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Barry Bonds (Juiced Merge)

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ABJ

4/22/06

Ocker on baseball

Bonds should call it quits, for sake of game

Integrity of game will be compromised if slugger breaks home run record

By Sheldon Ocker

<!-- begin body-content -->The walls continue to close in on Barry Bonds, yet he pretends not to notice, or is so self-absorbed and egocentric that he thinks nothing can touch him.
Maybe's he's right. Maybe the investigation that Commissioner Bud Selig launched will produce no tangible results. Maybe Bonds will come up clean in the federal government's search for evidence that he committed perjury in front of a grand jury.
Maybe the two well-researched books that document his alleged (do we really need to use that word anymore?) steroid use will be forgotten in a couple of weeks.
Maybe his knee and elbow will stop hurting, and he'll regain the swing that made him such a formidable hitter.
And maybe an Iraqi version of George Washington will suddenly emerge and take the heat off George W. Bush. But I doubt it.
The various controversies that swirl around Bonds will not go away. Maybe ever. I still say the smartest thing he can do is retire now. He can spin his departure from baseball as a consequence of his health.
He obviously can't run, and it appears that his sore knee keeps him from pivoting properly when he swings. Who knows how much his ability to throw and swing naturally are impeded by the bone chips in his elbow?
Bonds will have nothing to gain from surpassing Babe Ruth's and Hank Aaron's home run totals. If he becomes the all-time longball king, Bonds will be viewed as a pretender, a fraud, a man who cheated his way to baseball's most cherished record, and that sordid reputation will follow him the rest of his life.
Selig has even more to lose if Bonds breaks new ground on the home run front. His legacy is at stake. More important, if Bonds supplants Aaron as the game's home run leader, baseball will be tainted for generations.
That's why Selig can't afford to let Bonds break the record. Regardless of baseball's previous unwillingness to address the steroid issue, Selig has no choice but to lower the hammer on Bonds.
Some fans will see this as unfair. After all, Major League Baseball had no steroid policy until a couple of years ago. There was no testing program, which gives the impression that using performance-enhancing drugs were sanctioned by the commissioner's office.
That is not true. Had Selig bothered to pull his head out of the sand and discover that a player was taking steroids, he would have been compelled to administer punishment. It is not accurate to say that steroids were legal in baseball because there was no testing.
Some observers believe that Selig and the owners will get exactly what they deserve if Bonds jets past Ruth and Aaron. Maybe so, but that's hardly the point.
There's something more important at stake than payback to a bunch of greedy owners and a commissioner whose passivity allowed players to turn themselves into bionic home run machines.
When the issue of baseball's integrity is raised, part of what we mean is the validity of the record book. That is not to say a player has never used a corked bat to help him amass 500 home runs, 1,500 RBI or a .300 batting average. We don't really know for sure.
But insofar as baseball officials are able to police their game, players caught taking shortcuts that violate the rules -- implied or explicit -- should be exposed and punished.
To do that, George Mitchell's investigation must not only be thorough, it must be relatively swift. Am I anticipating the results without giving Bonds a fair shake?
Nobody familiar with the recent books that focus on Bonds, which rely heavily on grand jury testimony and documents that chart the player's schedule of steroid use, could reasonably believe he took performance-enhancing drugs by accident, as he has said.
Finding a solution to the Bonds dilemma might be as simple as voiding his statistical record (at least over the period he took steroids), because he produced those numbers by using illegal substances.
Would that be painful for Selig? You bet. No commissioner has made such a sweeping ruling before. But what choice does he have? It is long past time for Selig to take a stand. He ignores the issue at his peril.
But should the commissioner single out Bonds when we know with near certainty that others have abused steroids to build their body of work? Shouldn't Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro also be included?
Probably, but their day of judgment can wait. Why? Because they've retired. They can no longer break any records, nor will they continue to mock the game by starring on SportsCenter highlight reels every night.
Bonds is the problem, because he's still playing. He is the man threatening to rewrite the record book and daring the baseball establishment to do something about it.
That's why he's a target. It's not because he's black; it's not because he's despised by sportswriters. Bonds' daily presence on the field diminishes a sport that purports to add depth and strength to our society.
Of course, the fact that Bonds has been permitted to flourish and rise to the level of baseball icon tells us more about ourselves than we might want to admit.
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Dispatch

