I ended a 30-year love affair the night Ken Griffey Jr. joined the 600 Club. The romance had been dying for a long time. Rampant cheating took a terrible toll. But that, I could have forgiven. It was the tedium that got me, an apathy that grew into contempt and ultimately disgust.
VIERA, FL - FEBRUARY 21: Cristian Guzman #15 of the Washington Nationals poses during photo day at Roger Dean Stadium on February 21, 2009 in Viera, Florida. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Cristian Guzman
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VIERA, FL - FEBRUARY 21: Cristian Guzman #15 of the Washington Nationals poses during photo day at Roger Dean Stadium on February 21, 2009 in Viera, Florida. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Cristian Guzman
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VIERA, FL - FEBRUARY 21: Willy Mo Pena #26 of the Washington Nationals poses during photo day at Roger Dean Stadium on February 21, 2009 in Viera, Florida. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Willy Mo Pena
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VIERA, FL - FEBRUARY 21: Ronnie Belliard #10 of the Washington Nationals poses during photo day at Roger Dean Stadium on February 21, 2009 in Viera, Florida. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ronnie Belliard
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LAKELAND, FL - FEBRUARY 21: (EDITOR'S NOTE: IMAGES HAVE BEEN DIGITALLY DESATURATED) Jeremy Bonderman #38 of the Detroit Tigers poses for a portrait during Photo Day on February 21, 2009 at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeremy Bonderman
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LAKELAND, FL - FEBRUARY 21: (EDITOR'S NOTE: IMAGES HAVE BEEN DIGITALLY DESATURATED) Justin Verlander #35 of the Detroit Tigers poses for a portrait during Photo Day on February 21, 2009 at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Justin Verlander
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LAKELAND, FL - FEBRUARY 21: (EDITOR'S NOTE: IMAGES HAVE BEEN DIGITALLY DESATURATED) Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers poses for a portrait during Photo Day on February 21, 2009 at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Miguel Cabrera
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LAKELAND, FL - FEBRUARY 21: (EDITOR'S NOTE: IMAGES HAVE BEEN DIGITALLY DESATURATED) Carlos Guillen #9 of the Detroit Tigers poses for a portrait during Photo Day on February 21, 2009 at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Carlos Guillen
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LAKELAND, FL - FEBRUARY 21: (EDITOR'S NOTE: IMAGES HAVE BEEN DIGITALLY DESATURATED) Carlos Guillen #9 of the Detroit Tigers poses for a portrait during Photo Day on February 21, 2009 at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Carlos Guillen
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LAKELAND, FL - FEBRUARY 21: (EDITOR'S NOTE: IMAGES HAVE BEEN DIGITALLY DESATURATED) Nate Robertson #29 Of the Detroit Tigers poses for a portrait during Photo Day on February 21, 2009 at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Nate Robertson
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Today, I hate the home run.
I hate it so much that I frequently seek evidence that putting the ball out of the park is becoming a cheap sideshow, that it does not necessarily translate into wins. The Angels are, in this context, my dream team. As of Wednesday morning, they had MLB's 19th-highest home run total but its second-best record.
But I try not to delve too deeply, because I know my pet theory is largely wishful thinking. The top five teams on the home-run list are all at .500 or better; the bottom five include three losers and two winners. The home run isn't an absolute necessity for winning, but it's one heck of a luxury.
Still, I can't help but notice that the last three men to join the 600 Club -- Griffey, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds -- own not a single World Series ring. Combined, they have just one appearance in the Series, Bonds' in 2002.
Compare that to the three who preceded them and had the club to themselves for 31 years, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. Each of them won at least one World Series.
No, that doesn't prove much, especially since the younger members had to go through playoff rounds that their elders didn't. But it is one sliver of a reason that the home run lacks majesty these days.
Until five years ago, Ernie Banks was famous as the lone player to hit 500 or more home runs and never play in the Series. Now, we have Sosa, Griffey, Frank Thomas and Rafael Palmeiro.
