Baseball great Barry Bonds stands on the threshold of surpassing one of sports' all-time greatest records, Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs. Bonds is a controversial figure. From all reports, not anyone's number one choice to sit down with for a cup of coffee. Plus, allegations of steroid use continue to swirl. He is roundly booed by fans everywhere except his home turf of San Francisco, where is he cheered lustily.
So how does this fit into today's media lesson? Let us examine the sports pages of The Washington Post earlier this week, courtesy of Tony Gwynn Jr., ironically the son of one of this weekend's Hall of Fame inductees.
Gwynn, Jr., said of Bonds, "He's breaking a record, and despite all the other crap that's going on around it, he still has to hit the ball and the ball still has to go over the fence. And he was doing that long before all this other stuff has come up. We're always going to wonder, 'Did he or did he not?' But there's no proof. So let's let the man enjoy his time. It's 755. It's the last big number out there."
Out of the mouths of babes -- or, in this case, athletes -- sometimes comes a message that resonates.
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