I was watching the Oakland Athletics the other night when Comcast threw up on the screen a graphic showing that Khris Davis had the third most home runs in the month of May in the history of the Oakland Athletics.
For Oakland Athletics fans, that’s great news!
The two hitters ahead of him were Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. I have to admit that my first thought was, “Were they juicing in May back then?” What if Davis has actually set the record for most home runs in May without the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs)? I have not seen other writers discussing this, but it might become a “thing.”
Right now, Todd Frazier, Mark Trumbo and Nolan Arenado are leading the majors with 17 home runs. Let’s say one of those players has a hot June, and he heads into the All-Star break with 33 home runs. It could happen…Heck, I have Trumbo and Frazier on my fantasy team. I’m hoping it DOES happen.
If a player has 33 home runs at the All-Star break, he will be ahead of both Babe Ruth‘s and Roger Maris‘ pace. Of course, he won’t even be halfway to Barry Bonds‘ record of 73 home runs. It would be fun to see if someone could top Ruth or Maris for most home runs in a season without using steroids. I wonder if there will be any excitement around chasing 61.
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I just finished grading for my “History of Baseball” class. One of the final exam essay topics was on Bonds and the Hall of Fame. I would say that 14 out of 15 students said, “Bonds belongs in the Hall of Fame.”
I teach at San Francisco State, so a lot of my students are Giants’ fans. Those in favor of enshrining Bonds had to use a twisted, convoluted logic.
I was not really impressed by their efforts. My personal opinion is that Bonds does belong in the Hall, but his plaque should include the fact that he used PED’s before baseball had an effective testing system.
Perhaps it is a sign of my age, but to me, Hank Aaron holds the career home run record with 757 long balls. Bonds, with the help of steroids, could only manage to hit five more home runs than Aaron.
I suppose Alex Rodriguez will catch Ruth, but I will be amazed, and skeptical of MLB’s testing, if A-Rod comes anywhere close to Aaron. In my humble opinion, Maris is the only player who ever legitimately hit more than Ruth’s 60 homers in a single season.
Davis has hit 14 home runs this year. He gives the Oakland Athletics a serious home run threat in the middle of their order. This is very good news for A’s fans. Last year, Josh Reddick led the A’s in HR’s with 20.
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More than that, Davis swings very hard and he can intimidate opposing pitchers. He hit 10 homers in the month of May without using PED’s. Who knows? That might be a record!