Of course, every time you look at SportsCenter, somebody else is approaching a once-august number. Manny Ramirez hit his 500th just 10 days before Griffey reached 600. Last year, Thomas, Alex Rodriguez and Jim Thome joined the club. Gary Sheffield is just 17 away.
What used to be hallowed ground has turned into a highway rest stop. The milestones aren't special anymore, and not simply because of the steroid suspicions attached to this generation. The home run is just too commonplace. When it was rare, the long ball had real majesty. The trot around the bases was a special occasion. Now it's like watching someone floss after a meal.
When I fell in love with baseball, I immediately embraced the home run. I think every kid does, partly because it is so understandable. One swing of the bat, and your team scores. Nothing can turn a game around so quickly.
But it didn't take long for me to realize that one homer, in and of itself, didn't have much grandeur. A tee shot in golf soars higher, and a touchdown pass, even a short one, has far more intricacy. To appreciate a home run, you had to know the history behind it.
In this photo provided by the USGA, a black bear runs across the 13th fairway during the second round of the 2008 U.S. Senior Open Championship at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Friday, August 1, 2008. (John Mummert, USGA/AP)
John Mummert, USGA/AP
Australia's Sophie Edington balances a water bottle on her forehead during a training session in the Olympic Aquatic Center at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Tuesday, August 4, 2008. (David J. Phillip,AP)
David J. Phillip, AP
Flames rise around Chrissy Wallace's car after a crash in turn one the ARCA RE/MAX Series Pennsylvania 200 auto race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008. After the fire burned out, Wallace restarted her car and drove to the garage. (Russ Hamilton, AP)
Russ Hamilton, AP
Mike Mason competes in the Moto X Freestyle Final during X Games 14 on August 2, 2008 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. (Jonathan Moore, Getty Images)
Jonathan Moore, Getty Images
Houston Astros' Hunter Pence (9) and Mark Loretta, center, score to tie up the game as New York Mets catcher Ramon Castro (11) loses the ball in the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008, in Houston. The Astros went on to win 5-4 in 10 innings. (Pat Sullivan, AP)
Pat Sullivan, AP
Ideye Brown (R) of FC Neuchatel Xamax fights for the ball with FC Aarau's Frederic Page (C) and goalkeeper Ivan Benito during their Super League soccer match in Neuchatel August 2, 2008. (Stefan Wermuth, Reuters)
Stefan Wermuth, Reuters
A diver practices at the National Aquatics Center ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 3, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Jamie Squire, Getty Images)
Jamie Squire, Getty Images
Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Office Depot Ford, celebrates with a back flip after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway on August 3, 2008 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Jim McIsaac, Getty Images)
Jim McIsaac, Getty Images
U.S. Olympic basketball team center Dwight Howard makes a slam dunk during a match against Lithuania in Macau, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. (Kin Cheung, AP)
Kin Cheung, AP
Green Bay Packers safety Atari Bigby rides a small borrowed bicycle a block from Lambeau Field to Clark Hinkle Field for training camp in Green Bay, Wisconsin August 1, 2008. (Allen Fredrickson, Reuters)
Allen Fredrickson, Reuters
Bucky Dent's 1978 assault on the Green Monster couldn't make the heart rush unless you knew the circumstances -- the late-season swoon by the Red Sox, setting up the single playoff game with the Yankees, setting up the homer by one of the least intimidating hitters in either lineup.
Ozzie Smith fielding a ball at short, on the other hand, was sublime, no explanation needed. So was watching Rod Carew swing the bat, beautifully level and perfectly extended, sending the ball to every corner of the park. The man did ballet with his wrists and a stick of ash.
When I learned that Carew rarely hit more than five home runs a season, it changed my child-like view of the game. I still liked the long ball, but I stopped considering it the essence of the sport. When it became the centerpiece in 1998, during McGwire and Sosa's pursuit of Roger Maris' record, I enjoyed witnessing history. But people said that it would save the sport, I thought they were crazy.
