Henry Aaron has proudly held the all-time home run record for 35 straight years.  That is, until Barry Bonds stole it from him last fall.  Surrounded in controversy—in a sport defined today by steroid scandals—Bonds’ record was instantly questioned as detrimental to our American sport.  The record is not only the single greatest accomplishment in baseball, but quite possibly the greatest in all of sports.

Thus, it should come as no surprise to see the always-classy Hank Aaron come out this past week with rare words of bitterness. In response to Mark McGwire’s recent designation as St. Louis Cardinals batting coach, Aaron put forth an interesting dialogue: “I think that he himself will tell you right now he’s able to sleep at night and he’s able to look at his teammates. He’s done everything he can do.”

A gentleman’s response to a welcome piece truth from McGwire? Perhaps. But, there seems to be something deeper here. Something beyond just the obvious tip of the cap to a long-awaited apology. In fact, let’s delve deeper—into the motive of the (former) Home Run King and his reason for such outspokenness. Which brings us back to Mr. Steroids himself…or should I say, Mr. Bonds.

As baseball fans we, of course, feel varying degrees of violation from Barry Bonds’ newfound homerun record. Disgust, cheated, disappointed, and uncertain are all words that immediately come to mind. Cheating or not, he changed the face of this game. The question now turns from ‘Who’s better?’ to ‘Who’s clean?’ But it’s not us baseball fans who are the true victims here, but rather the man of the longball himself, Hank Aaron. To see the definitive piece of his career tarnished in such a way, there is no question that Aaron is unhappy.

“We all make mistakes,” Aaron begins, “If they ever did enhancing drugs, whatever they did, they should come clean and be able to sleep at night.” Now, it’s one thing to say that Mark McGwire did the right thing; that’s classy. But it’s most certainly another to call out others (or, perhaps, one in particular…) in a very un-Hank Aaron-like fashion.

Hank Aaron wants Barry Bonds to come clean. We all do.It’s really easy to shrug off a bitter old man trying to preserve his long-lost legacy—but not this time. Aaron is not just after his own stolen crown. He’s making a much-needed plea to all of baseball. A plea to clean its act up and rediscover the true essence of the game we always knew and loved.

Is Aaron bitter? Yes, he probably is. But does he have a right to be, is the true question. And the answer, without a doubt, is a clear and resounding ‘Yes.’