What do you think of the whole Barry Bonds saga?

[Irish Envy]

Figured this would stir up some conversation. Anywho, what do you think?

 

[isotopes]

I think it's a shame. You had a guy who was a perennial candidate for 40 and 40 and potentially one of the best all around players since his godfather.(Mays) Instead, now you're left with a juiced never-ending knee injury in the outfield. And don't forget he's "tired" his "whole family if just tired."

He needs to retire or atleast go to the American league where the Dh has already disgraced baseball.

 

[irishwavend]

First, he has to outdo the white guy. Every time ESPN or any media talks about it, it just makes me sick & increases my hatred of all media...It's all about the story, not whether it is right, wrong, or indifferent, just as long as it keeps energy, conversation, and dollars flowing. It's all BS. That guy should never have his name in the HOF, or at least discout his years on roids. F*&^ Barry Bonds!

 

[jiggafini19]

Let me just start by saying I hate ESPN. I dont' watch the network, I dont' listen to their radio station here in Chicago, I want absolutely nothing to do with them. They make me sick to my stomach and someone needs to tell them that no one cares about the Yankees and Red Sox anymore and the only people besides their network who like Barry Bonds are the people in San Francisco.

Now that I have that out of the way, as a White Sox fan I was THRILLED to see that Juan Pierre stole #714 from Bonds last night. I don't want McGwire to pass Maris and Bonds to pass Ruth against the Cubs. It is kind of like tripping a person with one leg.

I finished up Game of Shadows last week. This may sound terrible, but I keep hoping that his knee gives or he gets hit by lightning. He doesn't deserve to pass Ruth and Aaron. He really doesn't deserve to have passed his Godfather Willie Mays. It goes beyond steroids. He's a horrible person.

As someone who played three years of varsity baseball in high school, I was raised and coached to play the game the right way and respect baseball. Now, two American icons of the American Game are going to be passed by another man who is simply not a good person. Yes, Ruth had his faults and Aaron probably did too. But Ruths performance was not enhanced in any way and HOW DARE BARRY BONDS cry racism. Why don't you ask Hank Aaron what real racism is. Barry Bonds is a self centered jerkoff and justice will be done unto him.

He'll probably pass Ruth and be content, but his own ego will push him to play to so he can try to pass Aaron. In truth, I don't think he wants to pass Aaron at all once he gets Ruth. Jason Whitlock will write an article about how Bonds triumphed over the face of racist adversity and ESPN will take those 5 mintues they don't talk about Bonds and make Sportscenter one big Barry Lovefest.

And he'll still be a jerk, with or without the juice and his juicey records. Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols will end up passing him anyway down the line. And I'm okay with it.

 

[Indydomer]

I despise him. I agree with you Jigga, I don't want to wish harm on anyone, but I hope he falls down the stairs or something. Beroid Bonds is terrible for the game, and goes against everything it stands for. Guys work their ass off in the minors just for the shot to break these records, and this guy is going to cheat and pass Ruth maybe Aaron. Barry used to be one of my favorite players when I was a kid. It's sad what he has become.

FESPN too and the White Sox. Sorry Jigga Im a Cubs fan.

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

i'm not a fan of espn like the rest of you unless there's a game on or the rare occasions that i catch PTI. at least PTI rips bonds from time to time. he's an absolute joke. i know he's gone on trial and said he never "knowingly used steroids" which is the most overly used BS lie i've ever heard. it's almost cliche now.

he's admitted he used a cream and supplement that he was told weren't steroids. shouldn't he still get in trouble for using them? maybe not suspensions or fines, but at least remove his records. six years of stats isn't the end of the world. he was a very talented player before that.

 

[maison bleu]

I swore off baseball after the '94 strike. Quit smoking two years later. Two bad habits gone.

I don't miss major league bb one bit. Like golf, baseball barely qualifies as a sport, as far as I'm concerned.

I paid no attention to all those Yankee teams, ignored the Red Sox title. I shut down anyone who attempts to discuss the Mets or the Cubs with a simple "I don't care about baseball." Ahhhh.... peace of mind.

 

[jiggafini19]

FESPN too and the White Sox. Sorry Jigga Im a Cubs fan.

Indy, you ought to be more worried about the Cardinals. Or the Brewers.

 

[Domer95]

As I Philly native, I was tremendously pleased in the fans and their treatment of BB. The signs/banners were great. Some of the best were

"Hey Barry, move your head, I can't see!"
"Cheater" (this was 5 seats away from BB's mama)
and the one in left field: "Ruth did it with hot dogs and beer. Aaron did it with class..Bonds you did it with?????" with all of the Is dotted w/ asterisks.

It's also great to hear that his propaganda show BonB is bombing big time. He's the poster child for what's wrong with the modern age sports pro athlete. He gets all of the negative pub/boos/indictments that he deserves. Plus he's just a creepy human being.

 

[punishment]

No fans were funnier than the syringe toss in San Diego though, that was hilarious.

People here in SF have mixed feelings about Bonds. Some still root for him just because he is with the Giants, but for a team that doesn't really have too many accomplishments, its like ripping away their lone accomplishment.

So some people feel stabbed by the media, and some feel stabbed in the back by Bonds.

He doesn't deserve the record, just like McGwire didn't either.

Besides, I'm an A's fan, so I hate the giants.

But anyways, the whole "I did not knowingly take steroids" is bs. It's like when my doctor tells me I have to lose weight and I would say "I didn't knowingly eat fattening twinkies, they said 'low fat' on them." The point is, you know what's in it, you know what your doing.

 

[nayers]

Let me preface my comments by saying that i am from the bay area, and i AM a Giants fan... Its funny how people hate this guy so much, yet they still pack out every stadium in which he plays in, also, someone has yet to show me how steriods helps your hand eye coordination, and bat speed, also, a majority of the people caught using steriods are pitchers, and while they may be no namers, it just goes to show that he does not have an uneven playing field.

