Barry Bonds is the DEVIL!!!

But wasn't there a game where he only pinch hit? If you take that game out, then you get 107.9999998

You know, at first I thought this thread was a joke but it's becoming harder and harder to ignore all the evidence that's piling up.

30 / 20 x 162 = 243

He's currently 90 behind Rickey Henderson (tentatively retired). This projects Bonds ending with 2,313 at season-end. The next closest active player is nearly one thousand walks behind: Frank Thomas at 1,386.

also:
http://www.goldpanners.com/Archive/Cards/2003_Team/03-24_bonds_front%20copy.jpg

i touched on this earlier in the season but i will return to it again.
SFO is #10 in MLB in BA, yet they are #3 in OBP. There was a study done by a statistician that claims that walking Bonds put the opponent at a statistical disadvantage.

The BA:OBP gap is undoubtedly attributed to the [projected] 231 walks awarded to Bonds this year. Whether MVP voters will realize what the value of walking one player 231 times in a season (or just little one-offs like Jose Mesa IBB-ing Bonds to open up the 10th Inning of a game last week for example) is one thing, that .600 OBP curiosity just hanging out there with noone entirely sure what to make of it.

People say when talking about Babe Ruth, he was so great... he hit more home runs than entire teams did. Bonds alone gets put on first base in 4 pitches more than any other team in history. And while that obviously shuts the door on any hope of a machisimo era for the sport, I think it more bleakly exposes the corporatization (ie, accountability, conservatisim) of baseball. and that ain't no fun!

Compare the two in the following situations:

With Runners On:
Bonds - .376 BA, .690 OBP, .798 SLG, 1.488 OPS
Rolen - .344 BA, .421 OBP, .656 OBP, 1.077 OPS

With Runners In Scoring Position:
Bonds - .393 BA, .752 OBP, .875 SLG, 1.627 OPS
Rolen - .392 BA, .466 OBP, .817 SLG, 1.283 OPS

So who really is more valuable with runners on base, which is the only offensive category where Bonds trails Rolen?

ibb's aren't at all equivalent to "earned" walks as a rule, but bonds is walked so much that he probably makes up a lot of the gap.

barry has scored 25.6% of the time he's been on base. that's low, but probably pretty high for a guy who bats 4th in a weak lineup (what are the giants collective #5's 6 and 7 slots hitting?and is put on so often at the opponents' discretion. adam dunn is at 27%, to toss out one random comparison. rolen 36% from the last cell of the cards' murderer's row, pujols, 39%, thome 24%.

i remember harold reynolds doing similar calcs early in the season to try and demonstrate that OBP is overrated by showing that the slower OBP men just end up just clogging the bases. of course, he didn't show anything because he was comparing leadoff men to cleanup hitters (and probably cherry-picking at that) but it is interesting that the two fat, slow guys above are so low. probably meaningless, but i'd read a study if there was/is one on the subject. (i'm sure there is, actually, and i think i've read it, but i can't remember any of it now except that it had to do w/ ichiro)

One of the Mets' radio guys -- I hope it was the oft-clueless Howie Rose -- said yesterday "The Mets have pitched to Bonds, and that's to their credit..." Oh really? If they walked him every time, maybe they win 2 of 3.

http://barrybonds.mlb.com/players/bonds_barry/imgs/isync.jpg

Barry since the break:

.378/.578/.867

And that OBP is 50 points LOWER than the first half! He's gone free-swingin' on us!

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=3404

Top of the 7th Inning, Giants 5, D-Backs 0, 1 out
Barry Bonds up, Lance Cormier pitching

3 breaking balls (all curveballs I think) nowhere near the plate
4th pitch intentional walk

That's right, the Giants up 5 runs to 0, a team 55 games under .500 intentionally walks him.

He finishes the game 1/2 with 3 walks. Oh and he broke his MLB record for walks in a season.

"If one of them gets it, I'm just as happy," Mahan said. "I'm sure they'll want to give it to me."

wotta dickhole.

The obvious question is, if he is so anxious for the results, why didn't he just get tested voluntarily?

BB leads all MLB left fielders in Outfield Assists. Also, who would you think is the best defensive left fielder of the following:

Barry Bonds
Adam Dunn
Moises Alou
Miguel Cabrera
Manny Ramirez
Craig Biggio

The answer may surprise you.

Range Factor = ((PO + A) divided by innings)
Zone rating = The percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive "zone," as measured by STATS, Inc.

[i have a feeling i know what the answer is anyway; you got this idea from those quiz questions at georgewbush.com, didn't you?]

This is what I don't understand (John's comment about Alou only adds to the confusion).
Aren't both stats a measure of how many balls the player is able to field? Wouldn't having a high RF also indicate that you're fielding a high %age of balls in your defensive zone (=high ZR)?

Bill James introduced us to Range Factor (RF) as, essentially, the number of outs made per game. This was convenient at the time, because we had no other context but the game. The problem is that a game is not necessarily nine innings for each fielder. As well, each fielder is dependent on his pitching staff and "luck" for opportunities.

STATS began tracking Zone Rating (ZR) as, essentially, the total number of outs per balls in a fielder?s "area of responsibility" (i.e., zone). This addressed some of the shortcomings of RF.

think about the difference in balls in play b/w a staff like the cubs and one like the mets - ZR and RF would only be different measurements of the same thing if opportunities were equal across the board, but due to luck and variations among pitching staffs, they're not at all. so zone rating's quite a bit fairer as it tries to measure fielding ability on an equal opportunity basis, but it's got its own problems as you'll find (depending on how interested you are in this stuff) if you read on above.

[if it's still not clear, here's one of those extreme examples that sometimes help: a guy who gets to just 10 balls in a season can have a much higher ZR than a guy who fields 200 - provided only a handful of balls were hit into his (the former's) zone. of course, the latter fielder would have a much higher RF, since range factor merely measures PO+A regardless of actual opportunity]

Where's the attention? Not from equivocators like Joe Morgan & Co.

Of course ESPN isn't gonna mention it (tho I've seen SportsCenter graphics on FAR more arcane matters), or audiences would never stop laughing at J*e M*rgan's "Beltre, Pujols and Bonds are all MVPs."

It illustrates BB is underrated, is all.

sure a mention would be nice but i can never get my head around these "per out" stats...it's just not very natural, ya know?

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2006/01/20/SPGECGQDM71.DTL

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/3918/photos

102 games of .262/.389/.617, 34 HRs, 73BB:62K

no comment on the 15 SBs.

http://media.lawrence.com/img/photos/2005/03/30/action1968LewAlcindor_t600.jpg

Telltale signs of Roid Rage -- mixed metaphors!!!

*thumbs up*

(An excerpt of Game of Shadows that details Bonds' steroid use appears exclusively in the March 13 issue of Sports Illustrated, which is available on newsstands beginning on Wednesday. The book's publication date is March 27.)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/03/06/news.excerpt/index.html?cnn=yes

i believe a lot of the specifics come from the recently unsealed court documents. there was a link regarding the notation/documentation that i didn't bother to follow.

at least as interesting as the article, to me.

1990-1994 Age 25-29 175 HRs
1995-1999 Age 30-34 186 HRs
2000-2004 Age 36-40 258 HRs

Either Bonds is some freak of nature that somehow peaked later than 99.99% of every baseball player ever to play the game or something helped him out. Either way, the MLB or the Players Association did not care enough about the doping to make it against the rules.

