What is the significance of the homerun record in baseball?

Why above all other metrics in baseball, is the homerun given the most significance of a baseball player's career? Or is it?|||Think about the fact that professional baseball existed for 40-50 years before Babe Ruth came along. In the 20 years or so immediately prior to Ruth, the homerun leader each season averaged about 10 per year. Ruth came along and revolutionized the game, made it more popular and made it America's Pasttime. It also became a game of power, where one prodigous swing could change the outcome of the game. As the games greatest player the statistics Ruth compiled became a measuring stick for all future players. In conclusion the Homerun record is one set by an Immortal a player above all his peers. To reach the strata of that record is to become god-like|||One of the best known players of all-time, Hank Aaron, is about to have his best known record surpassed by a cheater.|||The homerun record is -I think- 2nd hardest to break (1st is of course Cy Youngs 511 wins).





People are really talked about this whole Homerun king because a great player Hank Aaron is about to have his record shattered by another great player, Barry Bonds.





There's a cycle here though...





When Babe Ruth was HR King, people hated Hank Aaron for breaking his record.





Now Hank Aaron is HR King, people hate Barry Bonds for breaking his record.





When Barry Bonds is HR King, people are going to hate A-Rod for breaking his record.





And people are going to hate some japanese guy for saying this...





It's a really big honor in baseball to have a record like HR King. Not alot of people are able to do it. That's what makes it so significant. I say the same to Cy Youngs 511 wins as well.|||i am a red sox fan and if a-rod breaks bond's record i will not hate him for it. no one ever hated Arron for breaking ruth's record. they hate barry bonds for lying, his attitude, and this whole steroid thing. barry was a great player before taking steroids but, he took them and lied about it. the thing is that he will NEVER admit it.|||The homerun is the most significant because it is the highest you can get. Whether it be a solo shot or a grand slam, you can't do anything that is better than hitting a homerun. It's alot hard to hit one homerun than some might think let alone hitting 755. I think 755 will always be the record, of course until A-Rod breaks it a couple years down the road. 755 is the record.|||It's one of the most sacred records in all of sports. Think about how difficult it is to break. A player would have to average almost 38 home runs a year for 20 straight seasons. There are not many who can hit that many in one season, let alone keep that pace up for multiple seasons. It's a record that takes an entire career by a phenomenal player to set and it really shows what a special player Hank Aaron was.|||Who is that fool saying they didn t hate aaron for breaking the babe's record,they threatend his life son!