Way to go BARRY, you are, quite frankly, the greatest baseball player in my lifetime. Steroids or no steroids.
To all the Bonds haters out there, consider this: Before 1998, he had 3 MVP awards, 8 all star appearances, and 8 gold glove awards. So excuse me if he put up freakish home run numbers after 1998, when he was supposedly on the juice. I am going to guess that quite a few players doing that time period were juicing, including the happy twins; Sosa, and McGuire, not to mention a few pitchers. (Some quite famous ones included) Oh, and if we are going to put an asterisk next to Bond's accomplishments, why don't we just put one next to every payer who played before 1947? But somehow I doubt that will happen, because we are such hypocrites in America, and our memory can be so selective.
So America, get over the hateration [like that word woozie?] of Bonds. We know it's because he is supposedly a jerk, and not fan friendly, and he is mean to sports writers. Who gives a shit? Yeah that Ty Cobb was a real Prince charming wasn't he? The last time I checked, that racist jerk was in the Hall, and America still loves him.
If Bonds is not a first ballot Hall of Famer, it will say more about the frauds who run American sports than any steroid scandal ever could. I am just glad Hammering Hank acknowledged the whole thing via video, he was starting to come up pretty small.
25 comments:
Hey, Field:
It still would have been a better, more sweeter accomplishment, if Bonds had done this without the steroid cloud of suspicion hanging over his head.
Just like Mark McGwire won't be remembered for breaking Roger Maris' single season home run record; he'll always be remembered for sniveling in front of a Congressional hearing, refusing to acknowledge he used steroids after Jose Canseco busted half of MLB for it (and Canseco caught hell for whistleblowing just like Gary Sheffield did).
Bonds may have broken the record, but there are itchy fingers in MLB waiting to stick an asterisk next to his name because of said suspicion.
Whether or not the hall of fame is a popularity contest remains a question, Barry Bonds deserves to be there. He is great with or without the juice.
Gave you shout out yesterday, your column from Monday was inspiring.
Barry Bonds is one of the greatest ballplayers of all time. Period.
I think asterisks in baseball stats are pointless. Baseball fans are obsessive freaks about stats, and so much has changed about the game along the way that it's just pointless to try and distinguish all the little changes.
Something else frustrating to me about this whole thing is how he is being judged on his personality. The media spits this stuff out and the public eats it up. But I don't know barry bonds, I don't hold him up as a role model (I think parents are more appropriate), I watch him because he's great at what he does - one of the best of all time. As long as he's not hurting anyone else I could care less what his personality is.
We're in sync here, FN. I blogged on this twice and the right wing tools didn't have the guts to challenge me. They just whine on there own blogs or call-in to lame sports shows.
The biggest hypocrite of all is Bud Selig. His chickens have come home to roost and rather than just embrace it, he's acting as I expected.
MLB has always been of hotbed of crap in situations too numerous to list, from exclusion of blacks to the White Sox scandal to the reserve clause to putting asterisks by Maris's name to protect Babe Ruth to covering Babe Ruth's ass, etc etc. MLB winked at juicing as long as the dudes hit the long ball and put asses in the seats and the TV money rolled in; the clowns like Costas sat back and said nothing. They didn't even break the stories or do the research on steroids. So I say go Barry go! You're right--he's a jerk but lord have mercy who wasn't through the years?
I have always respected Barry Bonds. Never liked him, but respected him. I will ALWAYS be pissed at him, because he let himself be open to this mess.
HE HAD THE GOODS.
PERIOD
Didn't need any 'steroid taint'.
I loved his ' Kiss My Black Ass' attitude because HE HAD THE BONAFIDES TO BACK IT UP.
Few do, but he did.
Which brings me back to being pissed that he'd open himself to this type of controversy. Totally unneccessary.
Mr. Bonds broke the record.
Period.
Like the much rumor-swirled Lance Armstrong, he's passed every pee in the cup.
Period.
The record is his.
Remember, he has more WALKS than I think any other player. For a long time, folks just wouldn't pitch to him...what if they had?
He would have broken the record LONG AGO.
Hateration...I'd say you should copyright it but I first heard hateration in a Mary J. Blige song a couple of years ago. Congratulations, you have a lawsuit on your hands!
why don't we just put one next to every payer who played
Tsk tsk tsk...you are a lost soul my son.
Maybe Barry should have just smiled more :)
Im so proud of Barry...Steroids or not...becuz THEY have no proof of that...I'm happy about it!! Black folk making history
But please no hataration of Hammering Hank either.
Hank explained that he was not going to shadow Barry around from park to park because he had lived his moment and wanted to allow Barry's his. What more was there for Hank to do? I don't get this criticism of Hank making the rounds.