Did he do steriods???? maybe, personally, i just dont care, i love the long ball, GO GIANTS!

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

Let me preface my comments by saying that i am from the bay area, and i AM a Giants fan... Its funny how people hate this guy so much, yet they still pack out every stadium in which he plays in, also, someone has yet to show me how steriods helps your hand eye coordination, and bat speed, also, a majority of the people caught using steriods are pitchers, and while they may be no namers, it just goes to show that he does not have an uneven playing field.

Did he do steriods???? maybe, personally, i just dont care, i love the long ball, GO GIANTS!

i appreciate that you're defending bonds. he did has all those qualities you mentioned before the steroids, and he would have just as much contact with the ball without them. however, the issue is the homerun record. think about how many homeruns he hit 25 ft. or less past the outfield walls around the league. the muscle he illegally added to his frame provided more power to each hit, many of which would have ended up as pop fly outs. he'd prob be about 100 homeruns lower on the charts.

and evening the playing field is just a silly thing to say. that's like saying nd should offer recruits' parents homes in san diego bc usc does it.

if you like the long ball, back pujols. that guy is like 26 and on pace for 80 homers without the juice.

 

[nayers]

i never said it should be evened because of Bonds, I am saying it is not even because pitchers are using them as well. If people dont like Him, and if they hate him as much as they say they do, then they need to quit supporting him and the Giants by not going to any game in which he plays in, and never watching any televised game...boycott him alltogether

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

i know you never said it should be evened bc of bonds. i didn't even hint you said that. you obviously missed my point that there is no reasonable explanation or excuse for using steroids AT ALL unless there was a league that was created only for steriod users. keep in mind that most steroids are considered controlled substances and are illegal to possess.

not going to the games by boycotting is one idea. but many fans do the right thing and show and to express their thoughts, hence the hilarious sign in left field the other night.

it's important to read posts to prevent reacting to statements that were never made.

 

[Fitzgerald]

I'm bored with Bonds. The only element of the whole mess that interests me, and mostly from a sociological/philosophical/moral standpoint is the behavior of fans such as Nayers there. The San Francisco fans - what in the world are those people thinking? What's cheerable about Bonds? He's not an anti-hero. He's nothing. It's like cheering a disease. I wonder about how a Giants fan can take his son to the ballpark and cheer Barry Bonds. What do you even say? "Hey, son, sure, he's a jerk, and sure he hates us, and sure he's the greatest cheater in the history of professional sports, and sure his accomplishments are meaningless, but aren't homers great?" I just can't fathom it. Now, the defensiveness of the Bay Area fans when the subject of Bonds is broached is kind of reassuring, since it indicates that they've at least got some sense that their cheering for him is an embarrassment. But why not just disown a guy who so obviously deserves it, and who could not have made it any easier than he has? I'm a Cubs fan (nice snag, Juan) and Sammy Sosa was dead to me the moment he was caught corking his bat. The later "revelations" about his steroid abuse were overkill. Now, Cub fans GENERALLY (meaning not me) kept cheering Sammy for a little while after he was caught with the corked bat, because he hit. And that was a shame, but once his production dropped (but not much) the next season, Cub fans turned on him immediately, and he was gone and forgotten, immediately. Disowned by an entire fanbase. In the beginning of 03 Sammy Sosa was the biggest superstar in Chi. By the end of 04 he was shipped out for mid-level players and nobody missed him. Now it's as if he never played for the Cubs. And this was before all the steroid testimony. So why can't SF fans do the same? That's all I wonder. There has to be an objectivity, even in sports fandom. A player shouldn't have to kill someone (OJ) for a fanbase (USC) to disown him, or to admit that he's done what he's done. You can see USC fans any day attacking the alleged victim in the Mark Sanchez case. If he's convicted of course they'll disown him, but for now? She's a whore, how dare she, etc. Players who beat people up, shoot people, drive drunk, these things are all ignored. Even Irish fans get incredibly defensive when Lou Holtz's history of NCAA infractions is mentioned. Me, I got tired of it. I now just admit that while I like him as a person, and admire him as a coach, he's incapable of running a clean program - and that that says something about him.

But this has run long. The main point is that I don't understand why the SF fans can't show some brains, and some dignity, and disown Bonds as the rest of the world has, and as the Cub fans did so quickly with Sosa. It's do-able.

 

[jiggafini19]

Let me preface my comments by saying that i am from the bay area, and i AM a Giants fan... Its funny how people hate this guy so much, yet they still pack out every stadium in which he plays in, also, someone has yet to show me how steriods helps your hand eye coordination, and bat speed, also, a majority of the people caught using steriods are pitchers, and while they may be no namers, it just goes to show that he does not have an uneven playing field.

Did he do steriods???? maybe, personally, i just dont care, i love the long ball, GO GIANTS!

Nayers, he had all of those things. What he didn't have was 70 HR seasons. He was a great player without the steroids, an immortal one with them. He is not Ruth, not Mays, not Aaron. And what scares me most about him is that he did it all out of jealousy from McGwire and Sosa. Bonds was better than BOTH of them without roids, now he'll be forever linked to both of them.

Right now, the Giants are slipping into the abyss as a franchise. Peter McGowan is licking Bonds' ass right into last place. That team is aged and keeping Bonds in left field is only making them worse every day that he's in the lineup. If he's playing, I instruct my hitters to pull the ball in his direction. He's utterly worthless in the field.

He'll pass Ruth, everyone at ESPN will ruin a pair of pants when it happens, but he won't be able to pass Aaron. Then Pujols and Rodriguez will obliterate him later.