Compare and contrast
The Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voisin takes a very reasonable look at the Bonds situation, providing some insight and guidance -- a sharp contrast to the execrable job Bruce Jenkins did over the weekend.
Barry Bonds is like a scratched CD that has too much historic value to toss into the closet. Sometimes you just have to tune him out. Other times -- and this particular Sunday was one of those times -- you can't imagine him gathering dust in any other uniform.
In what could have been his final appearance as a Giant, Bonds went out not with a limp but with a sprint. He drove a ball to right, tracked a line drive in left. He scooted from first to third with ease, scored his club's first run and set up another. He left to a curtain call, to rousing chants and a prolonged ovation, and, in essence, with enough clout to ensure Peter Magowan and Maalox become fast friends during the offseason.
Case closed. Love him or loathe him -- and around AT&T Park, the sentiment remains that of sustained affection -- Bonds successfully argued for another season. The hits just kept coming, and sometime next year, perhaps wrapped around that high-profile celebration known as the All-Star Game, one of those hits will be the home run that breaks Hank Aaron's record.
"I don't know if there's a future for him (Bonds) around the Bay," said Giants manager Felipe Alou, moments before offering his own impromptu farewell speech, "but there is a future for him between the lines."
Remarkably, as recently as six weeks ago, writing the left fielder's obituary was the national pastime. The swollen knees. The aching left elbow. The pained demeanor. Magowan was the cat with the chewies in his mouth; now he's the managing partner with the unenviable task of selecting a new manager, gutting a roster so old that the cleats creak, and doing so while signing the seven-time MVP to a contract that makes fiscal sense and enables Brian Sabean to play Billy Beane for a day.
The official word, of course, is to silently grin and bear it, to save the negotiating for the pending free-agency period. Nonetheless, the most logical approach would be to make an offer Bonds could refuse -- one laden with incentives and loaded with financial potential -- but that he probably won't, for several reasons. The job market for 42-year-old sometime-sluggers is about as robust as the dot-com industry. The prospect of becoming a designated hitter in the A.L. would be appealing only if the Los Angeles Angels became interested (they're not) or the A's were intrigued and economically flush (they're definitely not). Then there's the obvious significance of eclipsing Aaron's mark while playing for the same club as his father and godfather.
Being a Giant matters. Being the most prolific Giant matters even more. Besides, Bonds isn't a statue, yet. After hitting only .235 as recently as mid-August, he finished at a very respectable .270, with 23 doubles, 77 RBIs and a league-leading 115 walks. And plenty of drama. Always plenty of drama.
"When you look at it, I had a pretty good year," Bonds told www.MLB.com after making himself unavailable afterward to other reporters. "I'm never going to be the old Barry Bonds again. I'm just a supporting player. Everyone who's thinking of signing me needs to know that."
Recent posturing notwithstanding, Bonds is shrewd enough to realize few locations are as forgiving/accepting as the Bay Area. And, in fairness, the BALCO matter and the Barcalounger issues need be placed in context with the other culprits, and the Giants are among them. Team officials have indulged Bonds since his Giants career's infancy; it's a little late to worry about pleasantries. Similarly, Bonds will have to accept the fact that, at least partly because of his refusal to be more agreeable with teammates and reporters, his potentially grandiose moment might not be shared anywhere but here.
As for the allegations that steroids pumped up his pecs, that without the use of performance-enhancing drugs in his later years, he wouldn't be within 21 home runs of catching Aaron? Just a suggestion: Take two aspirin and forget about it in the morning.
"I've got to say," Alou added with a sly grin, referring to Jason Grimsley's recent remarks implicating Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, "rockets are hard to catch."
No, the Giants' overriding concern isn't determining whether Bonds is sinner or saint, but rather whether he will revise his original thinking about incentive-based contracts or continue to use Clemens' one-year, prorated $22 million deal as his model. The latter approach would cripple Sabean's ability to overhaul an aging, patchwork roster that features 11 free agents and a bullpen in desperate need of repair. But the former mind-set would pretty much get it right. Bonds would be back, as he should be.