Bonds was good when he was young, so there isn't anything to say he wouldn't be good in his late 30s, but to do what he did, forget about it.

Timeline wise, 1998 seems early to me, I would have thought Bonds got on the program after being beat up in 99 and missing a bunch of games. If it did help, it did not really kick in until 2000.

Yes, we should definitely pass steroid judgements based on subjective suspicions of performance increase instead of, er, evidence that someone used steroids. Nice.

This is why I generally ignore everything other than positive tests and confessions.

Of course I could. (For starters, if he was Pete Rose.) But the irony of the Bonds Pinata Party resuming the same day as the Saint Kirby eulogies was too obvious to ignore.

So far the response to this has actually been semi-sane. Not the usual over-the-top nonsense

We've been seeing different things! First five minutes of the CBS Evening News last night: 1) Dana Reeve's death from lung cancer; 2) Bonds and the book. Ed Murrow would be so FUCKING proud.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=dw-bondsbook030706&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Boos coming his way from all directions, Barry Bonds slowly stepped into the batter's box for his first spring appearance in two years and struck out swinging on six pitches.

No home run form yet for the San Francisco star -- though he did single sharply to right in his third-inning at-bat. After that, he called it a day, leaving the ballpark in the top of the fourth inning.

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Bonds, playing in a Cactus League game against the AL West-winning Los Angeles Angels, drew some cheers Thursday, two days after the release of excerpts from an upcoming book detailing his alleged longtime steroids regimen.

"We love you, Barry!" one man screamed during Bonds' first at-bat against Angels right-hander Hector Carrasco, the slugger's first trip to the plate in an Arizona exhibition game since 2004. His single came off Carrasco.

After missing the entire spring schedule last year while recovering from knee surgery, Bonds decided to play Thursday. He rejoined the Giants in the morning after spending Wednesday at home in California for a child custody hearing.

The seven-time NL MVP originally said this spring he wouldn't play in any road games, but the quick trip to Tempe is one of the shortest on San Francisco's schedule -- and he had the chance to play designated hitter. Bonds often has complained of how tired his legs become standing in left field for an entire game while also spending significant time on the bases after being walked.

Manager Felipe Alou had hoped Bonds would play Thursday, but didn't list him on the original lineup. Alou quickly wrote a new one upon talking to his star cleanup hitter, who replaced Eliezer Alfonzo as DH.

Bonds waved to the clapping fans when he entered the Angels' stadium for the first time, accompanied by teenage son Nikolai. He also greeted autograph seekers as he made his way into Scottsdale Stadium for warm-up drills and batting practice.

He did a couple of twists to stretch by his locker and said little as he walked out of the clubhouse.

"I gotta go," he said. "I gotta keep on schedule."

The 41-year-old Bonds, who is third on the all-time list with 708 homers and only 48 shy of breaking Hank Aaron's career mark, had been out of the exhibition lineup after playing only 14 games last season following three operations on his troublesome right knee.

After taking several rounds of batting practice, Bonds quickly disappeared into the clubhouse.

"I've got a game to get to," he said.

On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated released excerpts from "Game of Shadows," written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters.

Bonds, who testified before a California federal grand jury investigating steroid use by top athletes, has always denied using performance-enhancing drugs and said his accomplishments are purely a result of hard work and talent.

In their book, authors Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams describe how Bonds started using steroids because he was jealous of the attention paid to Mark McGwire's home run race with Sammy Sosa in 1998.

By Skip Bayless

Barry Bonds remains the biggest, baddest bully in sports history.

He reportedly lies to a grand jury and laughs about it. He taunts Congress. He treats commissioner Bud Selig with no more respect than he seemingly gives the clubhouse lackeys.

And he ignores a new book that spills over with relentlessly damning allegations about his steroid-junkie habit.

Even now, he's probably injecting himself in the stomach with his body-building drug of choice, human growth hormone. And why not? Baseball doesn't test for HGH.

San Francisco seems more interested in Bonds' pursuit to break Babe Ruth's home-run record.
Laugh, Barry, laugh.

Puke, world, puke.

This is the most maddening question I've faced in my career: How does Barry Bonds keep getting away with it?

How can the United States attorney's office in San Francisco not pursue a perjury indictment against Bonds for his testimony to the BALCO grand jury? Are there simply too many Bonds fans and Giants season-ticket holders in that office? Are they more concerned with being at SBC Park the nights he passes Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron on the all-time home-run list?

Does Bonds keep getting away with it because he's still the biggest individual draw in sports? You might hate him, but you can't take your eyes off him. He'll still pack parks from San Francisco to New York because people want to see just how much farther and harder this chemistry experiment of a robo-slugger can hit a baseball now. The steroid revelations make him an even bigger freak-show gate attraction.

Taunt, Barry, taunt.

And I was so sure in late 2003 that the feds were hell-bent to do something I couldn't -- nail Bonds.

I love watching Bonds hit as much as anyone. But it seemed obvious that he was cheating when he skyrocketed from 49 homers in 2000 to a record 73 in 2001. He also skyrocketed from about 200 pounds to what appeared to be a muscled-up 250.

So in May 2002, I wrote a Bay Area column quoting body-building experts who said it's virtually impossible after age 35 -- when the male's testosterone supply naturally drops -- to pack on that much muscle that quickly without using the artificial testosterone that steroids provide.

You would have thought I had spray-painted profanity on the Golden Gate Bridge.

I took an e-mail beating from many Bonds lovers -- and there are many outside the media. Did I have proof? No, I did not witness Bonds injecting himself with juice -- nor could I find a single source within the organization who knew for a fact that Bonds used steroids. Many insiders had suspicions, but no firsthand proof.

And you couldn't blame Giants ownership or management for looking the other way. The owners tote the entire note on their ballpark, and Bonds has been the reason the Giants have had baseball's biggest season-ticket base. So ownership was going to expose and suspend its lone draw?

Please.

Soon, I experienced firsthand some of Bonds' infamous intimidation. He walked up behind me in the Giants' clubhouse and vice-gripped my arm. When I turned, he gave me the kind of five-second stare he gives a pitcher who has dared to brush him back.

The message, I assumed, was, "Don't you ever write about me and steroids again."

I just stared back, and without a word, Bonds walked away.

Let's take a look at a before and after photo.
After federal agents raided the BALCO office in September 2003, I began hearing about Jeff Novitzky, an agent for the IRS Criminal Investigation unit. At a gym near BALCO, Novitzky had observed Bonds lifting weights under the guidance of trainer Greg Anderson. And Novitzky -- according to several media sources -- was on a mission to expose Bonds.

In fact, word was that the Bush administration wanted to put a face on its stamp-out-steroids campaign -- Bonds' oversized head.

Eventually, Anderson and BALCO founder Victor Conte were convicted. But despite a wall of evidence even Bonds couldn't hit a ball over, he somehow got away clean after three hours with the grand jury.

The media's proof now comes in a book, "Game of Shadows," written by San Francisco Chronicle reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada. These aren't a couple of Johnny-come-latelies trying to make a quick buck. These are two highly respected investigative reporters who have demonstrated in print for three years that their information on this story is accurate and credible.

I believe every last word of the lengthy excerpt in this week's Sports Illustrated. I admire and envy the job they've done. As the BALCO smoke cleared, they had the time and the skill to return to all the sources they quoted periodically in the Chronicle and build a devilishly detailed case against Bonds.

