8.08.2007

More on Bonds



... So I'm still reeling about Bonds hitting No. 756 last night ...

Interesting, nobody asked me about it today at work. I never heard a peep from anyone about it. And I never brought it up with anyone ... What does that say?

... I did turn the TV back on last night. Not for the game, though. I caught a bit of Baseball Tonight, and then Bonds' post-game press conference ... Watching and hearing him be such a jerk to any reporter who asked a question referring to the steroids controversey -- no matter how well the reporter danced around saying the "S" word -- only made things worse. Geez, he couldn't even B.S. way through an answer to the steroids questions ...

I fell asleep last night watching ESPN's SportsCentury documentary about Hank Aaron, clutching to what No. 755 had stood for before last night ...

I read a lot of good stuff today too. My favorite column of the day was Sean Keeler's:

Welcome, Barry Bonds, to the club of walking immortals. Here's your pass key. Hope you choke on it. Nothing personal.

Seriously. Congratulations. Now go away.

Actually, it's kind of appropriate, you know? Appropriate and sad. The two most beloved records in baseball, arguably the two most hallowed records in American sport, are held by a couple of royal louts.

The all-time hit king has a gambling streak that runs from Scranton to La Jolla. The all-time home run champion used more performance-enhancing drugs than Keith Richards.

Sorry. Allegedly. I forgot. This was supposed to be a festive, happy occasion.

Phil Rogers had a good one too, about some of the angles surrounding Bonds crowning night. He, too, pointed out one of the parts that was hardest for me to swallow about last night's game:

Here's an odd fact that speaks to the distorted value of Bonds' contributions to the Giants, let alone the game. His team was 2-9 in the last 11 games in which he hit home runs. It might have beaten Washington on Tuesday except Bochy took a hitter who was 3-for-3 with a home run and a double out of the game after the fifth inning.

Why did he do that? So Bonds could suck up the hometown cheers and pat himself on the back.

Amid the festivities, he offered a real pearl: "I'll ride and die with you,'' he said of his teammates.

Ride and die? How about leaving your feet to try to catch a fly ball every now and then?
As for the whole debate on whether or not Barry gets into the Hall of Fame, I've said this before and I'll say it again, albeit a little bit more grudgingly than the other times ... He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I can't deny he is a multi-skilled player, a seven-time MVP player and an all-star who was putting up big numbers well before his supposed steroid use. If anything, he's become less of player since the supposed steroid use; he can no longer play the outfield well, he doesn't steal bases anymore, he's mostly in the game to hit homeruns and draw walks.

From the Tribune's Mike Downey ...

This is a man who has walloped more home runs than any who ever hit a ball, more than Hank or Babe or Willie or Mickey or any other colossus who came along.

He is also a man who put a glove on his hand and took a position on the field, unlike some we could name.

He did not become a designated hitter or demand a trade to the American League, as did other one-dimensional "players" who were too infirm or inept to do anything but hit.

He is a man who has done much, much more than mash home runs.

And there was this from today's SI newsletter ...

Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 756th career home run last night against the Nationals, surpassing Hank Aaron's major league record. The 435-foot blast to right-center off of lefthander Mike Bacsik was followed by an on-field ceremony featuring Bonds's family, Willie Mays and a taped message from Aaron. SI's Jon Heyman has been thinking about how he will regard Bonds in a few years when the time comes to fill out his Hall of Fame ballot, and he says he plans to use MLB commissioner Bud Selig as his role model. "Unlike with Selig, Bonds doesn't affect my legacy (it would be overstating it quite a bit to claim I had one), and I am not personal friends with Aaron," says Heyman. "So unlike Selig, I don't feel an overwhelming need to straddle a fence for as long as possible. I probably will vote for Bonds for the Hall of Fame. I won't do it happily, but I believe I will vote yes. Long before he ever started juicing, Bonds was Cooperstown qualified." (more)

More Bonds stuff ...
a A slideshow from the Rocky Mountain News
a Commissioner leaves Bonds to discuss steriods probe
a Heirs to the throne? Handicapping the contenders to surpass Bonds
a Give the devil his due: Steroids or not, Bonds' ability never in question
a The People's King

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