I know in this world where everyone is addicted to spotlike, Hank's decision seems odd but Hank was right. Had Hank been present at the many moments lead up to Barry's 755 and 756 attention would have been diverted to Hank--cameras zoomed in on Hank's every expression, an overanalysis of Hank's every comment and noncomment. (Just like those who over analyze and condemn Hank's non-presence at the 20 games Barry was in proximity to Hank's record.) As things were, the attention remained on Barry.
Of course, Hank's a better person than I. I thought the video was overkill. Hank's congrats was unnecessary and well beyond the call of duty. (What duty?) Barry doesn't reach out to anybody. Barry prides himself for standing alone. And who can hope or be sincere about congratulating someone for breaking his record. This is not small. That's human. Is this another situation in which expecting black folks (especialy the leders of the civil rights movement era) to be superhuman--on our behalf? Why does a septarian have obligation to show simply because someone happens to break his record?
Finally, while I believe the hoopla over Barry's steroid use is certainly fuelded by racism--as Field suggests, I don't like Barry. I haven't really followed him--but he just last night what I saw of him proved him to be an a** in my book. It is clear his son--the ball boy--is hungry for Barry's attention and affection--but Barry's response to him is merely perfunctory and not particularly loving. Although his godfather Willie Mays was out there for him--and has been there for him--Barry barely acknowledged him--and certainly not in the moments on the field after the homeroom. Barry is certainly an egotist--probably like all sports heros--but, worse still, he is just a wreck of a person. I also can hardly stand his high-pitched voice. What is that?
Barry Bonds is hated for the same reason Derek Jeter is well-loved by the media.
One is a jerk and the other one appears to be very likeable.
Most of us know that there's better shortstops than Jeter (can you say Miguel Tejada?) but because he's in NYC, and bears under media scrutiny better than Bonds, the media eats that crap up, too.
Additionally, my understanding is that Jeter runs through women like he does his underwear - but you probably won't hear about that because he's likable.
But every time I see him during All-Star weekend, I keep wondering what other more deserving short stop could be in the starting lineup other than him - but because he's Derek Jeter, he gets the nod?
I'm a baseball purist, and you get in the HOF supposedly on your talent. Yeah, Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach, was a card-carrying member of the Klan. Cy Young probably was too. But you know what chaps my hide.
The fact that the Oakland Athletics fielded a pitcher who had four 20-win seasons, back to back, and is not in the HOF.
A field-Negro by the name of Dave "Smoke" Stewart, who also had a 10-1 win-loss record against someone who is in the HOF - that SOB Roger Clemens.
Stewart owned and punked Clemens everytime they faced one another. Hell, Stewart lowered his ERA just by glaring at Clemens on the mound.
Off the field, Stewart was the first MLB player down at Ground Zero during the '89 quake, pulling survivors from the wreckage. Other MLB players came to help out as a result.
Barry Bonds? MIA.
And Hank Aaron showed pure class in not wanting to distract from Bonds' moment by being there when he hit #756. But I agree with Rikyrah - the man opened himself up to being dissed, dogged and suspected of steroid use. Doesn't matter if it was legal - if you have the physical talent, why do you need chemical assistance or enhancement?
I know a player from the '80s - the only brotha that wore a Boston Red Sox uniform for his entire career. Jim Rice was a big, bad field-Negro who played for the Sox for 16 years. He once carried a 200lb player who got hit in the head with a line drive, off the field, without breaking a sweat.
He, Don Baylor, Dave Parker, Dave Henderson, Rickey Henderson...all of those brothas could hit, field, run, throw and jack home runs.
All without steroid use. And today, they feel cheated by players like Bonds, because they knew and understood the double standard that goes on in MLB, so they did their feats naturally.
Now you know why I hold Bonds' accomplishments in contempt - he was talented enough without the steroids, but when he saw Mark McGwire jacking home runs in 1998, he wanted that same adulation and set out to get it, even if it meant juicing.
Just because MLB didn't have a ban on steroids...it's the same as doing something unethical. It might be legal, but that doesn't mean you have to do it.
Barry is a dick, no doubt. But playing devils advocate, MaGuire's a nice guy and folk still crawled up his ass...
I am afraid I don't know much about baseball, but cheating is cheating no matter who did it. I don't know if he used steroids, but if he did he should be held accountable
Christopher Chambers:
Yeah, Big Mac was a nice guy, but after he appeared before Congress back in 2005 and lied about his steroid use (before crying and apologizing), his adoring public turned on him.
And fellow redneck Curt Schilling denouncing him in public didn't help him.
My last image of McGwire was him being a blubbering idiot in front of St. John McCain...