When Bonds' grand-jury testimony originally was leaked to the Chronicle, his excuse at least seemed plausible. He testified that Anderson, his buddy from high school, had told him to rub some cream onto his arm that he thought was flaxseed oil. It turned out to be a newly invented steroid.

Even I had second thoughts. Maybe Bonds was duped into using these mysterious steroids that don't require injections.

But the Williams and Fainaru-Wada reports could blow that defense all to hell. They write that Bonds left his grand-jury session "confident that he had asserted control over the government's inquiry, just as he had controlled his baseball team and, for that matter, most of the people in his life. His reputation had been preserved and his well-guarded secret had not been revealed."

Until now.

The authors go into astonishing detail about how Bonds turned himself into a human pin cushion, injecting just about every steroid known to man and beast. Yes, they even report that he tried a steroid used to beef up cattle. They also report that while Bonds found injecting human growth hormone was the most painful -- into a pinch of stomach skin -- HGH was so potent that it allowed him to keep his physique and strength through the season with minimal weight-lifting.

Bonds makes Jose Canseco look like he was on no more than fruit juice.

So why in the name of Henry Aaron wasn't Bonds called before the congressional hearing on steroids that obviously was prompted by Canseco's bombshell book? Reportedly, because Bonds was still involved in the BALCO investigation -- though his day in court had been about 16 months before last March's hearing.

Of course, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa were forced to lie or deny that day on national television. All three wound up tainting their legacies. Bonds was the elephant that was not in the room.

Yes, "Game of Shadows" reports that Bonds resorted to steroids because he was convinced McGwire was juicing when he (and Sosa) broke Roger Maris' single-season record in 1998. But should that make Bonds any less guilty or more brazen?

Incredibly, when the Giants played in Washington last season, Bonds ridiculed Congress. He said Congress has more important problems to address than steroids -- even though the point of the hearing was that steroid abuse has become an epidemic among teenagers.

How do congressional leaders let Bonds get away with this? Were they content to have box seats when Bonds was in town?

And why hasn't the IRS investigated Bonds for tax evasion? His lawyer continues to paint ex-mistress Kimberly Bell as nothing but a scorned lover. Yet she comes across as an extremely credible witness, and she has hours of secretly taped phone calls from Bonds. She alleges he gave her about $80,000 in unreported cash for the down payment on a house -- all made from signing baseballs.

Selig's lieutenants have been dropping hints to national baseball writers that the commissioner is livid over the book. Selig met with Bonds two years ago to ask if he had anything to hide, and when Bonds shrugged him off, Selig reportedly warned that Bonds had better be telling the truth.

But what's Selig going to do now, suspend Bonds? He hasn't failed a single test. The players' union would have Selig for lunch.

No, Selig will do nothing but huff and puff and hope the book fades away.

It appears that government agents and officials finally gave up and decided they could get Bonds only in the court of public opinion. So they emptied their notebooks for the Chronicle reporters, who paint a chilling picture of a steroid junkie and an O.J.-like bully who threatened Bell's life.

But so what? Most people already considered Bonds a bad guy.

So he'll continue to laugh at us and pack parks and hit home runs. And in the end, maybe, he'll get his last laugh from only one source -- the body he has abused.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Tampa, Fla. -- It may never end. Jason Giambi understands that now. Even after a vague apology, an award for comeback player of the year and the attempted restoration of his public image, Giambi remains tethered to Barry Bonds and the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroids scandal, though he is not the primary subject of the discussion.

Giambi was not mentioned in the excerpt released Tuesday from "Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, Balco and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports," the soon-to-be-published book that says Bonds began using steroids after the 1998 season. But the book's cover, in what is probably not a coincidence, features a photograph of Giambi standing next to Bonds during a game.

The book's authors, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, are the reporters who wrote in The San Francisco Chronicle in December 2004 that Giambi had admitted using steroids to the federal grand jury investigating BALCO in 2003. Williams said Giambi's BALCO involvement is part of the book, which addresses the entire case, not just baseball and Bonds.

"Jason is an important character in the book," Williams said Wednesday. "He'll be treated fairly and accurately in the book."

So, a year after Giambi thought he had put the issue behind him, he sat at his locker answering more questions about Bonds.

"I understand it," said Giambi, who sat out Wednesday night's exhibition game against Pittsburgh because of a sore left calf. "It gets old. It was two seasons ago. But I know you guys have a job to do."

Giambi is trying to put it behind him. After a strange news conference in spring training last season in which he apologized but didn't say what for, Giambi recovered from early season struggles by hitting 14 homers in July, the most by a Yankee in any month since his idol Mickey Mantle hit 14 in July 1961.

Giambi finished with 32 homers and 87 runs batted in, won comeback player of the year and landed a multiyear endorsement deal with Reebok, the surest sign his image had recovered.

"He cares," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "I'm not saying Barry doesn't care. But (Giambi) tried to keep an upbeat attitude, and it's not easy to do. He's been as open as he could be."

The way Giambi handled it worked for him. "I've got an award sitting on my mantle because of it," he said. But he didn't recommend that Bonds apologize.

"Different situations," he said. "Barry is a friend of mine, and I don't really know what's going on. That's in the past, and I'm going forward."

Oh and a sac bunt...

Thanks to two enterprising San Francisco Chronicle reporters who cast a spotlight into the shadows, we have a pretty good idea of what Barry Bonds did to himself to pump out those big numbers. To illuminate his motivations, ESPN The Magazine turns to writer Jeff Pearlman. In his upcoming biography, "Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero," Pearlman examines why, and pinpoints when, one of the most talented and dominant players in baseball history went over to the dark side.

The concentration of sports and entertainment superstars living in the 800-acre Windermere, Fla., enclave known as Isleworth can make an afternoon stroll down one of its sidewalks seem like a red-carpet rehearsal. Shaquille O'Neal, Tiger Woods, Wesley Snipes -- they all flock to this gated community of multimillion-dollar homes. Few spreads match the splendor of the 13,000-square-foot mansion owned by Ken Griffey Jr. Decorated in serene linens and creams, the place features floors of marbled Macedonian stone and a miniature movie theater. Video games line the walls of an entertainment center; outside, a large in-ground swimming pool begs for balmy days.

Griffey's friendship with Barry Bonds dates back to 1987, when Griffey was a 17-year-old Mariners prospect playing in the Arizona Instructional League. Bonds, a young Pirate at the time, was living near Phoenix, and he took the future star under his wing. "Barry would come by and pick me up in his white Acura Legend," Griffey recalls. "He probably treated me to four or five dinners." The two bonded over baseball and the identity crisis that comes with having a renowned parent. "Now whenever I go to San Francisco, Barry takes me out to dinner," Griffey says. "And when he comes to Cincinnati, I'll take him out. I fly my mom in because Barry loves the way she cooks macaroni and cheese and fried chicken. That's the kind of relationship we have. It's not just about baseball."

In the winter following the 1998 season, Bonds brought his family on vacation to Orlando, where he could also visit his longtime buddy. After spending a day toting his two kids around Disney World, he headed to Griffey's house for dinner.

