MLB Needs To Clean Up Its Most Important Symbol

Shower Thought - September 17, 2025

In October of last year at Lincoln Park in Chicago, which is a world famous park on the north side of the city, there is a zoo and a collection of beautiful gardens and bridges. It is about 1200 acres and named after President Lincoln from Illinois. Last October somebody threw a bunch of red paint on the big statue of President Lincoln. A protestor. The statue of Lincoln is the gem of the whole park, the main attraction. It is sacred. And here it was, defiled and covered in red paint.

The city got that statue cleaned up, removed all the paint, and had it shining again in about 20 minutes. It was a top priority to get it fixed and clean. It is the land of Lincoln after all, the most sacred symbol in the city.

The most sacred symbol in baseball is the home run record. Ruth set it at 60 in 1927. Roger Maris broke that record in 1961 and went through hell doing it. Then in 1998 it was covered in red paint, defiled again. In 2001 more paint and graffiti were poured all over it by steroid users. It has been 24 years since Bonds poured red paint on it and the league still has not cleaned it up. So now when Cal Raleigh or Aaron Judge has a historic season chasing the record, nobody cares. They get none of the attention that Sosa and McGwire got in 1998. And it is because MLB still has not cleaned up the record. The statue is still covered in red paint. No one knows what the record is anymore. Illinois cleaned up Lincoln in one afternoon. MLB needs to clean up the most sacred record in sports.