Barry Bonds is like a scratched CD that has too much historic value to toss into the closet. Sometimes you just have to tune him out. Other times -- and this particular Sunday was one of those times -- you can't imagine him gathering dust in any other uniform.
In what could have been his final appearance as a Giant, Bonds went out not with a limp but with a sprint. He drove a ball to right, tracked a line drive in left. He scooted from first to third with ease, scored his club's first run and set up another. He left to a curtain call, to rousing chants and a prolonged ovation, and, in essence, with enough clout to ensure Peter Magowan and Maalox become fast friends during the offseason.
Case closed. Love him or loathe him -- and around AT&T Park, the sentiment remains that of sustained affection -- Bonds successfully argued for another season. The hits just kept coming, and sometime next year, perhaps wrapped around that high-profile celebration known as the All-Star Game, one of those hits will be the home run that breaks Hank Aaron's record.
"I don't know if there's a future for him (Bonds) around the Bay," said Giants manager Felipe Alou, moments before offering his own impromptu farewell speech, "but there is a future for him between the lines."
Remarkably, as recently as six weeks ago, writing the left fielder's obituary was the national pastime. The swollen knees. The aching left elbow. The pained demeanor. Magowan was the cat with the chewies in his mouth; now he's the managing partner with the unenviable task of selecting a new manager, gutting a roster so old that the cleats creak, and doing so while signing the seven-time MVP to a contract that makes fiscal sense and enables Brian Sabean to play Billy Beane for a day.
The official word, of course, is to silently grin and bear it, to save the negotiating for the pending free-agency period. Nonetheless, the most logical approach would be to make an offer Bonds could refuse -- one laden with incentives and loaded with financial potential -- but that he probably won't, for several reasons. The job market for 42-year-old sometime-sluggers is about as robust as the dot-com industry. The prospect of becoming a designated hitter in the A.L. would be appealing only if the Los Angeles Angels became interested (they're not) or the A's were intrigued and economically flush (they're definitely not). Then there's the obvious significance of eclipsing Aaron's mark while playing for the same club as his father and godfather.
Being a Giant matters. Being the most prolific Giant matters even more. Besides, Bonds isn't a statue, yet. After hitting only .235 as recently as mid-August, he finished at a very respectable .270, with 23 doubles, 77 RBIs and a league-leading 115 walks. And plenty of drama. Always plenty of drama.
"When you look at it, I had a pretty good year," Bonds told www.MLB.com after making himself unavailable afterward to other reporters. "I'm never going to be the old Barry Bonds again. I'm just a supporting player. Everyone who's thinking of signing me needs to know that."
Recent posturing notwithstanding, Bonds is shrewd enough to realize few locations are as forgiving/accepting as the Bay Area. And, in fairness, the BALCO matter and the Barcalounger issues need be placed in context with the other culprits, and the Giants are among them. Team officials have indulged Bonds since his Giants career's infancy; it's a little late to worry about pleasantries. Similarly, Bonds will have to accept the fact that, at least partly because of his refusal to be more agreeable with teammates and reporters, his potentially grandiose moment might not be shared anywhere but here.
As for the allegations that steroids pumped up his pecs, that without the use of performance-enhancing drugs in his later years, he wouldn't be within 21 home runs of catching Aaron? Just a suggestion: Take two aspirin and forget about it in the morning.
"I've got to say," Alou added with a sly grin, referring to Jason Grimsley's recent remarks implicating Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, "rockets are hard to catch."
No, the Giants' overriding concern isn't determining whether Bonds is sinner or saint, but rather whether he will revise his original thinking about incentive-based contracts or continue to use Clemens' one-year, prorated $22 million deal as his model. The latter approach would cripple Sabean's ability to overhaul an aging, patchwork roster that features 11 free agents and a bullpen in desperate need of repair. But the former mind-set would pretty much get it right. Bonds would be back, as he should be.
posted by Big D at 10:55 AM
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