In June of 1998, when this photo was taken, Barry Bonds was being left in the dust of the epic home-run onslaught of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.On an otherwise ordinary night, over an otherwise ordinary meal, Griffey, Bonds, a rep from an athletic apparel company and two other associates chatted informally about the upcoming season. With Griffey's framed memorabilia as a backdrop, and Mark McGwire's obliteration of the single-season home run record a fresh memory, Bonds spoke up as he never had before. He sounded neither angry nor agitated, simply frustrated. "You know what," he said. "I had a helluva season last year, and nobody gave a crap. Nobody. As much as I've complained about McGwire and Canseco and all of the bull with steroids, I'm tired of fighting it. I turn 35 this year. I've got three or four good seasons left, and I wanna get paid. I'm just gonna start using some hard-core stuff, and hopefully it won't hurt my body. Then I'll get out of the game and be done with it."

Silence.

According to others in the room, Griffey was uncertain how to react. At age 29, he was at the top of his game, fresh off a season in which he compiled 56 home runs and 146 RBIs. As the pressure to indulge in performance-enhancing drugs mounted, the man known as 'The Kid' stayed clean. Sure, he, too, could see the physical differences in many players, including some on his own team. But to him, baseball wasn't important enough to risk his health and reputation. "If I can't do it myself, then I'm not going to do it," Griffey says. "When I'm retired, I want them to at least be able to say, 'There's no question in our minds that he did it the right way.' I have kids. I don't want them to think their dad's a cheater."

Nevertheless, Griffey understood how Bonds felt. For most of the past decade, they had been the sport's two top players. Now, from their point of view, men with significantly less talent were abusing drugs to reach their level. Where was the fairness? The integrity? Griffey didn't agree with Bonds' position, but he certainly empathized.

Bonds' frustration had peaked on Aug. 23 of the previous season. That was the day he crushed a knuckleball from Marlins lefthander Kirt Ojala into the bleachers of Miami's Pro Player Stadium, becoming the first man in major league history to compile 400 home runs and 400 stolen bases.

Ken Griffey Jr. apparently understood the dilemma Bonds thought he faced back in the late '90s.On the scoreboard, "400/400" flashed in bright yellow letters, and most of the 36,701 fans rose in appreciation. Outside the stadium, however, few people cared. Bonds' achievement found its way into every sports section across America --but on the second, third or fourth page.

For Bonds himself, the ultimate statistics scavenger, reaching 400/400 was momentous. He had gone beyond his father, Bobby Bonds. He had gone beyond his godfather, Willie Mays. He had gone beyond Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. In the sort of aw-shucks false modesty he put on from time to time, Bonds told the small number of assembled reporters that he was nothing compared to McGwire and Sammy Sosa, who were in the midst of their epic home run race. "I have nine writers standing here," he said. "McGwire had 200 writers back when he had 30 home runs. What they're doing is huge, phenomenal. Two guys might break the record. I mean, what's the chance of that ever happening again?"

Though Bonds delivered the sentiment with a broad smile, he was in fact feeling unappreciated, grumpy and terribly jealous. Just one day earlier, after the Associated Press reported that a bottle of androstenedione had been found in McGwire's locker, Bonds scoffed. He was well aware McGwire had ingested more than vegetables and vitamin C tablets to become the size of The Thing. "I use that stuff too," Bonds told teammates. "The difference is Mac's doing stuff I wouldn't think of." The belief that McGwire was cheating infuriated Bonds, who -- for all his faults -- respected the sanctity of the record book.

But despite his protestations that he wanted only to be left alone, Bonds cared deeply about his status. He was already a three-time MVP, widely considered one of the greatest players ever. In his mind, he was the best. Here was a guy who, as a freshman at Junipero Serra High School in suburban San Francisco two decades earlier, had turned to a classmate and declared, "I'm gonna be a superstar." A guy who, as a 21-year-old spring training invitee with the Pirates in 1986, told manager Jim Leyland, "Dude, you're gonna need me around here."

Now, with McGwire and Sosa occupying the center of the baseball universe, Bonds was unhappy. For years he had perfected the art of media deflection, of hiding the fact that he actually liked -- no, needed -- the spotlight.

"Barry yearned to be the Michael Jordan of baseball, the icon of the game," says one ex-teammate. "He knew he was better than McGwire and Sosa, and at that point he was, factually, better. But everyone loved Mac and Sammy, and nobody loved Barry."

By the time Bonds arrived at Scottsdale Stadium on Feb. 25, 1999, he had a new daughter -- Aisha Lynn, born Feb. 5 -- and a new physique. Everything seemed to have blown up: his arms, his chest, his shoulders, his legs, his neck. When asked by Rick Hurd of the Contra Costa Times to explain his physique, Bonds blew off the question. "It's the same thing I've always done," he said. "It's just that I started so early."

Last September, Bonds was just coming back from injuries that kept him out of all but 14 games during the 2005 season.Within the Giants' clubhouse, Bonds' transformation was met with skepticism. His face was bloated. His forehead and jaw were substantially larger. "And the zits," says Jay Canizaro, who played 55 games as a Giants infielder in 1996 and '99. "Hell, he took off his shirt the first day and his back just looked like a mountain of acne. Anybody who had any kind of intelligence or street smarts about them knew Barry was using some serious stuff."

Canizaro had firsthand knowledge of the side effects, having used steroids himself while in college at Oklahoma State. Observing from a nearby locker throughout spring training in 1999, Canizaro was almost 100 percent certain Bonds was using steroids and human growth hormone. Any lingering doubts were eradicated when Canizaro approached Greg Anderson, Bonds' trainer, and asked a simple question: "What's he on?" Anderson didn't hesitate. "He was calling out Deca-Durabolin and testosterone and all these different things that were steroids and hormones," Canizaro recalls. "Then he told me he could easily put a cocktail together for me, too."

Canizaro was tempted. He was fighting for a job against other players who were clearly using. But then he remembered the acne and the shrunken testicles -- and the time he blacked out while injecting steroids into his rear.

"Thanks," he told Anderson, "but no thanks."

Canizaro estimates that as many as a dozen other Giants were taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs. "The Giants that year were really out of control," he says. "It started in the minors. You're in Triple-A, and you think you need that extra boost to make the majors. So you give in and cheat."

What was the motivation not to? True, the possession of steroids for nonmedical reasons is a crime under U.S. law. But who was busting athletes? Not baseball.

"You're a product," says former Giants catcher Brian Johnson. "Teams say they care about their players, but it's only true until you stop producing. So it's hard to see a motivation for having your players stop using steroids if it's working for them."

And in Bonds' case, it seemed to be working. According to the Society for American Baseball Research, the peak age for players with at least 200 career home runs is 27. After 30, a noticeable decline begins. At 35, the decline becomes a steep hill. But here was Bonds, at 35, hitting the ball harder and farther than ever. He started the 1999 season on a tear, leading the Giants with an April average of .366. "One of the things I noticed was how fast he was able to put the bat on the ball," says pitcher Russ Ortiz. "He could recognize the pitch well before he had to swing, and then he would get around so fast, so hard." Equally amazing was Bonds' indifference to fatigue. He could lift weights, play, lift more weights, then arrive early the next morning to pump more iron.

Such are the recuperative powers supplied by steroids. But the body often isn't able to handle the rapid muscle growth. In a mid-April series against the Astros, Bonds began to feel pain in his left elbow. He tried playing and sleeping with a protective rubberized sleeve, but to no avail. The pain became so bad that Bonds needed someone to rub his arm to dull the sensation before at-bats. On April 20, he underwent surgery for, of all things, a damaged triceps tendon.

Bonds missed 60 games in 1999, and he played in only 14 last year due to three surgeries on his right knee. During the five years in between, he hit 258 homers with a .535 on-base percentage, staggering numbers that dwarfed those he himself had put up until then. But he also attracted the attention of federal prosecutors and became the most controversial figure in baseball since Pete Rose.