4/25/06

Bonds: Records won’t prolong playing career

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Barry Bonds says he will wake up one day and know it’s time to retire, no matter where he stands on the career home run list.
Right now, the San Francisco Giants slugger is sore and struggling to find his powerful stroke — and he acknowledges that passing home run king Hank Aaron has become a long shot.
"I never chased Hank to begin with," Bonds said yesterday.
The 41-year-old Bonds hit his 709 th career homer and first this season Saturday in Denver, leaving him six shy of passing Babe Ruth and 47 from breaking Aaron’s mark of 755.
After undergoing three operations on his right knee last year, Bonds isn’t moving the way he used to. He’s also bothered by bone chips in his left elbow and has been hounded by allegations of steroid use.
"How do I feel? I feel sore, but I’m going to hang in there. … When you become an older player, you become day to day," he said. "Whenever I wake up and say, ‘That’s it,’ that’s the day."
Bonds says he now cares more than ever about winning a World Series — the only thing missing on a decorated resume that already includes the season home run mark, a record seven National League MVP awards, 13 All-Star selections and eight Gold Gloves in left field.
"I’m playing to win a championship," he said. "That’s the only thing that keeps me going. …The only thing keeping me in the game of baseball right now is trying to win a championship for the team, trying to win a championship with a bunch of guys."
Giants manager Felipe Alou believes Bonds’ limited at-bats in spring training have contributed to his slow start at the plate. He was batting .229 with two RBI in 15 games before last night, though he has walked 20 times, nine intentionally. "It’s hard to get off to a good start when you’re not being pitched to," Alou said.
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ABJ

4/28/06

BASEBALL NEWSWATCH

<H1 class=red>Selig: No celebration if Bonds passes Ruth

</H1>

Friday, April 28, 2006

From wire reports

Barry Bonds will have to wait until he passes Hank Aaron before baseball throws a party for him.

Major League Baseball is not planning any celebration for Bonds if and when he tops Babe Ruth's mark of 714 home runs, Commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday.

"Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record," Selig said. "We don't celebrate anybody the second or third time in."

Bonds has been the subject of steroids speculation for several seasons. The recent book "Game of Shadows" detailed allegations against him, and a federal grand jury is investigating whether he committed perjury when he told another grand jury that he had never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds hit his 711th homer Wednesday. His San Francisco Giants were off Thursday, and open a three-game series tonight at home against Arizona.
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millivanilli.jpg



1972kick.jpg



I33447-2004Dec03





(Milli Vanilli's Grammy=Evis's Black Belt=Barry's records)
 
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Maybe this will knock some sense into him??
Probably not...

Bonds hit in head by ball in BP

Posted: Wednesday May 3, 2006 7:29PM; Updated: Wednesday May 3, 2006 7:39PM

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Barry Bonds laid down on the ground for several minutes while being attended to by the team's medical staff.
AP

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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Barry Bonds was dazed after being hit by a ball during batting practice before the Giants' game Wednesday night against the Brewers at Miller Park.
Bonds was leaning against the batting cage when a ball hit by Giants infielder Kevin Frandsen was caught by netting covering the batting cage, then struck Bonds in the forehead.
Bonds appeared to be stunned immediately after being struck, then laid down on the ground for several minutes while being attended to by the team's medical staff. He got back up, then took his regular turn in the batting cage.
Bonds, escorted by security, went back into the clubhouse after hitting.
Giants spokesman Matt Hodson said Bonds was deemed to be OK after being examined and was still in the lineup.
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You know, there was a time in my life where someone passing The Babe would have been pretty important to me. Then, starting with the juiced ball in 1987, following with the juiced players through the 90s, the game has been reduced to a complete fucking joke. The owners, the players, the commissioner, the fans - no one gave a shit. Everyone just wanted another snort of the home run fix. In 1975, Greg Nettles led the league with 32 home runs. Now 32 will get you spot in the 6 or 7 hole. In 70+ years of baseball, two men hit over 60 - then in one year TWO guys do it? You have any idea how low the statistical probability of that happening is? Right - the players are just naturally "stronger" now. Sure - human genetics changes in a matter of mere moments. Right.

Sure, I hate Bonds, and he is an ass, but he is a creation of baseball and everyone who has been associated with it for the past twenty years, and he is the Frankenstien monster that is coming back to kill its creator. Baseball had a chance to fix this years ago, but the fact of the matter is the league got high off of homerun revenue, and just wanted more. Now they are crashing the next day, and in a way I think it is funny.

I used to be the biggest Yankee fan there was - as much as I love the Buckeyes now. I watched them for years - then in 1994 when they were primed to go to the WS, they went on strike. From that moment on, I have not spent one dime of my own money for anything pro baseball related - not a ticket, not a shirt, not a hat, nothing. Looking at how they have prostituted the game since, Im that much happier because of it. Part of me is sad at what they did to our national passtime, and part of me is laughing at the Bonds fisasco because I think the powers that control the game are getting just what they deserve. Fuck em.
 
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NewYorkBuck said:
Sure, I hate Bonds, and he is an ass, but he is a creation of baseball and everyone who has been associated with it for the past twenty years, and he is the Frankenstien monster that is coming back to kill its creator. Baseball had a chance to fix this years ago, but the fact of the matter is the league got high off of homerun revenue, and just wanted more. Now they are crashing the next day, and in a way I think it is funny.
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I'd say that pretty much sums it up.
 
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