By Rich Kozlovich
I typically don't do sports or entertainment in P&D unless it involves some social commentary although I did publish two pieces on Jose Alberto Pujols, who just hit his 700th home run, legitimately.
I felt there was valid social commentary in his story, not the quality of his athletic abilities, which are substantial, but the quality of his character.
Over the course of my life I've watched professional baseball athletes work really hard at beating Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in 1927, which he did in a 154 game season. That was the length of their seasons in those days.
Are pitchers better today? It's argued they are, and I'm told the stadiums are different, the balls are different and even the bats are different. I'm not sure all that's true, and if it is, I don't know if it matters to tell you the truth, although I'm convinced the athletes are in far better shape than they were in those days.
Whether all the other stuff is true or not is immaterial because no one has beaten his record in 154 games, including the only legitimate winner before this, Roger Marris, who did it in the last game of baseball's expanded 162 game season. It's been proven both Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire used steroids. In this piece, Aaron Judge hits 62nd homer to break Roger Maris’ record, the author states:
It’s the most homers hit in a season since Barry Bonds set his
PED-tainted record of 73 home runs in 2001 with the Giants. Sammy Sosa,
another slugger disgraced by his attachment to steroids, hit 64 that
season with the Cubs. Sosa’s career-high of 66 came in 1998 during his
chase with Mark McGwire, who finished with 70 home runs.
But now it appears we have a legitimate winner over Roger Maris' 61 home run record, Aaron Judge, who hit his 62nd home run, but not in 154 games. He's legitimately beaten Roger Maris, at least I hope it's legitimate, but no one has beaten Babe Ruth, who is still the king, a man who clearly was in no where near as good a physical condition as everyone in baseball today.
So what's the social commentary in all this?
Judge is being paid 10 million dollars to play a kids game for the Yankees this season. Now, that's capitalism, so I don't fault him for getting all the market can bear, it's society that has gone off track. I no longer watch any sports, even the Browns, which I'm shocked no one has declared them racists for calling themselves the Browns, since all things great and small are now racist, but humanity has gone nuts over professional sports.
Life should be about character to go along with accomplishment, and let's face it, professional sports are all kids games, not life and death. Nothing any sports team or athlete does while playing will make the world a better place to live, temporarily more enjoyable maybe, but not better.
However, it's now clear they're more than capable of making the world a worse place to live when they became worshipers at the Church of Wokeness, and they have, and for obscene amounts of money while disgracing themselves deriding the nation that nurtured them, and made them amazingly wealthy, for playing kids games.
Imagine that!
The character of so many of these sports and entertainment celebrities is sorely wanting. I wonder if Bridgett Griner, who has had to learn Russian, feels America is so disgusting now? I wonder how much of her five million dollar fortune will be left after her wife is done with it by the time she gets out of prison in nine years, and she's no longer capable of being a basketball star and has to earn a living like other people. What skills does she have? Who will cater to her? Who will care then?
For that matter, what sane people care now?
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