In the end, Barry Bonds may be the least likely drug abuser baseball will ever see. Going into 1999, he was already the best all-around player in the game, making more than $9 million a year. With or without another five or six great seasons, he was guaranteed enshrinement in Cooperstown.

But it wasn't enough.

You can write and say whatever you want about Barry Bonds now. He's the new O.J. Simpson, on trial for threatening to murder the legacies of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.

Even though it certainly appears Barry juiced on his way to 700 home runs, it doesn't seem fair that he's receiving the same treatment as The Juice.

But, make no mistake, with Barry on the brink of surpassing Ruth, it's time for sportswriters to cash in and crucify Barry for money. Geraldo Rivera must be livid he's a poor writer. Barry-bashing in print will get you the lead on "SportsCenter" and put you on the cover of Sports Illustrated and in ESPN The Magazine.

Two San Francisco sportswriters proved beyond a shadow of a publisher's doubt that Bonds ingested steroids and human growth hormone throughout the late '90s and early in the new millennium. Now, another sports scribe is unveiling his Barry book, and it details the motivation for Barry's love of the juice.

Can you believe this? Barry Bonds used steroids because muscle-bound bombers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa "saved baseball" by stroking 136 combined homers during a magical 1998 duel.

Not only is Barry a cheat, a boorish ass, a womanizer and a tax evader, he's also capable of being jealous.

Yep, according to writer Jeff Pearlman, Barry told Ken Griffey Jr. and several other unnamed dinner companions that he was joining the baseball arms race and was willing to stick needles in his rear end to do it.

Pearlman, who was not at the alleged dinner as far as we know, quoted Barry's message to Griffey and Co. verbatim:

"You know what? I had a helluva season last year, and nobody gave a crap. Nobody. As much as I've complained about McGwire and Canseco and all of the bull with steroids, I'm tired of fighting it. I turn 35 this year. I've got three or four good seasons left, and I wanna get paid. I'm just gonna start using some hard-core stuff, and hopefully it won't hurt my body. Then I'll get out of the game and be done with it."

Wow. Someone has a photographic memory, or took very detailed notes of a 1998 meeting. Or maybe Pearlman has been sitting on that little nugget for seven years. Whatever the case, it doesn't matter now. You can write or say anything about Bonds. We're 99.99 percent sure he took steroids, and we're 100 percent sure we don't want him to pass Babe Ruth on the home run chart.

Sportswriters and broadcasters want this so bad that some of them are pushing for Bud Selig to suspend Bonds this season. Not only did Bonds cheat -- just like 75 percent of the players, according to Ken Caminiti, a far more credible source than uninvolved sportswriters -- but he was driven by jealousy.

The latter crime is what cracks me up about the latest attack on Bonds.

People are genuinely upset that Bonds grew frustrated with baseball's unwillingness to address the steroid issue and sportswriters' celebration of McGwire's chemically enhanced "magical season" and basically said, "If I can't beat 'em, I might as well join 'em."

If McGwire, Sosa, money-hungry owners and spineless, jersey-chasing, look-the-other-way, hypocritical baseball writers caused Bonds to use steroids, then I feel sorry for Bonds.

He's a victim in all of this, no different than the kids who turn to steroids because they want to be just like Barry Bonds.

During the McGwire-Sosa farce, the media sent the clear message that using steroids was OK. I'll quote Pearlman's book to make my point. Pearlman quoted Jay Canizaro, one of Bonds' teammates in 1999, saying this about Bonds:

"Hell, he took off his shirt the first day and his back just looked like a mountain of acne. Anybody who had any kind of intelligence or street smarts about them knew Barry was using some serious stuff."

And I'm supposed to believe the same thing couldn't be said about McGwire?

Balls were flying out of parks at a record clip, players' biceps and shoulders were expanding at a record clip, and all we heard were a bunch of smoke-screen stories about juiced baseballs and an andro bottle in McGwire's locker.

Gimme a break.

The excerpt from Pearlman's book humanizes Bonds. He's driven by the same emotions as the rest of us. Jealousy is a vice we all carry. It's great that Ken Griffey Jr. didn't succumb to his feelings of jealousy. More power to him.

But there are reasons we establish laws and rules. It's because most of us can't control ourselves without them. If police never handed out speeding tickets, most of us would ignore the signs and drive as fast as we wanted. If there were no penalties for defaulting on a debt, many of us would not pay our bills.

Bonds watched his peers get rewarded for apparently cheating. The whole country saluted McGwire. If baseball purists, the seamheads who allegedly care about the game, called BS on McGwire and Sosa and celebrated Bonds' truly astonishing 400/400 feat, Bonds likely wouldn't be nipping at Ruth's heels today.

But we didn't do that. No one imagined Bonds' challenging Ruth's legacy as the greatest slugger of all time. So now Bonds must be vilified, disgraced and, if we're lucky, run out of baseball. He can't do what Jason Giambi and almost every steroid cheat has done.

Why can't he?

!!!

And what's this, a Jason Whitlock column that doesn't accuse* an entire sports league of being racists? STFU!

* unless you want to take the McGwire and Giambi references and read between the lives, which is probably the smart thing to do.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (AP) Barry Bonds, the only player in baseball history alleged to have taken any form of Performance Enhancing Drugs, gave the baseball world a grim forecast of the rest of his season by striking out. Bonds stood powerless as the sixth pitch of his first Spring Training at-bat in 2 seasons nipped the outside corner for a third and final strike.

Home plate umpire Bill Sharpley added "Stee-ike fwee, OAWT" for emphasis.

Despite going 5-6 with 3 singles and 2 homeruns since, this first at-bat shows that being the focus of all the negative attention this offseason has clearly affected his game. And this is only the begginning. Bonds season will be an uphill battle all the way, facing mean-spirited crowds and taunts for the very first time in his career.

...DEVELOPING....

.777 BA / .700 OPB / 1.700 SLG = 2.400 OPS

3 singles, 1 double, 3 homeruns, 1 sac bunt, 2 strikeouts, 0 walks (it's spring training)

"Over the first 13 seasons of his career ... Bonds hit .290 and averaged 32 home runs and 93 RBI. ... But in the six seasons after he began using performance-enhancing drugs -- that is, ... between the ages of 34 and 40 -- Bonds's batting averaged .328, 39, and 105."

See here folks, RBIs are dependent on steroids. This is THE TRUTH.

erm... is that us??

i lurked on ILB during the playoff/series, it was kind of dead here. surprised to see it get this busy in the off-season -- i'm guessing it's cos of fantasy leagues? don't do em myself, figure i'd get too into it.

i've been wanting to ask this, do people get into rotisserie because they're stats heads or do they become stats heads because they're into rotisserie?

Then we paid a stat service in New York where you phoned in transactions by numbers assigned to each player, and they mailed a weekly standings and stats packet to each player.

I don't see much of a correlation between stathead interest and roto interest. On the stat side you've got a lot of people like Morbius who despise it, and roto leagues by their nature (wins, era, saves) don't lend themselves to stat-headism. I'm hoping next year to talk people into changing one of our money leagues to something more stat friendly - OPS, k-rate, etc.., for a change of pace.