People fail to mention, for some unknown reason, that Roger Clemens' name came up in the steroid investigation. Why no scrutiny in regard to his record?
One of the advantages of taking steroids is people recover from injury quicker. Clemens is in his mid-40's and is a power pitcher. He never gets hurt. I guess that's possible but it's mighty rare especially at his age.
And if you look at his pictures when he was in Boston compared to now he is obviously much larger.
He's also every bit the dick that Barry is, if not worse. At least Barry travels with his team.
I also think people don't focus on something Field mentioned.
Babe Ruth played when baseball was segregated. How is that not an advantage? Think of all those great Negro League players he never had to face or compete with.
Also Babe Ruth didn't have to face the type of pitching they have in today's game. His bat is much larger indicating the pitchers did not throw as hard back "in the day."
One other thing about Ruth's day. The season's were much shorter. In today's game, Ruth's fat ass would wear down especially when you couple it with his well known binge drinking.
Then there's the amphetamine issue. Many baseball players, in fact maybe the overwhelming majority, used amphetamines for decades.
Isn't that an unfair advantage? Why no asterisks?
And lastly. Steroids don't make you react more quickly nor do they make it easier to hit a baseball.
Any one of us could take gallons of steroids and still strike out every time at the plate.
Barry is phenomenally skilled, and he's probably one of the top three players ever.
The media tells us Barry Bonds is a villain, but Paris Hilton, George Bush et al are "interesting people."
Give me a damn break.
In my opinion, the majority of this "outrage" over Bonds is completely disingenuous. People are more pissed that Bonds broke a homerun record than they are over the fact that a criminal is destroying our Constitution.
Well put field negro, I was thinking the same thing.
"The biggest hypocrite of all is Bud Selig".
___________________________________
And don't forget the biggest jerk yet. Bud Selig looked so stupid with his hands in his pockets instead of clapping after Barry tied Hank's record. He didn't smile, or clap. ESPN reporters were saying someone told him to stand and he did, looking dumb and stupid. What an ass! And him being the baseball commissioner.
Yeah justice58 Selig came up real small. And fairlane, you are right about "The Rocket" I was thinking it...but...Hey, I am glad you said it.
I think a large part of this has to do with press animosity that the press had for Bonds because he refused to shine before the mic, and limited his engagement with the press. I don't think that Bonds will be kept out of the Hall on the first ballot. But I think that many will tar his accomplishments.
I'm old enough to have seen Willie Mays play in person and waited in next to the left-field line, my glove in hand, to catch Hank's 714 (didn't get it). These greats are acknowledged now, but back then there were press animosities and controversies about them too. Mays was briefly banned from the game by the commissioner, and Hank was criticized in the local paper for remembering the assassination of Martin Luther King (exactly six years to the day) in a short speech he gave right after the home run.
So, Bonds will blow over too. But it is sad that this cloud will always hang over him, and not, say, Mark McGwire, or some of the other athletes who, like Bonds, were simply accused.
don't like cheaters or liars, one of which Bonds is. sorry, but I gots no respect for the brother and never will. I don't hate on the brother, but don't you find his need to break the record kind of strange? And was the great Hank Aaron supposed to lend his support to that mess, pray tell? Bonds got the record, hope his ass is happy with it.
I can't believe we have lowered our standards so much and allowed racialism to overtake our commonsense and decency to such an extent that we actually defend a dope head. That is what he is. He cheated. He might have been able to connect with the ball without steroids but he would not be hitting it out of the park.
He is not the best, you can't compare him to Hank Aaron, he is not half the man Hank Aaron was. He was a major a-hole even before the steroids.
I don't care who it is none of them (regardless of race) should be championed. They need to be purged from the game.
You guys are the same people up in the club dancing to child molester music (R. Kelly) talking about how great the R is, when he has and likely continues to molest little black girls. If he was white you would want him killed. Famous black men can do no wrong.
Anonymous:
I agree with you regarding Bonds and R.Kelly. Last year in DC, the Congressional Black Caucus spouses held a fashion show fundraiser and invited R. Kelly to headline the event.
Many of those who showed up and found out R. Kelly was headlining, promptly demanded refunds (at $75 a ticket, the spouses took a big hit on refunds), because many Field Negroes refused to support a suspected child molester.
If we, as African-Americans, cannot demand a higher standard from our own people, we cannot get pissed when the white men don't respect us, let alone like us. Not that I care about whether white people like me, it's about R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
The media doesn't respect Bonds, and any other MLB player not kissing their ass. For that, I give Bonds half a prop - but since I grew up in the Bay Area, and watched this jerk play either in Oakland or San Francisco, I can truthfully tell you that he treated young African-American fans like dirt - wouldn't sign autographs and often had security around him to keep those kids away from even talking to him.
