Barry Bonds is the best player in Baseball right now. So, why are there so many people against him? I have no idea! This post is dedicated to #25. Read on to see articles that actually focus on his achievements in the sport rather than the negativity surrounding him in the media. I'm not saying that we should ignore drug tests or disregard the rules placed on athletes. However, do not ask whether someone who has been an exceptional ball player for 20+ years deserves some recognition. Any way you look at it, it's a historic home run.
Hank Aaron's bio in the Baseball Almanac discusses the reaction when Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record. "Sadly, the color of his skin deemed Aaron undeserving of Ruth's hallowed record to many, who showered him and his family with insults at games and death threats through the mail." I have included this quote to point out that this isn't the first time criticism has afflicted a record breaking ball player.
Hank Aaron completed the 1976 season with 755 home runs. What's been going on these last 30 years? If Barry Bonds did use steroids how can you relate that to beating a record? Have only a handful of athletes "enhanced" their performance? Or, is this a widespread problem that has taken place in locker rooms for years? The current strict agreement began to affect Major League baseball just 2 years ago. This is a brand new hot item to discuss and the media is just running to town with it. Perhaps the rules of sterioid testing should have been changed 10 years ago. Maybe we'd be reading some very different baseball news. But that said, this is the world we live in. I have been cheering for Barry Bonds since '93 and can't wait for him to break the record and run those bases!
Bonds on brink after hitting homer 754
Bonds to take homer hunt into hostile baseball territory
Cox, Smoltz pay respect to Bonds
Barry Bonds’ Homerun Race Puts Bush’s Steroids Record In The Spotlight
Ortiz doesn't think Bonds has taken steroids
Show the man some love--baseball's in his blood with a family tree like his! From the official page on mlb.com: Barry Bonds:
Biography
7-time MVP is 2nd in Major League history with National League-record 734 career home runs, most ever for left-handed batter...as 1 of 3 members of baseball's hallowed 700 Home Run club, trails only Hank Aaron (755) in game's pantheon of power...has established San Francisco-era records with .314 avg. and 558 clouts in Giants uniform, while he ranks 2nd in club's West Coast annals with 1,374 RBI...owns baseball's single-season records for home runs (73 in 2001), walks (232 in '04), intentional walks (120 in '04), on-base pct. (.609 in '04), slugging pct. (.863 in '01), HR ratio (6.52 in '01) and HR pct. (12.06 in '04)...has Major League career records with 13-consecutive 30-HR seasons, 13 campaigns with 100-or-more walks (tied with Ruth), 2,426 lifetime bases on balls and 645 intentional walks...has also matched his late father, Bobby, for ML record with 5 different 30 HR/30 SB seasons...is 1 of 4 players (joining Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano), to reach 40-40 plateau with his 1996 output...has posted NL-record 12 seasons with at least 100 RBI, and has matched Aaron with 8 different 40-HR campaigns...2006 marked his 18th season with at least 20 clouts, passing Willie Mays and Frank Robinson for 2nd-most all-time...only Aaron (20) reached 20-HR plateau more times...is 1 of 7 players in Major League history to reach base 5,000 times, reaching safely 5,370 times via hit, walk and hit-by-pitch...joins Pete Rose (5,929 times), Ty Cobb (5,532), Rickey Henderson (5,343), Carl Yastrzemski (5,304), Stan Musial (5,282) and Aaron (5,205)...13-time All-Star and lone member of baseball's 500 homer/500 steal club, ranks 2nd all-time for extra-base hits (1,398), 5th for RBI (1,930), 6th for slugging pct. (.608), 6th for total bases (5,784), 6th for runs (2,152), 14th for doubles (587) and 33rd for steals (509)...has also homered off ML-record 433 different pitchers, while ranking 2nd with 69 multi-clout contests... is oldest player to ever to win MVP award (40 years old in 2004), capture batting title (40 in 2004) and hit 20 HRs in season (42 in 2006)... dominates Giants franchise and San Francisco-era record books...ranks 9th in franchise history with .314 avg. (1st in SF annals), 4th with 1,850 games (3rd SF), 8th with 5,923 at-bats (3rd SF), 3rd with 1,480 runs (T1st- SF), 6th with 1,857 hits (3rd SF), 4th with 367 2Bs (2nd with SF), 2nd with 558 HRs (1st SF), 4th with 1,374 RBI (2nd SF), 1st with 1,815 walks, 10th with 258 stolen bases (2nd SF) and 3rd with 3,980 total bases (2nd SF).
Graduated from Serra (San Mateo, CA) High School in 1982...starred in baseball, basketball and football at Serra, school that has also produced Lynn Swann, Jim Fregosi, Gregg Jefferies and Tom Brady...hit .404 over 3 varsity seasons, including .467 average as prep All- America his senior year...played 3 years for Arizona State University, hitting .347 with 45 home runs and 175 RBI...named All-Pac 10 all 3 years, and chosen to The Sporting News All-America Team as junior in 1985...tied NCAA record with 7 consecutive hits in College World Series as sophomore...was named to All-Time College World Series Team in 1996...born in Riverside, CA, where his father and former Giants manager Dusty Baker were also born and raised...his aunt, Rosie Bonds, once held U.S. women's record in 80-meter hurdles and was on '64 U.S. Olympic Team...Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tony Dorsett were his childhood heroes...hobbies include weightlifting, martial arts and dancing...10-handicap golfer...married (Liz Watson, Jan. 10, 1998)...has son (Nikolai) and 2 daughters (Shikari and Aisha Lynn).
Sunday, July 29, 2007
where's the love?
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1 comment:
The commissioner refusing to attend the games is ironic. Steroids fueled the massive power hitters like McGwire and Palmeiro who became fan favorites and generated extra interest in and revenue for MLB. It's like, by not attending, he's trying to simultaneously ignore AND wash his hands of the fact that he presided over baseball at a time when steroids were an integral part of the culture of the sport.
Kind of like Rafael Palmeiro, who, after testing positive for steroids, denied that he had ever knowingly taken steroids but then said "I made a mistake and I'm facing it," he said. "I hope that people learn from my mistake and I hope that the fans forgive me." God, what a crock.
The lame thing about Bonds is that he almost taunts people with the fact that no one's proven he's used steroids, yet his personal trainer / supplement guy has been sitting in jail for months for refusing to give testimony about him.
The whole steroid issue is rotten, from the self-righteously lying players, to the self-righteous, hypocritical officials and pundits who make their living off the game.
The fans are probably the only ones that have, as a group, any kind of moral authority on the topic--and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have much of a problem with Bonds, if only he looked like the Brawny guy, inspired everyone to be better Americans, and signed babies' heads and stuff.
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