Last I checked 762 > 755, but don’t tell that to the Commissioner of Baseball or anyone associated with the Atlanta Braves:
If that’s the standard we are well and truly screwed, because these are things Bud has also said himself:
When McGuirk and Van Wieren agree to vacate the wins with which the Braves were credited while David Justice, Gary Sheffield, Darren Holmes, John Rocker, Paul Byrd, Mike Stanton, Matt Franco, Denny Neagle, Todd Pratt and Kent Mercker were on the team, fine, then they can have their own true home run king. Until then, they’d be better served to let baseball’s records fall where they may.
Speaking with reporters after the ceremony, Selig was asked about Aaron being called the true home run king.
“I’m always in a sensitive spot there, but I’ve said that myself and I’ll just leave it at that,” Selig said.
If that’s the standard we are well and truly screwed, because these are things Bud has also said himself:
- No one wants replay
- Abner Doubleday invented baseball
- We’re committed to finding a solution to the A’s stadium situation
- We tried to keep the Expos in Montreal.
As a long-time friend of Hank Aaron’s Selig is obviously going to be partial to the guy and you can’t begrudge him his personal feelings. As the Commissioner of Baseball, however, he has an obligation to either recognize the records set as legitimate or to do something to render them officially illegitimate. He can’t have it both ways.
The Braves will always want it that way, of course:During the ceremony Braves chairman Terry McGuirk said Aaron “set the home-run record the old-fashioned way” and added “You will always be the home run king of all time.”
Retired Braves broadcaster Pete Van Wieren earned a big ovation when he said Aaron is “still recognized as baseball’s true home run king.”When McGuirk and Van Wieren agree to vacate the wins with which the Braves were credited while David Justice, Gary Sheffield, Darren Holmes, John Rocker, Paul Byrd, Mike Stanton, Matt Franco, Denny Neagle, Todd Pratt and Kent Mercker were on the team, fine, then they can have their own true home run king. Until then, they’d be better served to let baseball’s records fall where they may.
