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Well, thank you kindly (
dUck and
Spearmaster) for destroying whatever sort of image I had of you, prior to the past page of this thread. I was under the impression that we're all at our computers for too many hours out of the day, hence we're anything BUT athletes (myself excluded... although I'm in good shape from hiking). Goes to show me that one should never stereotype those who post here (lol).
I would have to think that both of your biographies would be an excellent read. :notworthy
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I read this article today on
SI.com (
Sports Illustrated), on my favorite subject, Barry Bonds. This "piece" was written by Steve Hofstetter. One of the many young and dumb writers working over at a revamped (and now 2nd tier) sports website.
Link Removed ( Old/Invalid)
Reviewing some of the most eye-catching excerpts from the article, I had this to add...
S.I. - Turns out Bonds was just talking about whether he'd retire after the season. But I don't like watching Barry Bonds play. I don't think he's good for the game, and I have never found evidence that he is a nice person.
Nice is irrelevant. I wish people would get over that already. He's not "pretending" to be nice. No one is losing sleep over the fact that Barry doesn't get along with the media, and is generally low-key (ignoring that ultra embarrassing Paula Abdul thingy he did yesterday... oy...). It's not new NEWS, so why keep reiterating such useless facts. Next...
S.I. - Remember, this is the same guy whose prenup was voided because his camp had doctored it after it was signed. A prenup between Bonds and a Swedish immigrant who'd only been in the country a month and could barely speak English. Isn't love grand?
It sure is, ain't it? Actually, she was a Canadian immigrant. She was an international model who had been living in Montreal for quite some time (not just a month), so it's not like he picked her up off the street, and forced her into to anything. Secondly, as I understand it, they had met in Montreal when Bonds first started out in Pittsburgh back around '86. Also, she had a reputation of playing around (with other men) and loved the night scene, thus Bonds wanted to get a divorce. She went public about the divorce, not he, and he paid her very well (and is still paying her very well). In fact, aside from their son that they had together, Bonds (it is said) has been known to take care of her other children (her other boy has been spotted numerous times around the GIANTS clubhouse). Next...
S.I. - Let's look at this logically. Bonds started as a base-stealing threat with ho-hum power. Not during his rookie season, but for the first six years of his career. He hit more than 25 home runs once in the first six years he played professional baseball. Hank Aaron hit more than 25 home runs in five of his first six seasons. Babe Ruth did it in all six of his first seasons as a position player. You'll find similar stats for Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Reggie Jackson and every other great home run hitter not named Sosa. Home run hitters don't blossom in their seventh year in the majors. They are genetically engineered.
Geez! How can you look at anything "logically" if you can't even get your facts right (hello editors over at S.I., are you awake... or were you all fired to save money?) about Bonds' public divorce.
Okay, I'll play along... Play "pretend" logic. Bonds didn't start off with ho-hum power. He ALWAYS had exceptional power, even back in college. Sure, it's not what it is today, but that has more to do with his knowledge of the strike-zone, a greater swing (VERY compact), and the best pitch recognition probably since Ted Williams. Hank Aaron has said numerous times, that his pitch recognition was at it's greatest when he was in his late '30s. Some skills need a long time to develop. Now, Bonds could have hit more HR's in his first four campaigns in the League. Why didn't he? Surely it takes some players longer than other to develop. Not every player comes out of the minor hitting 40 HR's a year. But another VERY important reason why he didn't hit more than 30 (until '90), was that he was the lead-off hitter his first few years in the majors. He wasn't approaching his at-bats, with the thought of pulling the ball for homers. He was a singles/doubles/triples hitter back then. Other lead-off hitters like Rickey Henderson, Johnny Damon, and Derek Jeter (to name a few), could also hit 30 HR a year. But that's not their game.
S.I. - If that's not enough for you, common side effects of steroids are aggression and water retention in the neck and head.
No, that wasn't ANYTHING for me actually. I'd be giving you negative reputation points if you were posting here.
Now, uh-huh, the steroids. The knee-jerk reaction of every comedian and sportsbeat writer looking to make a name for themselves in the sports world, bringing up the issue of steroids. You see, the other facts were absolutely useless. He may very well be right, but I hate the arrogance of it all. Bonds has a big head, because of steroids? Maybe. But it's still only a theory without any REAL hard facts.
Even if Bonds started doing them, it seems as though he didn't start doing them until the end of the '99 (injury-riddled) campaign. Are we going to ignore his HOF numbers that he had put up prior to his uber-explosion at the turn of the Century?
S.I. - I don't want Bonds hurt. I couldn't wish physical pain on a human being. But if the effects of steroids push him into retirement, it's only fair. Even if you're rooting for Bonds, you want to see him do this the right way. Or the right-ish way, since it's WAY too late for the right way.
Actually, I'm a greedy fan. I want him to keep playing until he's in his early 50's.
At least. Leaving now wouldn't prove anything. What's with this "do the right thing and retire for the good of baseball" crap that the media has been throwing out there for the past 3 seasons now? Like everything else in the sporting world is so pure? Like the very people who write articles as lame as this one (redundant and going on about how his head looks like a fruit to make a point) are such "GOOD" people. Please... The world was never an innocent place, and although we can all hope and strive for excellence, it never will be. That has nothing to do with Barry Bonds.
