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Barry on warpath to bury Babe Ruth's legacy

The Mendoza Line

Ed De La Garza

Nothing's sacred anymore.

During the All-Star break, Barry Bonds made comments that seemingly showed nothing but disdain for one George Herman Ruth. With 644 career home runs Bonds should pass the Babe (714) for second place all-time by the end of the 2004 season. But to Bonds, that day couldn't come soon enough.

Bonds told reporters that once he passed Ruth, no one would talk about him again. Basically, he's tired of the Babe being thought of as the sport's icon. If he can play at his current level for another two years, Bonds should pass Hank Aaron's all-time mark of 755 and make a serious case for being called the best player in baseball history. But the best player isn't always the sport's icon.

You can't really compare Bonds and Ruth because they played in different eras. When the Babe set his single-season home run record, he single-handedly hit more homers than some clubs put together. Ruth, who also has more than 100 career wins, played in a pitcher's era. Bonds plays in a time when hitters are bigger and some are playing juiced.

In terms of history, people think of Ruth first. Maybe in 50 years, when today's kids are writing the almanacs, Bonds will be successful in supplanting Ruth. Just not in his lifetime.

The homers

If any of the Reds' starters were half as good as Ryan Wagner, Cincinnati wouldn't have been swept.

Just a little more than a month after helping UH get to within one win of the College World Series, the former Cougar kept the Astros from causing any more damage in the third game of their series against the Reds on Saturday. He's the first player this season to play in the majors the same year he played college ball. If the Reds had some decent starting pitching, his performances wouldn't get lost.

They haven't put the division away, but success against the Reds helped the 'Stros put some distance between themselves and St. Louis. With Jeriome Robertson and Ron Villone solidifying the starting rotation, the Astros may not make a big move before the trading deadline. But it couldn't hurt.

The AL at a glance

The problem with splitting a midseason outlook into two parts is that I've already lost interest in this topic. But why deny you, the gentle reader, the opportunity to witness true greatness in print? Last week's National League midseason outlook was such a stellar work that it could barely be contained in one story. Why not grace this page with what could well be another Pulitzer Prize winning article? (Note to self: no more self-grandizing. Additional note to self: notes to self don't really work in print.)

AL East -- The Yankees acquired Armando Benitez as a set-up man for Mariano Rivera. He wasn't mowing them down with the Mets, but the Yankees don't need him to be the go-to guy. He also won't be the last player New York acquires as it tries to keep Boston away. The Red Sox are making it a race, but the AL East is just like the NL East: it's set in stone before the season starts. Prediction: New York Yankees.

AL Central -- The Astros could have had Tony Pena instead of Jimy Williams but Drayton McLane wanted an established big league manager. All he's done since not being deemed worthy for Houston is lead Kansas City to the top of the division. Earlier in the season, with the Twins still under-.500, infielder Denny Hocking told reporters "The way I look at it is, if someone would like to keep first place warm for us, then that's great." First place must be hot by now. Prediction: Kansas City.

AL West -- With the Mariners struggling as of late and the A's getting back to within four games of first place, the division could end up being a lot closer than it appeared earlier this season. Any team with Barry Zito, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson in the starting rotation always has a chance. Any team with Billy Beane as general manager will never win the games that really count. Prediction: Seattle.

AL wild card -- Boston, Toronto, Oakland and even Minnesota and the Chicago White Sox should make for an interesting race. But as in the NL, the wild card team's not coming out of the Central division. It should come down to either Boston or Oakland. In the end, Oakland has better pitching and should at least make it to the playoffs. Prediction: Oakland. Or Boston.

Next week: Nothing.

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