If the new fan base lived for the home run, I was sure the game would be bastardized. It was saved and ruined at the same time. And I don't mean by steroid scandals and cameos on Capitol Hill where Sosa forgot English and McGwire opted to forget the past. MLB became a neighborhood overrun by McMansions, ugly and freakish.
The steroid crackdown has helped a bit, but too many baseball players still look like Thanksgiving parade balloons. The World Baseball Classic exposed the American obsession with size as a farce, when the slighter, quicker, more fundamentally sound Japanese team eliminated the U.S. in the quarterfinals and won the entire tournament.
Some of the best moments of the last five years stemmed from speed more than power. Ichiro Suzuki's inside-the-park home run enlivened last year's All-Star Game more than a conventional swat ever could have. Dave Roberts' baserunning undid Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning of Game 4 in the 2004 American League Championship Series, leading to the greatest comeback in baseball history. A David Ortiz homer ultimately won the game for the Red Sox, but it was a stolen base that really ended the Curse of the Bambino.
I could watch that play, and Roberts' toying with Rivera's repeated pickoff attempts, endlessly. Griffey's 600th homer? When the highlights came on TV, I hit the remote. I respect him as player, and like most people, I am happy to see him recovering his place in the sport after losing so much time to injury.
But when I visualize Griffey as a giant, I remember him racing after flyballs in center field and winning 10 Gold Gloves. And when I think of him truly returning to the top of the game, I don't picture his home-run swing. I see him in a clubhouse, with champagne dribbling down his face.
Gwen Knapp is a sports columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle.
AN EXCELLANT EXAMPLE OF WHY A DIZZY BROAD SHOULD BE NOT BE ALLOWED TO SPEAK ABOUT A SPORT SHE EITHER HASN'T PLAYED OR HAS NEVER UNDERSTOOD. STICK TO SOMETHING YOU KNOW. AS FOR THE DOPE AT THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE WHO GAVE HER THE JOB....I HOPE YOU CAUSE THE PAPER TO LOSE SALES. ITS SO EVIDENT YOU "STUCK" HER PUSS IN THAT DEPARTMENT THINKING THE "OLD BOYS" WOULD REALLY BE INFATUATED BY HER SPIN ON THE GAME. SAYING THE HOME RUN IS COMMON PLACE IS ABOUT AS STUPID AS SAYING THERE SHOULD ONLY BE TWO BASES...ITS THE REASON THE GAME EXISTS AND WILL ALWAYS BE KEY INGREDIENT/PURITY IN THE PLAYING OF THE GAME. THE FENCE AS WELL AS GETTING TO THE BASE IS THE FINAL DESTINATION OF A HIT BALL...THE CLIMAX OF THE ACTION...THE "REWARD" FOR HITTING THE BALL. GO HOME AND BAKE COOKIES.
I got a question.......Has this reporter , Gwen Knapp ever stepped into a batters box against someone throwing in the mid 90s with filthy stuff? No you say. Then I guess my thrill is gone with Gwen Knapp.
All of this hogwash about the HR, consider all the new ballparks with almot LL dimensions. This is the joke. I remember Shibe Park in Philladelphia where the dimensions on both foul lines were 334ft..Right field had a 5oft high wall and the leftfield bleachers were real high. A ten foot wall with a 3 ft screen on top. Those were the home run days.
the home run/ power game has been king since babe ruth (remember he saved baseball)----I'd much rather see a walk off homer then a walk off squeeze bunt anyday!
Most of the sluggers that broke 500 and 600 did so because of the blankety-blank DH. The same thing with 3000 hits=it's just not what it used to be. Still, it's the fear of the home run that sets up a lot of baseball strategy and so be it.
You guys are totally off target bashing this woman. I agree with her completely. Look at how many times 61 has been broken. The homerun is a joke. The may as well be playing slow pitch softball. The starting pitchers are a joke as they cant make it past the 6th inning. The only thing awesome about the game anymore is the fielding. They are amazing on the field. But the homer is a joke. But its what people want so they get it. Juiced ball and juiced hitters.
