WGN Morning News Blog

Barry Bonds is just a couple of swings away from achieving the most cherished record in baseball and simultaneously triggering its greatest controversy in decades. Should their be an asterisk next to Bonds' home run record? This debate, unlike most about sports statistics, is not just about the fodder for future trivia games. Baseball has endured as the American pastime because it has been fairly consistent. Even with futuristic video games, i-pods, and MTV-style editing, this game of 18 men patiently trying to hit a ball for three hours is still thriving in the 21st century.

So how should we approach this landmark event? I spoke with Ken Burns, the man who produced the critically acclaimed 18 ½ hour baseball documentary more than a decade ago. His new World War II documentary airs September 23rd, and then he’ll start working on his “Tenth Inning,” an update on baseball since he ended production on his nine-part documentary in 1992.

Burns says he hopes by looking at the past, we can learn more about the future, and understand complicated issues. Whether alcohol or gambling---sports has always struggled with scandal. Burns hopes to put it all in perspective.

Larry: You say we shouldn’t be so quick to judge Bonds---why?

Ken: We have to be careful to place all our puritan outrage in Bonds corner. Something’s been going on---his body has changed; there are investigations swirling. But I know he’s not the only one. Pitchers may be doing it. I don’t mean to excuse it. If one person isn’t doing it—then it’s unfair to them.

Larry:But isn’t it about breaking the rules?

Ken: This game is about deception. A curve ball and change-up are deceptive. We allow the stealing of bases and signs. It’s symptomatic of our self-involved age that someone would take hormones to enhance their phsyique.

Larry: So that’s not cheating?

Ken: Michael Jordan---the greatest basketball player ever----couldn’t hit two bucks in baseball and that ought to be a cautionary tale. You still have to see it and hit it---so I’m still petty impressed.

Larry: So how should Bonds be judged in baseball history?

Ken: My solution is Barry Bonds stop today and retire today. It would be good for Aaron, good for (baseball commissioner) Selig’s ulcer, and good for the fans. Bonds will go from a goat to greatest of all time for giving up his position. Of course, he’d never do that.

He should go into Hall of Fame without any of this around him. But it should serve as a cautionary tale for those faced with that question to cheat or not to cheat.

Larry: Do you think part of this Aaron-Bonds controversy is that Aaron was a good guy and Bonds has a reputation of being a jerk?

Ken: I think a lot about that. We’re always looking to simplify complex human affairs. It’s easy to make Hank into a god on a pedestal and we’re reminded of the “less than stellar” personality that Bonds has. I talked to people who said he was a jerk when his dad brought him around [as a kid.].

We don’t pay these guys to be sterling examples---that’s the old “field of dreams.” It’s always been a business and complicated and interesting characters. Half the Hall of Fame would disappear if you applied sanctimonious standards to great players of the past.

Larry: Why is any of this even important?

Ken: We need these anchors. It’s the strap in the subway that keeps you standing up. We live in such a changing life and we have this game that’s accompanied the history of our country. A .300 hitter means the same to my daughter as it does to me…there’s that continuity.

Burns says America is more sentimental about Baseball. Our experience is more personal. Stories about other sports always start with a famous plays, like a Montana touchdown or last-second Michael Jordan shot. But, baseball always begins with a story about seeing your first ball game with Dad, or simply playing catch with him.

It is part of our national consciousness. In a time when we have everything from poker on ESPN to professional rock paper scissor tournaments, baseball is still setting attendance records. While Willie Mays’ over-the-shoulder basket catch in the World Series had been held up as the pinnacle of web gems for decades, you can now see five such catches a night on Sportscenter. The players keep getting better---and hitting a baseball is still one of the hardest things to do in sports.