by Friends of the Program on January 28 at 3:08AM
Here's an article on Barry Bonds from my friend Scott, who is part of the team over at Top Ten Chicago Sports.
By Scott Phillips
I normally hate Stu Scott and his annoying phrases, but for this point I bring to you now it only seems fitting. Don’t hate Barry Bonds for using steroids and “tarnishing the game”, hate the game of baseball for letting it all slide. You wanted tape measure moon shots to bring you back from the strike? Well you got it.
Hate Barry Bonds for his arrogance, his attitude towards the media, his aloofness when being accused of taking steroids, or even his alleged perjury case, but don’t hate him for taking steroids to enhance his career. People lie, cheat, and steal their way to the top of their jobs all the time to enhance their lives, so what makes Barry Bonds any different?
After all, steroids although illegal for use in the United States were not banned from baseball, and Bonds wanted his piece of the pie after seeing the breakout success of Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire following the 1998 season. McGwire and Sosa led off Sportscenter nightly, had numerous marketing opportunities, were the golden boys of a revitalized sport, and the toast of the country. Even Ken Griffey Jr., who fell short of Big Mac, and Sammy but had an incredible season had always been adored by fans for his personality and trademark backwards cap and smile.
Meanwhile, Barry Bonds put up a fantastic season of 38 home runs, 122 RBI’s, a .303 batting average, and another 130 walks to add to his growing Hall of Fame credentials. He even became the first player to hit 400 home runs, and steal 400 bases for a career that season but got very little publicity, finishing 8th in MVP voting.
What we did know about Barry Bonds at the time was this; he had a bizarre way of dealing with the media, and an ego that was growing increasingly out of control. After all, this was the most overshadowed player of the pre-steroids era. A guy who the legendary Bill James stated was the best baseball player of the 1990’s, and, "certainly the most unappreciated superstar of my lifetime... Griffey has always been more popular, but Bonds has been a far, far greater player." It was only icing on the cake when baseball left Bonds off the All-Century team in 1999 even though the Sporting News ranked him as the 16th best player of all-time in 1997.
Then it all went downhill from there. We’ve heard the stories of Bonds jealously towards McGwire and Sosa and his experimentation with steroids, and frankly, I can’t blame him. In sports now-a-days people forget about you unless you are an over-the-top legend of epic proportions.
In a sport as history filled as baseball, there are numerous casual fans of the game who couldn’t begin to name all time great hall of famers from the last century if their last names weren’t Ruth, Cobb, or Aaron. This point only hit home especially hard when I questioned Ricky about our Top Ten Chicago Sports list of the greatest Chicago born athletes when Cap Anson wasn’t listed.
“Who’s Cap Anson,” was the answer from Rickhouse, who might I add is one of the more knowledgeable people I have ever met in regards to sports. “He’s only 7th in career hits, and one of the innovators of the game,” I responded. “Oh, yeah.”
Simply put, Bonds would have been a forgotten man had he kept his career track going without the juice. He would have surely passed 500 home runs, and 500 stolen bases, had a ridiculous on base percentage, maybe a few more gold gloves, been a first ballot hall of famer and a guy that a future 70 year old Jayson Stark would reference in some sort of “Baseball’s Forgotten Stars” book 20 years from now, but for Barry Bonds that wouldn’t have been good enough.
The man is driven by being relevant. He probably loves to be in the news for any reason even if it’s a negative one. I mean did you see his reality show on ESPN? The short lived Bonds on Bonds? It was the most ridiculous display of braggadocios behavior I had ever seen. Did you see Barry blow by his son Nikolai after his record setting home run so that he could bask in his moment? He is consumed by people talking about him, and he will most certainly be talked about as long as there is the game of baseball.
But baseball, starting to feel the heat from the 2003 Balco case and the ridiculous outcry from the public about steroids, never backed Bonds with publicity that they gave McGwire and Sosa. Part of this is due to Bonds’ attitude. This is a man who took himself out of the Players Association so that he could make more money on his own selling his likeness, hence why you never see him in video games or strat-o-matic.
Bonds wanted to be loved, and baseball left him hanging and never did anything to back him up when charges went against him. They needed someone to take the heat and Bonds was ideal. You think baseball would have ignored Sammy or McGwire? Hell no, they were marketable beyond belief stars who people wanted to watch. They put people in the seats and money in baseball’s pockets while Bonds emerged a couple years too late after being a forgotten man only a few years before. He did what he had to do to be relevant, and all within the legal (yet unlawful) guidelines of baseball’s rule book.
All Barry Bonds probably ever wanted was to be remembered. Although he probably wished it was for baseball, in some sick way he is probably satisfied in knowing that people will always remember him for Balco and perjury. He is a man I admired greatly as a child and someone I looked forward to seeing in 1994 during the strike season when I was 8 years old. I dislike his attitude and the way he looks at things, but he is an athlete and it is not of the utmost importance how he acts off the field so long as he is not killing people or being a detriment to society.
He is a man with a family who receives death threats and is generally hated by the media for not being the kindest in interviews, and he is hated mostly for taking an illegal substance that people only care about in the context of baseball. Steroids don’t matter when professional wrestlers, bodybuilders, or pro football players take them, but let the talking heads of the media and blogging world scream about someone trying to improve their careers when baseball overlooked it in the first place. Baseball created a monster, and it has only itself to blame. People will always remember you Barry: mission accomplished.
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Comments
I would respond, but since you don't understand the English language or any of the points I made I don't feel the need to waste my time. Do you even understand Enron, or Martha Stewart?
Jack Cobra
said
Generally I hate all things written about Bonds, but this was well thought out and well written.
Bonds seemingly is a person who always wants more, or the best of everything, kind of like a spoiled child. In the end, it will be his own arrogance that will lead to the downfall of a great player.
that is fucking stupid. thats like saying that what enron and martha stewart did was ok. we should hate the things that people do but the people. I hate barry bonds because he cheated and tried to get away with it. and i hate scott because he writes dumb columns