Fresh Loaf

An usher for the Braves since 1966, Banks is a well-known personality at Turner Field. He’s legendary among fellow attendants for his extensive knowledge of numbers and baseball, as well as for his humble personality.

What is a typical day like for you?

I try to give the fans a real Braves experience — making them feel welcome, talking to them, and just making them feel at home. [Depending on] the way they’re treated, there’s a chance they’ll bring somebody back with them, and then that person will bring somebody back. A real Braves experience is just rolling the red carpet out and making them feel at home.

Can you describe what happened when Hank Aaron set the record?

Of all the big events I’ve witnessed, that was one of the biggest. That was a centerpiece of the Braves franchise. On every aisle seat, there’s a logo of Hank Aaron.

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When is a new home-run record not a new home-run record?

Perhaps when the new home-run king is indicted for lying to the feds about steroid use, and there’s a drug test that backs them up. In short, an unprecedented mess awaits Barry Bonds and, especially, baseball commissioner Bud Selig. The big question Selig is going to face is simple: Does he erase the new (allegedly steroid-enhanced) home-run “record” that Bonds set last year from the record books?

Baseball has never seen anything like this before. When “Shoeless” Joe Jackson was given a lifetime ban from baseball for the Black Sox scandal after the 1920 season, his batting records were left intact. When Pete Rose was given a lifetime ban for gambling, it didn’t affect his batting records. In neither case was there a cause and effect.

But with Bonds, it’s very different. His alleged crime directly affected the records he set. Take Marion Jones, the Olympic gold medalist who confessed in October that she took steroids provided by BALCO, the same outfit that allegedly provided them to Bonds.

Like Bonds, she said she initially thought she was taking flaxseed oil. After Jones’ confession (she pleaded guilty in October to lying to federal investigators), she gave up the five medals she received at the 2000 Games in Sydney. The International Olympic Committee is expected to formally strip her of the medals prior to her sentencing in January.

Selig may have no other alternative than to “strip” Bonds of the records he’s set with the apparent use of illegal substances. How can anyone honor a home-run record set by a guy who was demonstrably bulked up on steroids?

The baseball commissioner has never been one to take bold measures. But in this case, he may have no other alternative. The home-run record Bonds set last year is now tainted. And Selig must take the lead of the Olympic committee and wipe Bonds’ stained stats from the record books.

Hank Aaron, home-run king. It has a nice ring to it. It has an honest ring to it. And to get out of this mess, baseball has got to rediscover its integrity.

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This certificate was given out at Atlanta Stadium the day Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s record.

I wonder what they’re going to hand out to fans when Barry Bonds hits his 756th.

Commemorative syringes?

A subpoena, maybe?

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Well, it could come down to this: The Braves start up a four-game series at San Francisco tonight, which sets up the slight chance that Barry Bonds could surpass Hank Aaron as the home run king while facing Aaron’s old team. Bonds sits at 753, two shy of tying the mark.

There’s an interesting article by Sandy Tolan on Salon.com, calling for Commissioner Bud Selig to be there for No. 756 to make up for then-Commissioner Bowie Kuhn’s ridiculous snub of Aaron’s breaking Babe Ruth’s record (714) back in 1974. (Kuhn decided to honor a previous commitment instead. Nice.) Tolan’s argument that Bonds’ record should be appreciated (and placed in proper historical perspective) in spite of the taint of steroid use is a compelling one, though I’m not sure if it holds.

But here’s what I’d like to know: Where were you in 1974, when Aaron ripped one off Al Downing for No. 715? I remember sitting in my parents’ living room as a kid, oblivious to all the death threats Aaron endured, and so oblivious to the issue of race that clouded his magical run. I was pretty oblivious in general until I heard the crack of the bat, and as Aaron trotted dutifully around the bases — looking more relieved than jubilant — that fan trying to join in on the victory lap. Then it finally hit me: Aaron had become one for the ages. It was probably then that I made the Braves my second-favorite team behind another team with Boston ties: the Red Sox.

Where were you when the Hammer hit No. 715?

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Barry Bonds had a good weekend. He hit his 750th home run to pull to within five home runs of Hank Aaron’s record. And he was voted to start in the All-Star game, which will be played on his home field in San Francisco.

It will be interesting to watch how the media and Major League Baseball treat Bonds breaking baseball’s most hallowed record. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has already said he won’t be there, and Aaron has said the same thing.

To get a head start on the final chase, here’s one we all remember: Aaron breaking Babe Ruth’s record April 8, 1974 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. It’s one of the most iconic moments in the city’s sports history.

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