INTRODUCING.... HOME RUN KING BARRY BONDSYes, it will no doubt be one of those moments in sports that will be replayed years from now, and we all know why. Or do we?
For some, particularly the throngs of San Francisco Giants fans, the drive to center will be the night slugger Barry Bonds persevered after maintaining he was innocent of all the accusations that we've already heard and contemplated ad nauseam.
For others, baseball number 756 will reflect the ills of society as we knew them in 2007. Cheating, bad sportsmanship and lack of humility are a few terms that immediately come to mind. In short, the conversation will be reduced to Bonds being someone who could have been a "great hall of famer who instead succumbed to the pressure of success."
And then there are Black folks and what we think about Barry Bonds.
Given what feels like a steady drumbeat of negative news about Black men filling prisons, Black men not marrying Black women, and Black men not uplifting the race, celebrating Bonds is a no-brainer.
Most Blacks will voraciously throw back in everyone's face within earshot that Bonds has not been charged for committing any crime. Assuming arguendo that he is, our system of justice is predicated on a presumption of innocence until guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
African Americans will also focus on the double standards and hypocrisy that this country sometimes is too quick to disregard. No matter how much we want to romanticize the past, all heros have had their "issues." Babe "The Bambino" Ruth was certainly no boy scout, and don't think any of us have forgotten how White racist attitudes are what actually kept Black men from initially participating in America's favorite pastime.
While it's true that Barry Bonds may never fill Hank Aaron's shoes, Aaron was initially not the celebrated figure he has now become. Quite the contrary, his place in history was marred by death threats, blatant slights, and deep-seated hatred solely because of the color of his skin.But that didn't matter last night when Aaron's mug appeared on the board congratulating Barry, with Willie Mays on one side, his son on the other. If nothing else, it was symbolically one of those moments that I wish we saw more of. Having lost my dad back in December, seeing this Black man being gracious and vunerable -- thanking his deceased father with a bittersweet mix of joy and sadness --really hit a nerve. And I don't even like baseball!!!
"My mom was proud and said she was glad she was alive to see me just tie the record, let alone pass it." Bonds said the press conference after the game. " I know what my dad would have said -- what the hell took so long?"
Many of us are saying the same thing Barry Bonds. Because what we saw last night was humility and a true love of the game. We saw the little boy who saw his dreams materialized. We saw the future ambassador of the game and history in the making ala Black presidential candidate Barack Obama.
There's nothing like seeing a brother rise to his greatness. For me, this is one YouTube clip I will be replaying... with pride!