S.I. - Maybe I would. I used Google four separate times in this column.
Really? Well, you obviously didn't search for too much regarding anything about Barry Bonds. My guess is that you visited the
Del Monte homepage 4 times!!!
Closing thoughts...
Did Bonds do steroids? Perhaps. Likely. It sure looks as though he did. No argument here. I find it pointless debating it, because despite whatever either party thinks or believes, it's all about biased opinions. There are no hard facts, and enough points that lead us to believe that he did something.
I, being a monster Barry Bonds fan, try to avoid such debates. Sure, I hope that he never took anything. If he did do steroids, being a true fan, I'd overlook it. My weakness? Perhaps.
What I do know, is that Bonds was leaps-and-bounds ahead of every player from his generation ('90-98) prior to his explosion. Bonds worked out 5-7 hours a day, working on reflexes, weight training, cardio, ect... He worked out with Jerry Rice numerous times (on a regular basis up until a couple summers back), and their workouts have been known to be the most demanding out there. Only Mike Jordan's or Karl Malone's regime comes close (and now Kobe Bryant's). He worked his ass off. He put in the work.
If Bonds did do steroids, I believe it was because the rest of the league was doing it (percentages we'll never truly be privy to). Despite all that Bonds was accomplishing throughout the '90s, people lost interest. The year that McGwire and Sosa were getting all the headlines, Bonds was still putting up MVP numbers for a winning team (they just missed making it to the post-season that year, in a 1-game playoff for the wildcard spot against Sosa's Cubbies). Seeing that players of lesser talent getting all of that publicity must have REALLY got to him. McGwire was always a great HR hitter, but he was never as great as Bonds (in terms of all-around ability). You can put together a very good case, that Bonds could have very well been the MVP every year from '90-98.
If Bonds never did do steroids, then he's probably on par with Babe Ruth (although I have Bonds being first already). Now, Ruth could pitch, and might have been a Top-25/50 pitcher (All-Time) had he gone down that road (instead of become arguably the greatest/most valuable position player). But Bonds could do EVERYTHING on the field (sorry, today's game would never allow a pitcher to play the field on off days on a regular basis).
Looking at some of Bonds accomplishments, these are the ones that I believe to be the most valuable.
So far...
- +700 HR/500 SB: Bonds is the only member of the 500/500 club, and in fact is the only member of the 400/400 club!!! His combination of power/speed is unrivaled.
- +2,000 runs scored: 6th All-Time... Bonds has ALWAYS been an exceptionally smart baserunner. Only Larry Walker (that I can think of) is in his league, when it comes to IQ on the basepads. If Bonds plays 2 more seasons, he should own this record as well (thank you Rickey).
- +2,750 hits: Bonds has always been walked (a ton), so despite playing 20 seasons and owning a .300 career BA, he still hasn't reached the 3,000 hits barrier. If he plays 2 more seasons, he'll get there. Amazing actually, considering that Ruth, Ted Williams, and Frank Robinson, never reached that milestone. And they were all great power-hitters, who drew a bunch of walks (although Robinson didn't draw walks like the other 3... still a fair amount though).
- BA .300: Amazing that just a few years ago, he was well below the .300 mark (around .288) and has been able to get it up to .300.
- OBP .442 (onbase percentage): 6th All-Time
- Slugging % .611: 5th All-Time
- OPS (onbase + slugging percentages): 4th All-Time
- 7 MVP's: The next best are players who have won 3. In fact, Bonds finished in the Top-5 in MVP voting another 5 times (finishing 2nd twice).
- 8 Gold Gloves: Not bad for someone playing LF, a position that players are seldomly award a GG.
- 1,853 RBI: Really, he should have a ton more. Why not? That's precisely the moments where he's pitched around, when his teammates are on the bases. There's nothing more frustrating than watching Bonds being pitched around with players on base (and these, EVEN that doesn't matter
). It's a miracle really, that he's been able to drive-in +100 (RBI) 12 different seasons.
- 2,311 Bases On Balls (a.k.a. Walks): Oddly, once Bonds career is done, this may be one of the hardest records for any other player to break. Perhaps the media doesn't respect his game at times, but the opposing pitchers and managers certainly do. THEY are the ones that would like him to retire (lol).
- 607 Intentional Walks: Funny that Bonds has more than doubled Aaron for this record (Aaron is 2nd All-Time at 293 intentional passes). That's a SURE sign of respect from opposing managers. Actually, Buck Showalter (then the D-Backs manager) gave Bonds an Intentional Walk with a bases loaded situation. The bases were loaded when Bonds came to the plate!!! That's the only time that that had been done in the history of MLB. Actually, it was a good move. The D-Backs only allowed 1-run on the play, and had won the game 8-7 over the Giants.
- 12 Silver Sluggers (Awards): He could always hit for power.
Looking at all of Bonds numbers and accomplishments, you'll never find another player where every statistical category is as good across the board.
I can completely understand people not liking him, but he is great. I've never seen anyone better than Bonds in baseball. Not even close.
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Barry Bonds at his all-time worst (although to certain groups, maybe at an all-time high).
Steed
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