» How Ovechkin’s pursuit of Gretzky’s goal record measures up

Article content

The clock ticks ever louder on a 39-year-old professional athlete trying to fend off Father Time and opponents half his age, but Washington Capitals sniper Alexander Ovechkin has made more than enough noise on the ice this season to drown it out.

Article content

Article content

Article content

In fact, the team’s crafty old captain is turning back the clock. Ovechkin has scored 38 goals in 58 games; more than the 32 he managed in 79 games during the 2010-11 campaign as a 25-year-old, and the 33 he scored in 82 games during the 2016-17 season at age 31.

The manic output has left him just three shy of sharing the all-time National Hockey League goal-scoring record with Wayne Gretzky at 894.

Over a 20-year career Ovechkin has averaged .60 goals per game and the Caps have 10 to play, so it’s just within reach. In fact, on that pace he would set the record in the final game of the season — in Pittsburgh against Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Penguins.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

That Ovechkin may turn this trick in a season that also saw him suffer a broken left fibula is all the more impressive. He burst out of the gate with 15 goals in his first 18 games before a knee-on-knee collision with Utah’s Jack McBain on Nov. 18 put Ovechkin on the shelf and his record chase in jeopardy.

Article content

Not to worry, however, as Ovechkin was back in action just 41 days and 16 games later. In the 19 seasons prior to this one, he had missed just 35 games to injury. That’s incredible, given the uber-physical style he played for so many years.

No goalie has felt the sting of Ovechkin’s sharpened stick more than Marc-Andre Fleury, who has surrendered 28 goals to the Great Eight.

“He reminds me of young Ovi,” Fleury recently told NHL.com. “He’s really hungry, he wants to score goals. He’s so happy after his goals … He always plays with his foot on the gas; he’s a tremendous competitor. He’s still as dangerous as ever at 39 years old.”

After Ovechkin put up 10 goals in quick succession at the beginning of the season, Gretzky was happily predicting an imminent passing of the torch.

“He’s had a tremendous start, right?” Gretzky said during a stint on TNT as a studio analyst. “Listen, it’s not a question of if he’s going to break the record; it’s a question of when is he going to break the record, which is great for the game.

Article content

Article content

:It’s positive and he’s been such a classy player for our sport for so many years, good for him.”

And good for hockey. Just as good, in fact, as Gretzky’s pursuit of the late Gordie Howe’s all-time goals and points records.

Indeed, the chase can be a great one for the game, for box office, merchandise sales and TV ratings, and some athletes past and present who are thrust together for days, weeks, months or years under the spotlight find it a fulfilling experience.

But others slog through what can be an ill-fitting juxtaposition, as the mashing together of a sport’s legends does not always look and sound so pleasant in the moment or in the aftermath.

Take baseball.

Hank Aaron’s pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record in the early 1970s and Barry Bonds’ asterisk-laden chase of Aaron’s career mark in the 2000s were each soaked in controversy.

Article content

Aaron Chases Ruth

Though the pursuit of No. 715 captivated fans and media who covered the game, it was not such a fun-filled ride to the top of the charts for Aaron, the Atlanta Braves slugger. In fact, it was on occasion the worst of times.

“I wish all of it could have been done differently,” Aaron told Cox News in 1989. “It wasn’t the most happy time of my life, yet it should have been. … People were living in the Babe Ruth era; you have to remember that. They were not ready to accept (black players) yet. And here I come along challenging what was one of the most hallowed, the most prestigious, the biggest record in all of sport. And people were not about to turn that loose. You still had those diehard racist people who wanted to hold onto that.”

Aaron received hate mail and death threats credible enough that the Atlanta police assigned an armed bodyguard to keep him safe through the chase. The hateful letters first came to light in the spring of 1973 in a piece written by Ira Berkow that was picked up by many North American newspapers. It gave context to unseen pressures Aaron was feeling at the time.

Article content

April 16, 1969 – Aaron, then 35, hits his second homer of the young season and 512th of his career, tying him with Eddie Mathews for sixth all-time. Aaron is asked about getting to 715.

“It’s not impossible. Sure, I’ve thought about it. I feel good physically. If I could just have a couple of real good years. I’ve never hit 50 homers in a season; 45 is my high. But if I could do it, say twice, I think I could make it.”

Aaron hits 44 in 1969 and 38 more in 1970.

April 27, 1971 – Aaron, then 37, hits his eighth homer of the season and 600th of his career. He and Willie Mays were seen as the most likely threats to Ruth’s record, but neither man thought it likely given their ages and the changes in the game — better pitching, more difficult travel schedules — that made it harder to be consistent home run hitters.

