ESPN.com
If the biggest name in baseball can hit his 715th home run and nobody outside the 415 area code even claps, that should tell us something.
And not just about the man hitting the home run.
It should tell us something about what has become of the mighty home run itself.
'Modern' records? In 1901, there were no such things as radios, TVs, toasters, cars or even cornflakes. So only baseball could consider 1901 to be part of "modern" times. Well, we think it's time to create a new set of "modern" records that reflect how the game is played now. We lean toward starting our new "modern" record book in 1969 (division play, lowered mound) or 1961 (expansion). But we're open to suggestions.
Send us your thoughts about when you'd begin the new history of modern baseball -- or whether you'd mess with the current setup at all. Operators are standing by at uselessinfodept@yahoo.com. -- J.S. When Barry Bonds and his cohorts in the Asterisk Generation can perform radical surgery to remove all the romance from one of the most romantic numbers in any sport -- 714 -- it's time to reevaluate.