When it was pointed out to him that he was favoring white kids over African-Americans, that was another excuse to isolate himself from everybody (although some white kids still got autographs and stuff).
It was enough to set off my jerk detector everytime.
Jim Rice had a bad relationship with the media during his playing days - because of that, he's still being kept out of the HOF, because some of the media he got into it with, are extracting their own form of revenge, by not voting for him.
But at least, when they talk about Rice, it is with RESPECT. Of course, the current media are also a bunch of racists, too, and that's also featuring heavily into Bonds' coverage, but, as Rikyrah and I said upthread, this brotha opened himself up to getting trashed like this. If this was being done to Derek Jeter, you could call it racist, because that guy hasn't given the media a reason to come after him like Bonds has.
We need to call our Famous brothers to account when they're wrong, and stop arguing about how the "man" is trying to keep a brotha down. No real brotha would ever accept that as an excuse; it makes them more determined to prove the "man" wrong.
A bigtime Congratulations to Brother Barry Bonds on number 756.
Homeboy is simply the greatest. I love the old school Black players and I wish they had the training facilities, personal trainers, dietitians, dietary supplements, and weight lifting that these players have access to today. Their numbers would be almost as scary as brother Bonds.
Everybody is doing something...if not tell me why the players today look twice the size of players from the past. In fact compared to the players today...players from the past look like they just left Hitlers concetration camps.
Tell me why Roger Clemens isn't under scrutny for improving as HE GETS OLDER? Is it because he's a WHITE MAN?
Why isn't Nefi Perez (hispanic) thrown under the bus for testing positive for steroids THREE times?
Bonds hasn't tested positive for anything but some amphetamines which is wide spread in baseball
and until recently was approved by
the commissioner and the owners.
Brother Barry Bonds is showing exactly what he is made of by continuing to take the field everyday under the scrutiny of the racist white media. As far as those so called baseball fans who boo him every chance they get...they don't know jack. They wasn't present to see Bonds take steroids or anything else.
Another reason why he is hated is because he is not one of those bow down, smile for the camera coon negros. And that pisses off those faggot white reporters, and their jigaboo friends. who weren't good enough to play major league baseball, so they have the opportunity to get back at Bonds because he probably told them to get the fuck out of his face a few times.
I listen to the vile comments spat about Bonds daily by white, yes white radio and tv commentators, and it's sickening. You can hear the jealously, the hatred, in their voices, and the racist overtones. It makes me sick, I can only wonder how it makes Bonds feel. But he goes out there every day and gives his all. So to hell with the haters.
Now you got this jilted white woman who Brother Bonds used for a whore posing in Playboy and "telling all".
And don't believe for one second that the racist white media, or white people in general are in love with Brother Henry Aaron. If they had it their way Babe Ruth, who among other things was a drunk and a whoremonger would be the all time Home run champion. This is evidenced by Babe Ruth making more money dead than Hank Aaron is making alive.
I also would like to know where the outrage was when that nasty red neck white man, Roger Clemens said this about Brother Henry Aaron:
Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron angered the pitcher by saying that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP.
And I quote:
"I wish he were still playing," Clemens responded. "I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was."
Clemens also faced steroid scrutiny when former pitcher Jason Grimsley named him, as well as Andy Pettitte, as users of "athletic performance enhancing drugs". Also, according to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by, a source said, former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee is a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte.
Where is the investigation into these allegations? Where is ESPN and the DEVIL WHITE REPORTERS that Bonds refused to speak to through out the years so they are acting like little scorned bitches, just like that white woman who Bonds treated for what she is...a hoe...now she's selling her ass to Playboy like somebody want to see her ugly ass. White hoe please take your scawny ass back to that $80.000 house that you hoed for and stay in it.
I hate how self-righteous baseball fans are. The NFL pretty much gets a pass on steroids. Besides, if baseball didn't test for steroids, then what was the big deal? How is it cheating if there is no rule against it?
As for Bonds, he definitely had a Hall of Fame career pre-1998. He no doubt faced pitchers on steroids. Mike Greenberg on Mike and Mike noted that even with smaller ballparks, worse pitching, steroids, etc., only one guy broke Aaron's record, or was even close: Barry Bonds.
I like anonymous and Christian Prgoressive's comments about R. Kelley. He should be a pariah everywhere in the Black community. I don't think this about Bonds--though he is--as noted--a first-class jerk. I think in at least one way Bonds offers a great for all of us: ignore white people--and espcially their criticisms. Set your own high standards. Nothing angers white people more--and that is almost satsfaction in and of itself.
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