Yet Another Reason (or Two) to Dislike Barry B*nds
Monday, August 13, 2007 at 10:40AM 
As if you needed one, here's another reason why Barry B*nds is so universally disliked by baseball fans. Yes, he is the greatest hitter of the modern era. Yes, he belongs in the hall of fame (unless we find out he committed the unpardonable baseball sin--betting on games in which he managed, like Pete Rose). But his home run record should have one big, giant asterisk! The man is a cheater.
Aside from the steroid abuse (read Game of Shadows if you still think this is unfounded), the very public mistress (while B*nds parades his wife and kids around like nothing was going on), the impending perjury charges and tax fraud matter with the IRS, B*nds is simply one cold-hearted dude: Click here: Beaver County Times Allegheny Times - Steigerwald column: Bonds isn't a good guy.
Another writer thinks that B*nd's armor plated elbow brace has helped him hit more home runs. I'm ambivalent about this one, but found it interesting nonetheless (Click here: Barry Bonds' HR Record Tainted by Elbow 'Armor'?)
As Peter Abraham so aptly puts it (Click here: If Yankees pony up the money, A-Rod isn't going anywhere), "The less space and energy wasted on fraudulent home-run king Barry Bonds, the better. But here's our question: How can Curt Schilling be the only honest man in uniform? Throughout baseball, dozens of players, managers and coaches offered Bonds hearty congratulations, as if Tuesday were a day to be cherished.
`He's the greatest player to walk between the lines,' Arizona second baseman Orlando Hudson said. `It's good for baseball,' St. Louis outfielder Jim Edmonds said.
Good for baseball? In what way, shape or form can having a surly cheater holding the game's most cherished record be good for baseball? Only Schilling - often a boor himself - has called out Bonds in public. Why haven't any others?
It seems obvious that a much larger percentage of players than believed have used performance-enhancing drugs to some degree and are afraid to have their own skeletons exposed. Or they fear the wrath of teammates who have used.
Even some writers, in an apparent case of Stockholm syndrome, now view Bonds in a sympathetic light. He's a product of his times, a flawed hero. Hopefully, Bonds will fade away after this season and join Mark McGwire in shameful seclusion. Perhaps then baseball will move past its steroids era.
In the meantime, here's to Roger Maris and Hank Aaron, two sluggers whose accomplishments should be remembered with a smile, not a grimace."
IMHO, Peter Abraham's Yankees blog is the best sports blog, period (Click here: The LoHud Yankees Blog.
Reader Comments (4)
Bonds is a great hitter, no doubt...but he's not the greatest current player. He's not fast anymore, but he could NEVER throw (Sid Bream sliding home ahead of his throw from very shallow left field comes to mind). He was only a 4-tool player. Fast in his prime, a very good hitter, a great slugger and a decent glove in left, but a junior high arm.
He's not good for baseball. Yes, he's created hype, but that's like a highly visible fad...it'll (hopefully) be gone in a few months. It'll be nice when the media lets the hype go.
As if the Dodgers performance didn't make it hard enough to root for them!