A night to remember

The older you get, the more you say things like: "I can't remember what happened last week, but I remember (fill in the blank) like it was yesterday."

I usually fill in that blank with the events of April 8, 1974, at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta. Henry Aaron had tied Babe Ruth's career home run record a few days before, and a fortuitous set of circumstances allowed the Braves' home opener against Los Angeles to be broadcast on ABC's Monday Night Baseball, allowing the whole nation to see history in the making. Remember, this was long before ESPN was around to cut into the middle of the game each time Aaron strode to the plate.

I can clearly picture Aaron getting ahold of an Al Downing pitch and driving it over the fence in left-center field; the fishing net coming down from the stands in an unsuccessful attempt to land the historic ball (Braves reliever Tom House ended up with it); the two young men running out of the crowd to pat Henry on the back between second and third bases; and the long interruption of the game for all the accolades from baseball bigwigs.

That was really 33 years ago?

Last night, Barry Bonds hit another home run on his quest to pass Aaron's record. That concept used to bother me, for all the reasons it bothers most other baseball fans outside of San Francisco.

But why should I care? Bonds is playing in an era when everything seems to be done toward maximizing the potential for balls to fly out of the park. If you don't believe me, compare pitching numbers during Aaron's heyday, particularly the mid-'60s, with the abysmal mound performances of the past dozen or so years.

Bonds does deserve plenty of credit for taking most advantage of the conditions that have been favorable to home run hitters, coming out on top of the pack that includes the likes of Sosa, McGwire and Palmeiro.

But I don't plan to be watching when Aaron's record falls. I don't need visions of Barry Bonds in my head for the next 33 years.