Wednesday, March 08, 2006
My Take On.....Barry Bonds
Ah, sometimes I love the concept of blogging. I find it hard sometimes to have a strong and consistent voice on a message board, especially one as busy and large as OS so this gives me a platform to make a point and enlarge upon it.
Unless you live under a rock you know that the Barry Bonds story has taken a Woodward and Bernstein turn to hard hitting investigative journalism. Two writers from the San Fran. Chronicle are set to release a book that will shed enormous light on Barry Bonds. This book has been heavily researched with thousands of documents and over 200 people being interviewed. I think it's safe to say this isn't a hack job. Now I can easily turn this post into a "BWAHAHAHAHAHA I knew he was on roids all along" type of posting but I won't. What I will do is give a thorough opinion on the matter.
The book details the origin of Bonds' use of performing enhancers. In it they state that Bonds was jealous of the HR race of '98 between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. First of all, if this is true it makes no bloody sense on Bonds' part. Barry Bonds up to that time was viewed as a sure fire 1st ballot HOF'er despite his relations with the media. He was called the greatest baseball player of our generation. (ah I love revisionist and retroactive history as I recall this distinction being given to Ken Griffey Jr. at the time) Bonds was the epitome of the all around baseball player. He could hit for average and power, had very good speed on the bases and was a gold glove calibre OFer. (Not the greatest arm tho, but he was very smart in the field) Why would someone with those kind of credentials feel the need to potentially throw it all away by cheating for a record out of jealousy?
Did Bonds feel like he was slowing down? I find this highly unlikely because look at the 3 year averages between 1996-1998:
AVG: more or less .300
HRs: 39.7
RBI: 117.4
OBP: .448.3
Now those are great numbers no matter how you slice and dice it. Barry Bonds was just about to enter the last phase of his prime as he was 34 in 1999. So one can concievably say that Bonds still had some productive seasons left in him. If jealousy was the cause of Bonds becoming Mr. Chemical Man then that's a crying shame.
Now we're left with the fact that one of the greatest all around ballplayers of all time has cheated to break a record and inflate his stats to ungodly sums. This leaves baseball in a major qaundary. I mean, what if Bonds breaks Aaron's record? Bud Selig can't pull of that asterisk crap because there's no gray area in all this. Do you honestly believe Hank Aaron is going to say "Barry Bonds is the greatest HR hitter of all time" and not feel slighted? Selig either has to fully recognize the record or strike it from the books. Either way, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. I'm sure Selig is secretly hoping Bonds doesn't break the record.
Then there's the issue of the HOF.
Oh boy, this could have huge implications. I've heard during the Raffy Palmeiro situation that there's a strong contingent of writers who won't vote in guys who they feel had chemical assistance. It's now going to be VEEERY interesting as Mark McGwire is in his first year of eligibility in '06. Before this book has made headlines I would say that maybe some of the writers will soften on their stance and there may be just enough votes to barely get him in the hall. Now with the spectre of steroids and the revelations of the Crown Prince of the roids era is upon us it's going to give those writers a leg to stand on.
I'm willing to wager now that McGwire is going to wait a few years to even get into the Hall. (BTW I don't particularly think Big Mac is a HOF'er. He's only boosted to that level due to his power numbers.) If McGwire doesn't make it in his first year then it's a sign that the writers aren't bluffing about punishing players of the Roid Era. Barry Bonds when he's eligible is going to meet tremendous resentment and resistance. In many ways this is a tragedy as Bonds was a 1st ballot guy before this but he's so blatantly cheated and pissed all over tradition that one can't be comfortable with him in the Hall. I mean, if he's in then people will scoff and view him as a cheat. If he's out, then those who truly know and respect baseball will note Bonds' great career before steroids and note the shame of it all.
This whole situation didn't even have to happen. Yes, i'm sure he would've been accused and maybe even "outed" but if Bonds had been a better media person then he would've been given the McGwire treatment of forgiveness. Bonds has always been surly and boorish towards the media and in some ways Bonds revealed himself while taking those performing enhancers. It's noted that those who have chemical assistance will find their personality traits greatly exaggerated and out of control. Well if you look at Bonds' relationship with the media in the late 90s and beyond, you'll see that he became even more aggressive and antagonistic against them.
If Bonds was more media savvy he could've used his considerable charm to put the heat off him. Bonds has done the opposite; he has treated the media with contempt and little respect. If Bonds was only a little more friendlier then he'd have strong media supporters no matter how bad things get but instead he's now the most vilified man in all of pro sports right now.
Finally, I want to express concern. I geniunely worry about Bonds' health. This is a man that took every performing enhancer known to man, made home brewed concoctions and drank 20 pills at a time as part of his regemin. Pumping so many chemicals and God knows what else into one's body for 5 years is bound to cause serious health problems. I may not like Bonds personally but as someone who has a love and respect for his fellow man I can't help but feel some concern for his wellbeing. I seriously think Bonds won't live to see his 60th birthday due to all the chemicals he has pumped into his body.