“Some kid might come along sometime in the future who could hit 715 home runs but I’m inclined right now to doubt it,” said Aaron. “Seven hundred and 14 is a long way off and I’m not too concerned about that now. If I get hot, the homers will come and if I get close to it, then 700 would probably be the greatest thrill of them all. I think it would be a helluva thing to break the record, but even if Ruth were passed, he would still be looked upon as the greatest home run hitter who ever played.”

Article content

June 13, 1972 – Aaron hits No. 650 off New York Mets reliever Danny Frisella, in a 6-5 Braves win. “He threw me a forkball. I was expecting it. He got it up and in. If it had been a little lower I probably would have popped it up. It’s just another number. That’s all. The main thing about it was it gave us a victory.”

October 3, 1972 – Aaron hits his 34th and final homer of the 1972 season off L.A. pitcher Don Sutton. It is the 673rd of his career, leaving him 41 short of the record. “I’m satisfied with my home run production. I said I would like 35 and I’m only one short. Overall I’m not satisfied though,” he said, referring to his .265 batting average on the season.

January 1973 – Aaron looks forward to a good season. “I have always said that my main goal in baseball was to get 3,000 hits. But once that goal was reached, I must admit that topping Babe Ruth’s home run record became more and more important. I don’t want to hang around playing ball after I’m no longer any use to my team. If I’m just a few home runs shy of Ruth at the end of this coming season, I’ll be back. But, if I have a bad year, if I’m still 20, 25 away, then I don’t know.”

Article content

March 1973 – Interviewed at spring training, Aaron is asked about the pressure of the chase.

“Pressure? I don’t know what that is really. I’ve been playing this game too long to all of a sudden think the next two years I’ve got to play under pressure.”

April 12, 1973 – Aaron hits No. 675, a solo shot off San Diego pitcher Fred Norman, in a 3-2 Braves win. “I wasn’t looking for a home run. I was just trying to hit the ball hard.”

May 1, 1973 – Aaron hits two home runs against the Montreal Expos to get to 680. He also made it to 3,400 hits. “Where does that put me?” he asked reporters. “But don’t tell me about that Ruth. I’ve heard enough about him.”

It is Aaron’s 58th career two-homer game. Ruth had 72 during his career. Aaron’s average is suffering from the chase, down to .150 in 60 at-bats. “I don’t know if I’ll ever hit .300 or even .270 again.”

May 13, 1973 – Aaron hits his ninth and 10th homers of the season in a double-header against the Padres, and with 683 he sits 31 behind Ruth, but his batting average is still lagging.

Article content

“I didn’t think I’d have that many (homers) by now. I know some people say I should go to right field more, but it’s not that easy to adjust. Besides, I just have to take whatever comes. When you’re 23 or 24-years-old and they throw you all those screwballs and slow curves, you can adjust and hit the ball to right. But it’s a little late for me. I wish I could. I’d like to be hitting .350 too, but I’m not.”

June 15, 1973 – Aaron hits No. 690 in an 8-3 win over the Cubs. “It was just another number. I hit a hanging curve or slider, but I didn’t hit it good.”

July 8, 1973 – Aaron hits Nos. 695 and 696 in a 4-2 win over the Mets. It’s his 60th two-homer game. On his current pace, with 74 games left in the season, he will end up with 715 homers.

“I enjoy playing baseball,” he said before the game. “The press used to forget about me. This year has been confusing. I’m not used to all this attention.”

Article content

July 21, 1973 – Aaron blasts No. 700 against Phillies pitcher Ken Brett. It’s Aaron’s 27th round-tripper of the season. The 16,236 fans on hand in Atlanta give him a two-minute standing ovation. “I wanted to hit No. 700 before the All-Star Break,” he said wistfully. “That sounds a little better, only 14 to go. I don’t feel any special thrill. It’s just a number. The only real one is THE one.

“I know I felt no pressure. When I get to 713, I suppose that’s when the pressure will start.”

August 3, 1973 – The Braves ae a dismal 49-63 and Aaron has been shifted to left field from right because his arm is failing, but he has 701 homers and some hope for more. “I’d probably have retired by now if I wasn’t going for the record. I’d probably be bored, what with the team 20 games out of first place and me not able to do all that I once could. I wouldn’t want to be an old man hanging on. But this record is so prodigious that I’m going to stay until I break it.”

Article content

August 22, 1973 – Aaron had gone three days without a home run, hitting only singles and doubles. He finally unloads on No. 705 against Cardinals pitcher Reggie Cleveland. “I’ll take that way of getting out of a singles and doubles rut any time.”

