At right around 11 p.m. CST this evening I sat in my living floor and watched the single most coveted records in all of sports fall deep into center field. Fans cheered. Fireworks filled the sky. Baseball purists weeped. Some guy sacrificed life and limb for a collector's item. Sportswriters dusted off the stories that they had finished writing weeks ago, changed the relevant text and shipped it in to their editors.
Still, their copy would be much shorter if it were not for the footnote that has followed Barry Bonds around for most of the last few years.
No man will ever say that he is a fan of those that bend the rules, but the Great American Pastime has endured more lockouts, thrown games, egomaniacs and gambling rings than any other professional sport. I also know that I could take a truckload of pills/rubs/injections and still would not be able to knock one baseball out of the park, much less 756.
In a videotaped message played to the crowd, Henry Aaron put it best.
"It is a great accomplishment which requires skill, longevity and determination. Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years. I'll move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historical achievement. My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams."
There will be more milestones set and usurped, but this one by its very nature is one for the ages. Like it or not, that solo shot to center field and the prefab sports story that goes along with it will be how history measures the moment and the man.
It may also note how much a canceled ticket from tonight's game goes for on eBay.