Bonds Gets Hit And the Crowd Goes Wild

Barry Bonds stood before a standing ovation Tuesday night. Not because he finally hit home run number 714 but because he was hit by a pitch and received a free pass to first base.

Houston pitcher Russ Springer was tossed from the game and the Astros were beaten by the Giants 14-3 but the 35,000 fans in Houston couldn’t have been happier. Instead of witnessing history they witnessed the greatest slugger of the modern era get plunked and were content.

You would think history is what they would want to see. You would think that if Bonds was going to make it on base and score a run then they would want it to be that historical run. You would think that if your team was going to lose by 11 to the Giants then at least you would want to see Bonds hit the long ball. You would think?

The truth is that no one outside of Bristol, Conn. wants to see Bonds hit another home run. Bonds is not Roger Maris and no one should confuse him as such. No one wanted Maris to hit 61 homers in 1961 because the record was considered sacred. No one wants Bonds to hit career number 714 because he cheated. Barry Bonds knows it. The American public knows it and even ESPN knows even though they make him out to be the second coming of the Great Bambino.

The standing ovation in Houston shows how not only Astros fans feel but how fans around the country feel about number 714. They could care less!