Well the best pitcher in baseball history, Lefty Grove, was not a very nice guy either. Does that mean he wasn't the greatest? No. Of course not. That is the beauty of the game. It treats everyone equally. Arguing that a player is undeserving of something he has achieved is complete and utter nonsense.
If Bonds is a jerk, does that mean he didn't hit those home runs, or that they mean less? Of course not. A player is free to be a jerk and one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. There is no contradiction. Ted Williams was a jerk and few thought he was less of a hitter because of it.
Williams was not always a jerk. He loved to work with people who were serious as hitters. A friend of mine told me of the time he met Williams at lunch counter while the Red Sox star was still playing and said they had a brief but pleasant chat.
But Bonds too is not always a jerk. The fan who caught his 70th home run ball told Bonds he was torn between keeping the ball himself, selling it or giving it to Bonds. The Giants outfielder, who has a history of acting in his own best interest, told the guy to do what he thought was best.
In contrast, we should remember Mark McGwire, who has not been labeled
a jerk but was incensed by the thought that a couple of fans were getting
rich off HIS home run balls.
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You have to be pleased with the results of the Japanese major leaguers this year. Ichiro Suzuki will be the third Japanese rookie of the year after Hideo Nomo and Kazuhiro Sasaki. The only top quality Japanese player who has yet to achieve any lasting success has been Hideki Irabu.
Nomo, who led the American League in strikeouts and threw a no-hitter, has done extremely well for someone whose arm was abused as a young pro. His career has now fallen into the on-again/off-again pattern so common to great young pitchers who get excessive workloads at a young age.
After a couple of darn good seasons with the Dodgers, Nomo was mediocre for the Mets, a bargain for the Brewers, none too terrific for the Tigers and the real thing for the Red Sox. He may be sharp again next year, but there is just as good a chance that he will wind up with a 4-12 record.
Irabu's inconsistency is the exception, not the norm. Japanese stars have proven their ability to rise to the challenge. That being the case the price tag for future Japanese talent will increase with the perception that players who excel in Japan can also thrive in the majors.
Ichiro did more than just thrive. He set the league on fire. He didn't have the power numbers of Jason Giambi, Juan Gonzales, Brett Boone or A-Rod, but there was no more exciting player in the majors this year.
Bonds was a more productive player than Ichiro and his record run drew fans because of its historic significance, but Ichiro provides more thrills per game than Bonds does. Ichiro is more fun to watch.
Japan has long suffered from an inferiority complex regarding the quality of its play. But we knew that the best players here were as good as any anywhere.
The Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly coveted Yomiuri Giants third baseman Shigeo Nagashima in the 1960s. The Dodgers were historically weak at third until the arrival of Ron Cey in the 1970s, so Nagashima would have been a big plus.
When asked last November if he thought that any of Japan's batting stars could be productive major league regulars, Bonds shook his head and with a slightly embarrassed smile said, "No."
Bonds was being honest, but his opinion obviously wasn't very informed. Nomo, Sasaki, Ichiro and Tsuyoshi Shinjo have turned heads and made the major leagues wake up to what many here have been saying all along. Japan's stars don't have to take a back seat to anyone.
Now that this season has got that message across with the force of a
Bonds drive into San Francisco Bay, it is time to savor the moment.
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That is not to say that Japanese baseball has anything to cheer about.
It would have been great if Tuffy Rhodes had hit 56 home runs. But because the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes slugger didn't, the four at-bats he lost to a conspiracy by the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks are more of an issue than ever.
On Sept. 30, the Hawks pitched around Rhodes to keep him from bettering the single-season record of Sadaharu Oh, currently the Hawks skipper.
One reader took this column to task for not attacking coach Yoshiharu Wakana's statement--he was quoted as saying the idea of a foreigner breaking Oh's record was distasteful.
Richard Lemmer from Okayama was disappointed with the discussion of why this bizarre behavior is so common in Japanese baseball. Reader Lemmer had hoped for a more scathing effort against the racist nature of Wakana's reported statements and an attack on Oh for his disappearing act on this issue.
The nauseating quality of Wakana's quote should have been apparent to everyone. Did it need a label attached to it describing it as racist, or a comment saying that there was no place for it in sports? One hopes not.
On the charge of Oh, the only answer is guilty as charged--requested diatribe to follow.
Oh has avoided the issue with the same skill and determination that he applied to his batting as a player. Earlier this year, Oh told The Hot Corner that it was in a pitcher's nature to avoid giving up a record home run.
Unlike Wakana and the pitchers who may have wanted to protect their manager's record out of group loyalty and with total disregard for the fans and for the overall good of the game, Oh had no excuse.
The record was his. It has been tainted by his inaction to force his pitchers to do their best and try and get Rhodes out. If he did not tell his pitchers that, then he is completely in the wrong.
No one is saying that he should have ordered his pitchers to serve up batting practice fastballs. But they should have tried to get Rhodes out. If Oh did tell his pitchers to throw strikes and they still avoided the strike zone by a good margin, Oh should have stepped onto the field and pulled starting pitcher Keizaburo Tanoue out of the game for disobeying his orders.
Oh expects the best conduct from everyone. That is his nature. He is an optimist and a gentleman, who would rather not tell people what to do. But he blew it and so did this writer for not bringing it up a week ago.
Reader Lemmer also correctly recommended that Wakana be punished by the team. But that is something the Hawks will only do if they are under pressure to do so.
If readers feel strongly that Wakana's actions and comments were unsuitable and detrimental to the game they should voice their displeasure directly to the Hawks.
You can write the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks at Fukuoka Dome, 6Fl,2-2-2 Jigyohama, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka 810-0065, call them at 092-844-1189 or fax them at 092-844-4600.
Let them know how you feel. Let them know it is your game too.
The Hot Corner appears each Thursday in The
Daily Yomiuri .