September 1973 – With just one month left in the season, Aaron needs to pick up the pace. “Most of our remaining games are with clubs in contention for the division title. This means they are going to have their most reliable pitchers out there. People I know, not experimenting with a bunch of youngsters. I feel I have a better chance of hitting against pitchers I have faced before.” Sure enough, Aaron hits two home runs on September 3 against Padres pitchers Clay Kirby and Vicente Romo.

September 17, 1973 – Aaron hits No. 711 against San Diego’s Gary Ross, with only 1,362 people on hand in Atlanta to witness it. The Braves are well out of the playoffs and the home run chase isn’t always a big draw. But Aaron remains hopeful.

Article content

“I still have a shot. Yep, it enhances my chances. I’d like to hit 714 this year, but it doesn’t bother me. If I can’t, I feel next year should do it.”

September 22, 1973 – Aaron hits No. 712 in Houston on a Saturday night, then goes 0-4 against L.A. on Tuesday. “I still feel I have a chance. I think I can hit two homers in four games. It’s been a tiresome thing constantly talking about Babe Ruth. I just want to hurry up and get it over with. I can’t recall a day this year or the last part of last season when I didn’t hear the name Babe Ruth.”

September 30, 1973 – With 40,517 home fans in attendance on a rainy day in Atlanta, Aaron goes three-for-four at the plate in the final game of the year — all singles, however — and finishes the season with 40 homers, getting him to 713 all-time, just one back of Ruth. He also lifts his batting average to .301, which made him happy, given how far he had sunk.

Article content

“I feel a little relieved that the season is over, that it’s all over for a while. It got pretty hectic, especially the last two months. I’m not really disappointed. Oh, I wish I’d hit one today, but going back to the start of the season, when I thought I’d hit 30, 35 home runs, I’m not really disappointed in the season.”

October 1973 – Aaron signs with the William Morris Agency and is told to expect a payday of at least $1 million if and when he hits No. 715 during the 1974 season.

“I think fans in general felt Mays or Mantle had the best chance of breaking the record. They were the ones they mostly talked about doing it long before they talked about my chances. In fact, I didn’t think I could do it myself until three years ago.”

February 1974 – In West Palm Beach for spring training, Aaron talks about the pressure. “I’m not the flashy type ball player. I’ve got to do it my way. I don’t like to play under pressure. I can’t play under pressure. I think there has been exaggerated talk about pressure. There just isn’t any.”

Article content

February 1974 – Braves chair Bill Bartholomay issues a statement regarding the team’s plans for Aaron’s early deployment in the season, which opens with three games in Cincinnati, then 11 at home in Atlanta. Aaron stands at 713 home runs, one back of Ruth.

“Hank will be available as a pinch-hitter for the road games in Cincinnati and part-time play if required by manager Eddie Mathews. It is unprecedented to speculate on an opening line-up at this early date, but Braves fans deserve to know our plans.”

Braves fans might have been happy. MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn is not. He issues a public statement, making it clear where he and baseball stand on the issue of Aaron’s playing time.

March 1974 – “I have had a number of discussions with Bill Bartholomay about his February announcement regarding Henry Aaron,” Kuhn’s statement begins. “Although he has advanced some substantial arguments in support of his announcement, he has not been able to persuade me that the procedure he wishes to follow is good for baseball. As a result, I have advised him that I am disapproving the announcement and that, barring disability, I will expect the Braves to use him in the opening series in Cincinnati in accordance with the pattern of his use in 1973, when he started approximately two of every three Braves games.”

Article content

The issue simmers for weeks, then starts to heat up as opening day approaches. In the wake of Kuhn’s statement, prevailing opinion does not favour Aaron and the Braves.

April 3, 1974 – Braves manager Eddie Mathews comes to the defence of his slugger, who has taken heat from fans and sportswriters critical of his hesitancy to play all three games in Cincinnati. “The commissioner of baseball is burying Hank Aaron. He has made him a scapegoat. I am sick and tired and fed up with us being the bad actors, the bad cats in this thing.”

April 4, 1974 – In his first-at-bat of the season in Cincinnati, Aaron smashes a three-run homer off Reds starting pitcher Jack Billingham, tying Ruth’s record of 714. United States vice-president Gerald Ford congratulates him. Kuhn presents him with a trophy. Aaron takes the microphone on the field to address the crowd.

Article content

“Thank you very much. I’m just glad it’s almost over with. Thank you.”

He also does a post-game scrum with reporters.

“This only ties it. I need one more to break it. When I get it, I’ll probably run around the bases backward.”

Aaron said he would not play the second game of the three-game series, but would be in the line-up for the finale.