Um, I consider myself on the root-root-root-for-the-real-team side. (And many of you have a better idea of what VORP and BABIP mean than I do.) If you look at the Baseball Prospectus site these days, those guys play plenty of roto, and are playing this game for charity:

http://www.scoresheet.com/baseball/index.html

and roto leagues by their nature (wins, era, saves) don't lend themselves to stat-headism.

Unless you change the stats.

Back to Topic Bighead... Jim Baker of BP thinks he's sunk HOFwise; unless PEDs become accepted in the culture. anyone agree?

"What are Bonds' chances at the Hall of Fame? From the sound of things, they're not very good. The general stinginess of the voting committee does not bode well for him and if I were Mark McGwire, I wouldn’t be busting out the scenic New York state tourist brochures anytime soon, either....he is not well-positioned emotionally to rehabilitate his image. He is not the type to cultivate favor among the press. A tear-stained mea culpa is not likely on his agenda. Even if he could conjure such an out of character performance, it is highly unlikely that voters will give him a pass on his transgressions and judge him on the merits of his pre-enhancement days. I think he’s pretty much hosed unless he saves 10 or 20 babies from a burning building at some point in the next few years. Even then, those babies had better be related to men on the voting committee.

Unless…

Things change. A lot.

This is a stretch but there may come a time many decades down the line wherein performance enhancement is no longer a cause celeb. It could be that 30, 40 or 50 years from now researchers will have found a way to artificially improve the human physique and abilities without nasty side effects. These artificial improvements will become commonplace and accepted. In a climate such as that, it could be possible for a Hall of Fame veterans committee to look back at what Bonds did and either wonder what all the fuss was about or, stranger still, see him as some sort of pioneer in the proper method for artificial self-improvement. It’s not the sort of future I would endorse, but, given the great strides made in that direction so far, it is one that is certainly possible."

The lawsuit is built around California's Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code section 17200, that states if one person is able to market something by committing an unlawful act, it puts others who act lawfully at an unfair disadvantage.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-bonds-homelessaunt&prov=ap&type=lgns

1) i had no idea he only needed 47 HRs to tie when i made that prediction upthread

2) viewing ESPN's Bonds on Bonds right now. he's not exactly coming across as humble. anyone else watching?

I only caught the last 15 mins or so, complete w/ "I don't give a shit" sobbing. For a BB propaganda show, this martyr stuff is not a wise angle. (People kvetching over ESPN like it's a news organization make me laugh, tho.)

>>But baseball is still the intellectual game; it's the game most compelling to the likes of Ken Burns and George Will and Yo La Tengo>Baseball is the only sport where numbers always seem meaningful, and it's the only sport where a numeric comparison between players of different eras is even halfway reasonable.

I don't have the stat handy but Barry has hit more homeruns off more pitchers than anyone in history by a large margin. This isn't the Babe Ruth days...

As far as the DH thing goes, Bonds is the Giants only marquee player. until last year, he was perpetually healthy and the best player in baseball. So the Giants signed him to a long-term contract. That contract backfired in 2005, and in 2006 he has been a liability SO FAR. But

(1) would the Giants trade their main draw in a trade that couldn't possibly yield any real value
(2) would anyone want a gimpy dh who will probably be booed by the home fans and makes $20mil per year?
(3) would bonds accept the trade, given that the yankees, sox, a's, tribe and chisox have a dh already, and that the remainder of the contenders can't afford him? that leaves a bunch of teams that bonds probably wouldn't accept a trade to, being a 10-5 guy.

dude, bernie williams...

Bonds changes his mind on this stuff every week. His knee must feel like shit this week. Next week if it's feeling better and he hits a couple of dingers he'll say he'll play until he passes Aaron or drops dead, whichever comes first. This honestly wouldn't surprise me.

i don't think he's gonna pass aaron, though.

Bernie hasn't DHed for the Bombers in approximately two weeks, and to my knowledge the Yankees don't plan to put him back in there, and Giambi is effectively the DH at this point. I could be wrong, but hey.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/04/23/SPGODIDV1K1.DTL

Aaron Cook joined Bonds' "life list" of pitchers to surrender his home runs. He is No. 417. It was Bonds' 25th at Coors Field.

Probably. I remember during Tony Gwynn's last season, Rickey Henderson told him "I've got an idea... you hit, I run and play defense." Ideally, that would be the way to go for Bonds at this point.

Aaron's OPS his last season was .684 (.687 the year previous).

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AuAelWko1tB15hMCGuhg20IRvLYF?slug=ap-bonds-selig&prov=ap&type=lgns

"We celebrate new records, that's what we do. We're being consistent," Selig said during the Associated Press Sports Editors annual meeting with league commissioners. "There's nothing to read into that.

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

Actually, I like that big mexican guy (why can't I ever remember his name) who sits in from time to time. He's not bad.

I'm not sure who I despise most between Kruk and Steve Phillips, but I'm going to go with Phillips. What a fucking clown.

Arizona's down 7-2 in the bottom of the 8th, they've pitched to Bonds 4 times earlier in the game (single & bases-loaded double)... Bonds comes up with a runner on 2nd.

Intentional walk issued to Bonds to get to Alou... and Alou hits a 3 run HR.

His realtime stats: .273/.543/.568 = OPS 1.111

Anyways, Bonds took a Scott Linebrink fastball deep (440 feet) to dead center. It was a monster line drive that let out a loud "thunk" (audible above the crowd of 35k's roar) when it hit the score board about 500 feet from the plate on a bounce.

Bonds saw about 30 pitches in 4 at-bats working the count full each time. He saw around 20% of the pitches thrown by San Diego pitchers.

I like the fatherly approval they're receiving.

*1st HR this year not to center or left.

When they showed that ground-level camera angle of that McDonald's sign ... it just seemed so unfathomable to actually reach it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding?groupId=9&season=2006&seasonType=2&split=83&sortColumn=rangeFactor

As expected, Bonds is towards the bottom of the range factor list, but equal to Jose Cruz Jr. (gold glove as recently as 2003) and ahead of Wilkerson, Podsednik, Burrell, Floyd, Catalanotto and Luis Gonzalez (I)???

He's still got a quick jump and he missed robbing a Nady HR by about a foot... it's surprising to see him actually holding his ground defensively especially after so much media attention focuses on how he supposedly can't field his position anymore.

http://cache.deadspin.com/images/2006/05/bondssignbig.jpg

also interesting to note from that stat table is that Alfonso Soriano leads the majors in outfield assists!

http://bestmessageboardever.com/uploads/post-1452-1148071782.png

On the other side of the Pacific, Bonds is adored, admired and `seen as a very friendly star'

Japanese reporters say booing is nonexistent in Japan, and so is media access to the clubhouse, a much different atmosphere that Barry Bonds usually encounters in Major League baseball.
Dai Sugano / Mercury News
Japanese reporters say booing is nonexistent in Japan, and so is media access to the clubhouse, a much different atmosphere that Barry Bonds usually encounters in Major League baseball.

Ryusuke Shiraishi was stunned the first time he heard Barry Bonds booed. Shiraishi had been in the United States for only three months as a Major League Baseball reporter for the Kyodo News, the Japanese equivalent of the Associated Press.

``It's like how you would treat a murderer,'' Shiraishi said of how fans in Milwaukee treated the Giants outfielder.

Shiraishi's surprise wasn't uncommon among the band of Japanese reporters who are following Bonds' chase to 714 home runs. Nikkon Sports correspondent Satoko Sano said Bonds is ``a hero'' in Japan. There, she said, he is without a doubt the most popular non-Japanese player in the major leagues, which has grown its overseas audience since Hideo Nomo came to the United States in 1995.

