Barry Bonds: Not worth the invesment

I've been hearing a lot of talk on sports radio in Boston over the past week about the Red Sox having internal discussions about possibly signing Barry Bonds for the rest of the year, to help with a playoffs run. One poll mentioned on WEEI radio stated that 70% of Red Sox fans don't want Bonds in a Sox uniform, and it seems that is the way it is with most other major league cities (except SF, of course). Would Pittsburgh take him back (where he started)? I'm not really sure they need him either.

As I've listened to the debate, the radio jockeys have rightfully noted that many other currently active athletes (Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield are the most prominent) have been caught using performance enhancing drugs (PED's), yet they don't seem to inspire the same universal resentment that Bonds generates. Sure Bonds is a talent (mostly), he can probably still hit dingers for any team that coughs up the money to sign him, and Barry seems to be able to move around a little bit on the basepaths or the outfield, if he's needed for defense. It seems the National League is done with him though, and he'd best serve as a DH for an American League team.

So the question is: Is his talent for hitting home runs worth the hassle he will present a team if he is signed?


Consider the hassles:
-If you read "Game of Shadows" you will understand that Bonds' ego is bigger than the planet earth. In SF he had his own corner of the locker room, with a reclining chair, and he was allowed by management to bring in his own personal trainers and attendants (including Greg Anderson, the alleged man who was Bonds' connection to BALCO).

-Bonds' battles with his teammates over the years are well documented. Jeff Kent comes to my mind.

-Bonds is under indictment for lying to a grand jury about his testimony regarding his involvement with BALCO. You can't hit home runs from prison.

-The evidence of his guilt is mounting. Bonds continues to be elusive, and will likely remain so until he sent to prison (just take a look look at his grand jury testimony).

-Is it Barry or the drugs that are hitting the home runs anyway? We will likely never know.

If Pete Rose hadn't admitted to betting on baseball, I'd rank Bonds and Rose right up at the top of the heap as the most tragic baseball figures of the last 30 years. And Roger Clemens is rapidly catching up to them. It has been said that Pete Rose was an average player with average tools, who willed himself to be great from the passion he had for the game. Unfortunately, that passion also led to his downfall. The authors of "Game of Shadows" theorize that Bonds was jealous of all the attention that Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa were getting during the 1998 home run chase for Roger Maris' single season home run record.

Sure, Bonds/Clemens/Giambi/Sheffield/et.al. worked hard to make it to "the show". They are all talented baseball players. The sad thing for me is we will never know what they (and all other PED users) were legitimately capable of.

I'm still and will always be a baseball fan. But my favorite game has been tainted by ego-maniacs who think they can play forever.

"I think there are only three things America will be known for 2,000 years from now when they study this civilization: the Constitution, jazz music and baseball."
Gerald Early 1952–, American Author

I'd really like to meet this guy sometime. J.

ल्य्रिक्स टू अबोवे...

There’s a place that I know
Where the sycamores grow
And daffodils have their fun

Where the cares of the day
Seem to slowly fade away
And the glow of the evening sun
Peace when the day is done

If I go there real late
Let my mind meditate
On everything to be done

If I search deep inside
Let my conscience be my guide
Then the answers are sure to come
Don’t have to worry none

When you find peace of mind
Leave your worries behind
Don’t say that it can’t be done

With a new point of view
Life’s true meaning comes to you
And the freedom you seek is won
Peace is for everyone
Peace is for everyone

Peace is for everyone