin’ Hank’s Homerun Record
Aug 7, 2007
With an All Star Family that stretches from Reggie Jackson, “Mr. October” to “The Say Hey Kid,” Willy Mays; Barry Bonds was born to ht. “Barry…is a supremely accomplished ballplayer with an unmatched hitting eye….He [is] perfectly suited for launching balls great distances,” according to sports editor Uri Berliner. However, the “asterisk” crowd is gaining strength of purpose. Commentator John W. Sammon says in the American Chronicle: “Barry Bonds needs his home run record sullied because he cheated. The way to do it is to bring back the…asterisk.”
The son of All Star player Bobby Bonds has performed a fantastic achievement. 756 career home runs will receive all the hype that is appropriate; however, the controversy will only increase because he accomplished this feat. No allegation has been proven and while he remains under investigation for perjury by federal investigators; in America people are considered innocent until proven guilty. Yet in the court of public opinion, Bonds has already been convicted and punishment determined. According to Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams in the book Game of Shadows, “Bonds decided to start taking performance-enhancing drugs in 1998.” Former Sports Illustrated columnist Ray Ratto said: “Even though he may get away with it, he won’t get away with it. Because too many fans think he cheated.”
The Feat
Washington's pitcher Mike Bacsik threw the 3-2 pitch and 43 year old Barry Bonds hit his 22nd home run of the year and flew into the record books. Into the deepest part of the park (right center field) Bonds satisfied many of his hometown fans. From 2000-2004 Bonds hit 258 homeruns, about 1 every 16 games. He holds the single season Major League record for home runs at 73 and was named 7 times National League MVP.
Hitting a ball with a bat is a very difficult task under any circumstances. The physic shows why!
E = 0.5 m v2 Where m is the mass of the bat and v is the speed at which the bat is swung.
This is only a small part of the equation of “hitting” the ball. Major league pitchers can throw a baseball at speeds of 95 mph. According to “The Physics of Hitting a Baseball” by Bill Willis; “A baseball takes 0.5 seconds to reach the batter, 0.1 seconds for the batter to decide whether to swing and [spends] only 0.01 seconds over the baseball plate.” This allows the hitter only 0.39 seconds (about one third of a second) to physically move the bat around and hit the ball at the exact location.
Controversy
With all the controversy about Bonds only one thing is apparent in the equation. The question arise from the use of enhancing drugs and creams that would increase size thereby increasing strength. This would allow a hitter to swing a heavier bat (Mass) and maintain or increase the velocity of the bat itself. Therefore, the first half of the equation is artificially increased (Energy is greater.) The second half of the equation remains the same. While the hitter has greater energy the hitter still has one third of a second to actually hit the ball. The necessary “reflex” action to make the tenth of a second decision is unaffected by power drugs.
One area that is not examined is the differences in the sport itself. Early year pitchers did not have the technical knowledge that modern pitchers have. The very mechanics of throwing a ball has greatly increased. The speed of pitchers in the early days was considerably slower than today on average. Of course there was Walter Johnson and Nolan Ryan, but they gained much of their notoriety because their speed was so unusual. Not only are today’s major league pitchers routinely throwing at the Ryan level but also they are smarter and learning at an earlier age. Dr. Mike Marshall, PhD in exercise physiology and baseball’s 1974 Cy Young award winner agrees. Marshall, who now runs a training camp for professional pitchers says give me “five or six kids, high school kids, who throw 90 mph in the late rounds…[and they will] throw harder and throw higher-quality pitches.”
No matter how history will present Bonds; what he did is irrefutable. All extenuating facts are present but still the record of Hank Aaron was broken by Barry Bonds.
