One hope, one dream, one shock

So we wake up today and for the first time in 33 years, Hank Aaron's name isn't at the top of the Home Run list anymore.

He slides down into the number two slot on the list. While that may be technically true, he will always be the Home Run King to me. He is number one when it comes to class, decency and everything that a baseball "purist" would hold near and dear to their hearts.

Last night, when a video ran from Aaron congratulating Bonds on breaking the record, it wasn't the first time we saw what a great man Aaron was. But it was the most telling of how awesome a man he is. After everything he went through in his chase for Babe Ruth's record, he has to be wondering why did it have to be Bonds to break my record? Didn't matter - Aaron has done the right thing with this from the beginning. Just the same way he handled the racist clowns during his chase. He is one of the greats in sport, record or no record.

Everyone knows that records are meant to be broken, but if Bonds cheated as we all suspect he did, forget an asterisk, it's a black mark. Aaron's record doesn't need to be taken away from someone who would have been a Hall of Famer without cheating. And there's no question about it, Bonds was a Hall of Famer before. Now the question is whether he is a Hall of Shamer.

Time and hopefully Bud Selig will tell. But no matter what, you may blame Bonds, but you also have to blame Bud. The owners and he knew what was going on. Can't sell it to me any other way. So Bud - this black mark is for you to! Sorry but you did it to yourself.

One other thing that needs to be said are about the fans of the San Francisco Giants. While I have many friends in the Bay Area, I can't not talk about how they stood behind Bonds all the way. Good for them, but then again, they are represented by Nancy Pelosi. Need I attempt to say more????

SI.com's John Donovan has a great piece today on the fact that Barry may hold the record, but he's no hero. Amen! Also check out the SI.com front page - great graphic of Bonds!

OK - all that being said, we all have one thing and one thing to do now that Bonds is on top of the list. It's not an easy thing for many of us to do, but considering what is going on, we have no choice baseball fans. You ready? Deep breath. Here goes: Let's go AROD!!!!!

He's 32 and he's 256 away from Bonds. He can do this. We need him to do this. We need to support him no matter what jersey he wears. And trust me, that's a tough issue for many to put aside. But it needs to be done.

Come on board the ARod train ... it's for the good of the game. And ya know what, I think Hank would rather be third to him rather than two to Bonds. And didn't Babe Ruth wear number 3? More appropriate for the Hammer.