But what about Bonds' alleged steroid use?

``Japanese people haven't thought enough about it to have an opinion,'' Shiraishi said during an interview conducted in Japanese.

His personality?

``He's always smiling,'' Shiraishi said. ``There's absolutely no perception of him being arrogant. He's seen as a very friendly star.''

Always smiling and benevolent -- that's the endearing image Bonds left in Japan on an all-star tour in 2002. When the Japanese think of Bonds, many of them think of a home run contest between him and then-Tokyo Giants slugger Hideki Matsui, now a New York Yankees outfielder. When Matsui struggled to hit any home runs, Bonds came behind him, massaged his shoulders and told him to relax.

The display of tenderness was followed by an affable appearance in a commercial for Yomiuri, one of Japan's leading newspapers. Yomiuri owns the Tokyo Giants and sponsored the U.S.-Japan all-star series.

So no one was more shocked than Yomiuri reporter Yuichi Usuda to witness the environment surrounding Bonds.

``I feel sorry for him,'' Usuda said. ``No matter what he does, he's attacked in newspaper articles. I'm surprised.''

Much of the surprise, of course, is simply a result of cultural differences.

Booing is non-existent in Japan, the reporters said, and so is media access to the clubhouse.

``I don't think he's that bad,'' Usuda said of Bonds and his dealings with the press. ``He's talking, at least. There are Japanese players who don't talk that much or don't talk at all. I think Ichiro could be more of a hassle to deal with.''

The drug culture is different as well.

Though there are rumors that performance-enhancing drugs are finding their way into Nippon Professional Baseball by way of American players, the Japanese league has been relatively free of drug-related scandals. An exception was when the Chiba Lotte Marines, managed by American Bobby Valentine, were accused in the press of amphetamine use last season. When New York Mets minor league pitcher Yusaku Iriki of Japan tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and blamed contaminated supplements, his countrymen accepted his excuse.

As Usuda said: ``I thought he was careless.''

The same reasoning is applied when the Japanese hear of Bonds' reported flaxseed-oil defense.

``You don't know,'' Shiraishi said.

Shiraishi added that because Americans are doing the accusing -- Americans are not seen as particularly trustworthy -- the steroid accusations carry less weight. And nothing can undo the impression Bonds left on the Japanese when he launched several monster home runs in the 2002 all-star tour.

``The home runs were of a completely different realm than those hit by Japanese players,'' Shiraishi said. ``The impression he left was so strong that even if people know that he's been accused of using drugs in the United States, they are giving him the benefit of the doubt.''

Bonds' reputation was further enhanced when Japanese players, among them icon Kazuhiro Kiyohara, began mimicking his style of hitting.

``Japanese players are now waiting for the ball as long as possible and turning on it,'' Shiraishi said. ``Japanese players, in the past, have hit by moving their center of gravity as far forward as possible during their swing.''

Catching Babe Ruth would further enhance Bonds' legacy overseas. Shiraishi went as far as to say that matching Ruth could be seen as an even bigger achievement than matching Hank Aaron because of Ruth's greater stature. Belting No. 714 would probably land Bonds on the cover of many Japanese newspapers. (To the Japanese, tying a legend is more important than passing one.)

``Americans say that 755 is the record, but in Japan, there's someone who has hit 868,'' Shiraishi said, referring to Sadaharu Oh. ``To Japanese people, what's important is that he's lining up with Babe Ruth. That in itself is a record.''

haha.

what the dude doesn't mention is that steroids are legal in Japan.

Did any ILB'ers go to the game?

is this way off? can anyone do it with just his 2006 rates?

I was there. Didn't see it though (was running late in car on way to game.)

Injury and/or motivation are probably the only things that would stop him from breaking the record in 2007 (OK, he could also start sucking at the plate).

Read the questiona above dumbass. He asked if I was at the at the GAME. I was. Did I see the HR live? No. My gf, my brother and my mom did though (they remembered to bring their tickets haha.)

http://brutal.comicsdrawing.com/gay-anal-rape/img/gay-anal-rape_0.gif

The guy who "caught" the ball was waiting in line for BBQ way out in the bleacher outfield consessions and the ball rolled down and dropped next to him like a minute after the at-bat. He grabbed it and kept waiting in line for his BBQ until stadium staff pulled him out of line.

I'll have her email you! She's apparently not familiar with the stock personalities of superstar athletes.

Joe Sheehan:

What has been taken away from us, as baseball fans, is the ability to enjoy the moment with no reservations. Even for someone like me, who’s criticized the process and who thinks Bonds has been given something less than fair treatment, it’s clear that his last six seasons have occurred at the intersection of ability and something else, something of dubious legality or morality. Bonds has unquestionably taken a disproportionate brunt of the media’s manufactured outrage over the still-unclear effects of performance-enhancing drugs on baseball. He’s the only player who’s had six years of his medical history investigated and published in a best-seller. However, the end product of that investigation--“Game of Shadows”--makes it hard to watch any of Bonds’ feats without wondering. He’s never failed a steroid test, never been suspended, but there’s still a tinge of doubt with every at-bat, every long drive.

I’m someone who wants to celebrate the greatness of baseball and its players, and whatever Bonds has or has not done, he’s taken that away from me. I’m left with a choice between ignoring everything, cheering and feeling a little bit like a sycophant, or snarling at the feat and pointing to a hardcover book and reams of media coverage. Neither is satisfying...

I don’t dislike Barry Bonds. His arrogance has never bothered me, and as I’ve written in the past, the public image of athletes is largely driven by how well they treat the media. Ballplayers are defined by whether they help writers do their jobs, and that’s a very thin thread on which to hang a reputation.

But when I do feel something towards Bonds, it’s in a moment like yesterday, which should have been a time to revel, to appreciate a moment I’d tell my children about, along with stories of Bonds’ prodigious power, amazing bat speed, near-perfect hitting mechanics and otherwordly selectivity. I should have been excited, the way I was in 1998. The days and weeks leading up to the homer should have been filled with anticipation, not ambivalence.

They weren’t, and for that, I blame Bonds. He has taken away our ability to savor the history he makes.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/14690762.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

gary gillete in espn:
"Barry Bonds is unquestionably one of the greatest players ever to play the game. He is also one of the greatest home run hitters in history. He will end up holding many important records. He is not a perfect person, nor has his career been without controversy. As such, he fits perfectly into the imperfect history of the national pastime."

Considering the amount of attention focused on his public persona, Barry Bonds' 2006 season at the plate has been somewhat, dare we say, quiet. Currently in a three-way tie for the honor of being the 26th-most offensively challenged team in baseball when it comes to Equivalent Average, the Giants have struggled to field above replacement-level hitters at nearly every position. Bonds' efforts at the plate largely faded from view once he moved into second-place on the all-time home run list on May 28. "He's done," Giants fan and WFAN radio personality Chris Russo said recently. "He can't hit." Giants beat reporter Rich Draper opined in a mailbag that "Bonds is only an average player now."