“I’ve had a chance to hit one here and I do owe the fans in Atlanta a shot at it.”

That prompted a reporter to ask Aaron if he was going to take something off his usual game on Sunday in Cincinnati, to make sure the home crowd sees the record broken.

“I’m certainly going to play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. If I get a pitch I can hit out of the ball park, I’m going to try to dispose of it.”

Aaron strikes out twice in the third and final game of the series in Cincinnati, and fails to get a hit in three at-bats.

April 8, 1974 – Aaron ends the chase by hitting No. 715 off Dodgers’ pitcher Al Downing in Atlanta.

Article content

“He’s sitting on 714,” said Braves broadcaster Milo Hamilton, calling the game. “Here’s the pitch by Downing. Swinging. Here’s a drive into left center field. That ball is gonna be … outta here! It’s gone! It’s 715! There’s a new home run champion of all time, and it’s Henry Aaron.”

The game is stopped, and Aaron is handed a microphone.

“I just thank God it’s all over with. Thank you.”

After the game, and after he addresses his teammates in private, Aaron begings a press conference with a statement concerning his play in Cincinnati: “Contrary to some reports I read … that I was a disgrace to the ball club … I gave my best. I’ve always done that and that’s the only way I know how to play ball.”

Aaron goes on to hit 40 more home runs before retiring. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1982. He died in 2021, aged 86.

Article content

Bonds chases Aaron

Bonds enters the majors in 1986 and averages 25 home runs per season through his first seven years, all with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Aaron’s all-time home run mark of 755 was not in any danger.

Then Bonds joins the San Francisco Giants to begin the 1993 campaign and his numbers go through the roof. He averages 38 homers per season through his first seven years with the Giants, then 51 per season in a five-year stretch from 2000 to 2004, a span that includes an otherworldly 73 home runs in 2001, a single-season record that still stands.

March 2002 – With 567 homers, Bonds needs 188 to tie Aaron, but he’s coming off that 73-homer season and it seems possible. He was interviewed during spring training. “Records are meant to be broken and if you have a chance to do it, then do it,” Bonds quotes Aaron during a previous conversation. “To hear that shocked me. I didn’t know what to say. I actually started to shake. I had to ask him if he was serious and he was.”

Article content

Bonds hits his 600th home run on Aug. 9, 2002. About that time, federal officials begin investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), amid suspicions that the California facility has been manufacturing and distributing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes.

September 15, 2003 – Bonds hits his 655th home run, and also has 2,064 career walks. Giants manager Felipe Alou was asked if Bonds could hit 100 more homers to tie Aaron. “You’ve got to ask the other managers. He might have 200 in him, but are they going to pitch to him?”

Also that month, agents of the Internal Revenue Service and a California narcotics task force raid the BALCO facility as well as the home of Greg Anderson, Bonds’ personal trainer. A grand jury is convened and on Feb. 12, 2004, Anderson and three other men connected to BALCO are indicted on charges of money laundering, fraud and possession with intent to distribute steroids.

Article content

April 2004 – Aaron speaks to Dave Anderson of the New York Times on the 30th anniversary of hitting No. 715 to pass Babe Ruth. Talk turns to Bonds and the rumours of steroid use. “I’ll let the public judge for themselves,” said Aaron. “I’m just hoping and praying nothing comes up. I admire Barry Bonds. Steroids or no steroids, he would have had a Hall of Fame career. At one time I thought Ken Griffey Jr. had the best chance to break my record, but injuries have hounded him. Barry Bonds has done everything, hit home runs, steal bases, hit for average. He’s practically carried his ball club on his back.”

April 13, 2004 – Bonds hits No. 660 to tie Willie Mays, his godfather, and talk turns to Aaron’s all-time mark. “I don’t think about that right now. I’m not going to try to figure out what’s next. I’m just trying to stay healthy and win a championship. I have a little bit of a timetable and when I reach that timetable, it’s over.”

Article content

In December of that year, a transcript of Bonds’ grand jury testimony is leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle. In it, Bonds admits taking two substances provided by Anderson, described as “the cream” and “the clear,” between 2001 and 2003. Bonds tells the grand jury he did not know they were steroids. Bonds hit 73, 46 and 45 home runs during those three seasons.

September 2004 – Bonds, now 40, hits homer No. 700, a 392-foot shot to left centre off Padres pitcher Jake Peavy. It’s his 42nd homer of the season. He hits three more before the campaign comes to a close, leaving him 52 short of Aaron’s mark.