He has made his own bed tho, and must eventually face the consequences. Hopefully if that does happen it will serve as a warning to those athletes who think performing enhancers is the way to go.
Unless you live under a rock you know that the Barry Bonds story has taken a Woodward and Bernstein turn to hard hitting investigative journalism. Two writers from the San Fran. Chronicle are set to release a book that will shed enormous light on Barry Bonds. This book has been heavily researched with thousands of documents and over 200 people being interviewed. I think it's safe to say this isn't a hack job. Now I can easily turn this post into a "BWAHAHAHAHAHA I knew he was on roids all along" type of posting but I won't. What I will do is give a thorough opinion on the matter.
The book details the origin of Bonds' use of performing enhancers. In it they state that Bonds was jealous of the HR race of '98 between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. First of all, if this is true it makes no bloody sense on Bonds' part. Barry Bonds up to that time was viewed as a sure fire 1st ballot HOF'er despite his relations with the media. He was called the greatest baseball player of our generation. (ah I love revisionist and retroactive history as I recall this distinction being given to Ken Griffey Jr. at the time) Bonds was the epitome of the all around baseball player. He could hit for average and power, had very good speed on the bases and was a gold glove calibre OFer. (Not the greatest arm tho, but he was very smart in the field) Why would someone with those kind of credentials feel the need to potentially throw it all away by cheating for a record out of jealousy?
Did Bonds feel like he was slowing down? I find this highly unlikely because look at the 3 year averages between 1996-1998:
AVG: more or less .300
HRs: 39.7
RBI: 117.4
OBP: .448.3
Now those are great numbers no matter how you slice and dice it. Barry Bonds was just about to enter the last phase of his prime as he was 34 in 1999. So one can concievably say that Bonds still had some productive seasons left in him. If jealousy was the cause of Bonds becoming Mr. Chemical Man then that's a crying shame.
Now we're left with the fact that one of the greatest all around ballplayers of all time has cheated to break a record and inflate his stats to ungodly sums. This leaves baseball in a major qaundary. I mean, what if Bonds breaks Aaron's record? Bud Selig can't pull of that asterisk crap because there's no gray area in all this. Do you honestly believe Hank Aaron is going to say "Barry Bonds is the greatest HR hitter of all time" and not feel slighted? Selig either has to fully recognize the record or strike it from the books. Either way, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. I'm sure Selig is secretly hoping Bonds doesn't break the record.
Then there's the issue of the HOF.
Oh boy, this could have huge implications. I've heard during the Raffy Palmeiro situation that there's a strong contingent of writers who won't vote in guys who they feel had chemical assistance. It's now going to be VEEERY interesting as Mark McGwire is in his first year of eligibility in '06. Before this book has made headlines I would say that maybe some of the writers will soften on their stance and there may be just enough votes to barely get him in the hall. Now with the spectre of steroids and the revelations of the Crown Prince of the roids era is upon us it's going to give those writers a leg to stand on.
I'm willing to wager now that McGwire is going to wait a few years to even get into the Hall. (BTW I don't particularly think Big Mac is a HOF'er. He's only boosted to that level due to his power numbers.) If McGwire doesn't make it in his first year then it's a sign that the writers aren't bluffing about punishing players of the Roid Era. Barry Bonds when he's eligible is going to meet tremendous resentment and resistance. In many ways this is a tragedy as Bonds was a 1st ballot guy before this but he's so blatantly cheated and pissed all over tradition that one can't be comfortable with him in the Hall. I mean, if he's in then people will scoff and view him as a cheat. If he's out, then those who truly know and respect baseball will note Bonds' great career before steroids and note the shame of it all.
This whole situation didn't even have to happen. Yes, i'm sure he would've been accused and maybe even "outed" but if Bonds had been a better media person then he would've been given the McGwire treatment of forgiveness. Bonds has always been surly and boorish towards the media and in some ways Bonds revealed himself while taking those performing enhancers. It's noted that those who have chemical assistance will find their personality traits greatly exaggerated and out of control. Well if you look at Bonds' relationship with the media in the late 90s and beyond, you'll see that he became even more aggressive and antagonistic against them.
If Bonds was more media savvy he could've used his considerable charm to put the heat off him. Bonds has done the opposite; he has treated the media with contempt and little respect. If Bonds was only a little more friendlier then he'd have strong media supporters no matter how bad things get but instead he's now the most vilified man in all of pro sports right now.
Finally, I want to express concern. I geniunely worry about Bonds' health. This is a man that took every performing enhancer known to man, made home brewed concoctions and drank 20 pills at a time as part of his regemin. Pumping so many chemicals and God knows what else into one's body for 5 years is bound to cause serious health problems. I may not like Bonds personally but as someone who has a love and respect for his fellow man I can't help but feel some concern for his wellbeing. I seriously think Bonds won't live to see his 60th birthday due to all the chemicals he has pumped into his body.
He has made his own bed tho, and must eventually face the consequences. Hopefully if that does happen it will serve as a warning to those athletes who think performing enhancers is the way to go.
# posted by Chris Fung @ 8:24 AM 
