I spent a fair amount of time growing up in Atlanta and couldn't figure out why Moore had a paying gig then. But he managed to hold down a post at the AJC for a quarter century before taking a voluntary buyout in 2009. He was off my radar from the time I moved out of Atlanta in 2008 until today. The focus of his MLB.com article is, on the surface, Alex Rodriguez closing in on Lou Gehrig's all time grand slam record.
After he quickly acknowledges that A-Rod will soon own that record (kind of), Moore goes on to restore another record...
The same goes for those in pursuit of 755.I'm sorry, what? I'm not sure what this clown is talking about but I'm pretty sure he's treating us like a bunch of children. These records are in print, without asterisks, and will continue to be there no matter how much "it" or "pixie dust" or "good ole boy journalism" you want wish upon Gehrig and Aaron.
Yes, I said 755, as opposed to 762. The former is the number of lifetime home runs for Hank Aaron, as opposed to the 762 for Barry Bonds. While, Bonds is the record holder, Aaron always will be the standard bearer. So, you can see where I'm going.
When it comes to grand slams, let's just say Rodriguez won't be the standard bearer after he retires.
This goes beyond the fact that A-Rod joins Bonds as one of the primary faces of the Steroid Era. This is about the following: Gehrig and Aaron just have "it" when it comes to those records.
You can't describe "it," but you can feel "it."
I think Moore goes on to describe how Aaron gets more "it" points for the story and era in which he broke Babe Ruth's home run record and penalizes Bonds a few hundred "it" points for...nothing, really. He doesn't spend much time at all on the PED side of Bonds' tainted legacy. Even the laziest of Bonds critics will throw out some lame joke about the expansive hat size of early-2000s Barry. But Moore seems content with his Bonds doesn't have "it" diatribe.
He meanders all over the history books making sure to include Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle for some reason before coming back to Rodriguez and the grand slam record. Then he breaks out this gem...
You may recall that Gehrig also earned his nickname as "The Iron Horse" by playing in a record 2,130 games before succumbing to a bizarre muscular disease that eventually was named in his honor. His record for that playing streak lasted 56 years until Cal Ripken Jr., kept going and going before snapping it in 1995.Somebody fire up a syringe of Thorazine, this man is high as a kite. I understand the Steroid Era arguments against Bonds. They're wrong but I can see people wanting to protect their childhood hero's beloved record from that evil Bonds character. But how can you even argue that Ripken didn't just break but shatter Gehrig's consecutive game streak? Ripken's streak went on for 502 more games!
Nothing against Ripken Jr., but Gehrig remains the standard bearer for that record, too.
Best case this is an awful article and worst case it's irresponsible gibberish. Either way, I expect better from MLB.com especially with so much outstanding online content available for educated baseball fans. And Terence, please stop. Back away from the fancy color-screened writing machine.