March 2005 – After two off-season knee surgeries, Bonds isn’t sure if or when he will be able to play again. He lashes out at the media for linking him publicly and repeatedly to the BALCO steroid scandal. “You finally brought me and my family down. So now go pick a different person. … You guys wanted to hurt me bad enough, you finally got me.”

Article content

May 2005 – Bonds has a third knee surgery.

September 16, 2005 – Bonds hits his first home run of the season, No. 704 of his career, in the fifth game of an injury-shortened, 14-game campaign. He ends the year with 708.

October 18, 2005 – Anderson, who pleaded guilty to steroid distribution and money laundering in July, is sentenced to three months in prison and three months house arrest.

March 2006 – San Francisco Chronicle reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada publish Game of Shadows, a book that details the alleged steroid use of Bonds and other players implicated in the BALCO scandal. The authors write that Bonds began using steroids in 1999.

March 30, 2006 – Commissioner Bud Selig appoints former U.S. senator George Mitchell to head MLB’s investigation of steroid use in the game.

May 28, 2006 – Bonds, at age 41, hits No. 715 at home in San Francisco against the Rockies to move into second place all-time, ahead of Ruth and behind Aaron.

Article content

“If you keep playing long enough, anything is possible. I’d like to win a World Series and be home run king. I’d like to do both. I would take a World Series first.”

Bonds got the landmark homer in the final home game before the Giants headed out for an extended road trip. He had already hit five other milestone homers in San Francisco over the years: his 500th, 600th, 700th, 660th to tie his godfather Willie Mays, and 661st to get past him.

“For the fans of San Francisco, it can’t get any better than this, even though I made them wait longer than I have in the past. Age ain’t catching up with me.”

Bonds finishes the 2006 season with 26 home runs for 734 in his career, leaving him 21 short of Aaron’s mark.

May 2007 – Aaron makes it clear he won’t be following Bonds around when the record-breaking shot seems imminent. “No, I won’t be there. I traveled for 23 years and I just get tired of traveling. I’m not going to fly to go see somebody hit a home run no matter if it is Barry or Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig or whoever it may be. I’m not going any place. I wish him all the luck in the world.”

Article content

June 6, 2007 – Aaron was apparently tired of the chatter. “I don’t have any thoughts about Barry. I don’t even know how to spell his name.”

July 9, 2007 – Sitting on 751, Bonds was interviewed on the eve of the All-Star Game. He was asked about commissioner Bud Selig’s apparent disinterest in being there for the record-breaking hit.

“Does it matter to me? I think it’s just terrible the way it’s gone down, that’s all. That’s up to Bud, it’s not up to me,” Bonds said. “I’m going to do my thing anyway. I have to go out and play for my teammates. That’s up to Bud. Bud is his own man and I respect him. Whether Bud shows up or doesn’t show up, I’m going to still play baseball that day.”

He was also asked about Aaron’s reticence to follow him around, waiting for the record to be broken. “No one can determine when that’s going to happen and Hank has a life too. You could go weeks. You expect this man to just travel all over this continent for weeks? It’s just not fair to him. That’s just all it’s about. If you can predict what you’re going to do and he can get there and like OK, BAM, it’s going to be this day and this time that’s a different scenario. Hank’s a great ball player. He’s the home run king in our hearts. We respect him. We love him. Hank, if you want to stay home, stay home, brother.”

Article content

Bonds hits Nos. 752 and 753 on July 19, and No. 754 on July 27.

July 30, 2007 – “I am making a comment by not making a comment,” said Aaron, while in Puerto Rico, with Bonds one homer away from the record.

Aug. 4, 2007 – Bonds ties Aaron with home run No. 755 in San Diego, tagging an offering from pitcher Clay Hensley, who, ironically enough, served a suspension for the use of performance-enhancing substances in the minors. Selig is on hand to witness the record-tying hit, Aaron is not.

Aug. 7, 2007 – “This record is not tainted at all. AT ALL. Period,” said Bonds, after hitting No. 756 off Washington pitcher Mike Bacsik, 435 feet into right centre field in San Francisco.

Selig isn’t in the stadium, but releases a statement: “While the issues which have swirled around this record will continue to work themselves toward resolution, today is a day for congratulations on a truly remarkable achievement.”

Article content

The game is held up for a 10-minute tribute, which included a video-taped appearance by Aaron.

“Throughout the past century the home run has held a special place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold the record for 33 of those years. I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historic 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.”

Bonds went on to hit just six more home runs before retiring. In the 10 years that his name appeared on the Baseball Writers Association of America Hall of Fame ballot, he moved from a low of 34.7 per cent of the vote to 66 per cent, but was still stopped short of the 75 per cent necessary for entry to Cooperstown.

dbarnes@postmedia.com

Article content