All Hail the King

Contrary to what I predicted earlier today, Barry Bonds' 756th career home run came from the hands of Mike Bacsik. Bacsik admitted to ESPN's Erin Andrews that he made the mistake that led to this record-breaking event. He said that the 3-2 pitch called by catcher Brian Schneider was supposed to be a fastball down and away which would catch Barry out and make him swing at a pitch that would jam him. Bacsik let the ball sail a bit and it ended up sliding right down the pipe and right onto the fat part of Bonds' bat. Obviously, the mistake was punished hard, with the ball sailing over 430 feet to the deepest part of AT&T Park.

As far as the record itself, I do not think it is tainted by anything other than Barry's abrasive personality. Since there is nothing but circumstantial evidence against Bonds, the record is clean for now. While we may not respect the man behind the bat, we should respect the number. 756 home runs is a very big number and, even for the most muscle-bound baseball players out there, it is a very difficult achievement. Congratulations are in order for the time being, and a fine performance it was by Bonds.