Fred Marks might not be a typical fan, but he looks and sounds like most baseball fans. What makes Marks a little different is that he couldn’t sit still, couldn’t remain silent.
That’s why he started a Web site called blackoutbonds.com.
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Marks wants baseball fans — the ones who don’t like the idea of Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron’s career home-run record — to wear black to games in which Bonds plays.
Mark envisions a sea of black when Bonds is in attendance.
Here’s the twist: Marks, a commercial real-estate salesman in Tampa, had been one of Bonds’ biggest fans.
“I had the life-size poster of Bonds in my room, and my dad and me would go to Giants games in San Francisco, and in Atlanta,” said Marks, 25. “I was a lifelong fan. In 2001, when Bonds hit 73 home runs to break Mark McGwire’s record, we went to see him, and we marked down every home run he hit that year on the poster.”
Then Marks changed.
The steroid issue was just too much for Marks to stick with Bonds.
“Don’t you think it’s a shame that he’s going to get credit for breaking the record like this?” Marks said.
“I would say the majority of baseball fans don’t think he was honest. That’s why I’m doing this. We want to give Barry Bonds a black eye — not physically, but with a statement.”
And accomplish what?
“I want to see a picture on TV of everywhere that Bonds goes on the road of people wearing black, a whole section of fans wearing black to let Bonds know what we think of him.”
It’s doubtful that Marks will get his wish. But his voice does tell us something. The closer we get to Bonds breaking the record, the more voices — either on the Internet or from fans’ abusive language or signs at the games (see: Dodger Stadium) — will be heard.
It’s hard not to believe that the majority of baseball fans don’t want to see Bonds break anything.
There was a recent story out of Pittsburgh about how Bonds merchandise was being marked down in retail stores because they couldn’t sell it. And earlier this spring, there was an auction in Melbourne, Fla., in which sports memorabilia was up for bid. There was a signed Bonds jersey among the goods, but nobody bid on it.