The annual took a wild shot in the dark at Bonds this offseason, hitting a bullseye with his player comment, while missing more significantly on the projection. To wit:

Even if his numbers decline substantially in 2006, Bonds will produce a full win every 20 games; if he gets back to his 2001-2004 peak it's more like a win every 11 games. That means Bonds could play a historically awful left field with the leather, sit every day game after a night game, miss a month to injury, and he would still be worth almost ten wins in the standings. If the knee holds up, Bonds could easily lead a poorly constructed Giants squad to the playoffs, but if he misses substantial playing time this team is toast. PECOTA has absolutely no comps with which to make a Bonds prediction. A Wisdom of Crowds-style poll of BP writers yielded an average projection of .309/.474/.667 in 390 PAs with 32 home runs. If it happens, no one will be able to say that Bonds built his Hall of Fame case with steroids.

Bonds' return to the lineup at the end of 2005 was what tripped up the wisdom of this particular crowd. By coming back and recording 51 plate appearances while ignoring his missing knee for a few weeks, Bonds set up an expectation that he would be able to keep up his immortal levels of slugging. Instead, it looks like he was taking advantage of not having to worry about pacing himself.

Early on this season, Will Carroll immediately noticed the change in Bonds' plate coverage. "He's swinging all arms," he observed. Bonds' manager picked up a slightly different change recently. "I don't see the recognition of pitches the way he is accustomed to," Felipe Alou told MLB.com. "You didn't ever see Barry taking strikes without being ready to swing the bat. And he is swinging at some bad pitches. We're not used to seeing that." Since the batting eye is usually thought of as the last thing to go, it's possible Alou is simply examining an isolated chapter of a longer book, the one that Eddie Murray said really described the game, called "Adjustments." Unable to use his legs to power his swing, Bonds has focused on putting the ball in play and living with the results.

Assuming Bonds can stay healthy enough for another 200 at-bats, there's no reason to think he can't maintain his ridiculous strikeout-to-walk ratio, one that doesn't look remarkably different from his rarified peak. This year, his walks have stayed consistent even as his average (especially against lefties, against whom he is hitting .190/.420/.317) has declined.

BB K OPS
April 26 6 1121
May 21 9 854
June 20 11 1026
July 21 10 838

Bonds' offensive contribution to the Giants isn't only the best on the team by a wide margin, his .328 EqA puts him right behind Manny Ramirez and Jermaine Dye as the third-best hitting outfielder in baseball. Or should we say, the best walking? So much of Bonds' offensive contribution comes from his on-base ability--he's second behind Bobby Abreu in walks, and would lead the league in OBP if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.

Walking 20 times in August and 20 times in September--a plausible estimate if he stays healthy--would see him finishing the season with 128 free passes, the seventh highest total of his career. With all the talk that Bonds has lost it, it's worth noting that as long as his body can function at this level, he probably never will. His penultimate season, marred by accusations from pretty much everybody that he was on "the s---" during his peak years, stands in stark contrast to the graceful way that Ted Williams, Bonds' number one PECOTA comparable for this season, left the game.

It's worth remembering that Williams' second-to-last year, 1959, was far more disappointing than Barry's. For the first time in his major league career, Williams struggled at the plate. Largely because of neck injuries, he finished with a line of .254/.372/.419, for a still comfortably above-average EqA of .283. Batting average was the rate stat executives were more comfortable with in 1959, so it was suggested that Williams think about hanging it up. After all, he'd never hit for this low an average in his life.

"I'm not wealthy," Williams said, as Leigh Montville chronicled in his 2004 bio of the Splendid Splinter. "I can certainly use the money. But that's not all of it. I'd kind of like to redeem myself for last year. Another important reason I came back was I want to reach 500 home runs." Barry likely won't admit this, either, but he'd like to break another home run barrier as well.

In return for coming back to the team, Williams offered to take the maximum pay cut--thirty percent less than his previous year's salary. MORP, a new addition to this year's PECOTA cards, estimates that Bonds will be worth a Marginal Value Above Replacement Player of $3.8 million dollars.

Ted Williams' farewell tour was a joyous one, and with his neck feeling a lot better, the slugger posted a .357 EqA, hit 29 homers, and dwarfed the second-best hitter on the team that year, Pete Runnels. Though he might have played on, he had already completed his farewell tour with a famous home run in his final at-bat, so he turned down the Yankees' $125,000 offer to become a bench player for the 1961 season. If the Giants decide to let Barry continue his quest in another city, the other 29 teams should give him more of a chance than they gave Ted Williams to keep playing the game.

--Alex Carnevale

so 25 teams are more offensively challenged?

Last year, Keith Scherer contributed a chapter to Will Carroll's award-winning book, The Juice: The Real Story of Baseball's Drug Problem. Keith has been a legal advisor to Baseball Prospectus on the legal issues surrounding the BALCO and Barry Bonds cases, and we asked him to do an update on his chapter as a spectator's guide.

Q: Will Bonds be indicted?

A: It’s almost certain that he will. The federal government doesn't move against someone until the outcome is more or less guaranteed. Before convening a grand jury, the prosecutors prepare an internal memo analyzing every aspect of the case, including potential objections and motions and credibility problems, and then has that memo vetted by every link in the chain of command. Weaknesses get fixed. In high profile cases even the brass in D.C. has to bless the memo before the case will go forward. This doesn't ensure a conviction, but it just about guarantees an indictment. It also ensures that a vindictive and uninformed prosecutor doesn’t embarrass the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Department of Justice....

Q: Does it seem likely that if Anderson testifies he'll exonerate Bonds?

A: The government might have enough to get a conviction even without Anderson, but if he flips … Bonds is toast. A little patience might save everyone time and money in the long run....

Q: Can Bonds say he didn’t know what Anderson was giving him?

A: He can, but it won’t work. If he uses that as a defense the government will ask for (and get) what’s called an “ostrich instruction.” He told the BALCO grand jury that if the Cream and the Clear were controlled substances, he didn’t know it because he never asked and he was never told. In light of what we know about his teammates’ use of the same drugs, what we know of how Bonds’s body changed, and what we know about Anderson’s admitted crimes, it would seem that if Bonds really never knew what he was taking it’s because he deliberately avoided finding out. The ostrich instruction tells the jury it can find that this deliberate avoidance of knowledge is the same thing as actual knowledge. And remember that he wasn’t only asked about the Cream and the Clear. He was asked about a variety of controlled substances, all of them material to the BALCO case, and denied using any of them. He admitted to using the Cream and the Clear, but without knowing what they really were. If the government can show that he lied about using any of these drugs, they’ll have their case for perjury....

Q: Will Bonds go to jail?

A: The likelihood of Barry Bonds going to jail if he gets indicted is high. If he gets convicted of perjury, it’s certain. If he gets convicted of perjury, he will go to jail for at least as long as the guys who cooperated, but most likely longer. This means he’s likely to do more than three months. If he gets convicted on tax charges, he could do additional time. If he gets convicted of the tax stuff alone, he could do some time but he might be able to avoid jail. At a minimum, he would have to pay the back taxes, interest, a 75% premium on that amount, and a fine. I’m oversimplifying here, but a rule of thumb is to take the amount owed in back taxes and double it.

Kevin Goldstein: 1st; an AL team with low attendance.

Albert Pujols: 11 HRs/212 ABs (19.3 ABs/HR)
Barry Bonds: 9 HRs/154 ABs (17.1 ABs/HR)

Bonds' OBP (.447) is higher than (MLB Batting Average leader) Joe Mauer's (.437). Only the oft-walked Manny Ramirez (.446) is even close to Bonds' OBP.

Derek Jeter ($20.6M in 2006), enjoying a clutchtacular renaissance season with the Yankees, has a .411 + .471 = .882 OPS.

Alex Rodriguez ($25.7M in 2006), having arguably an off-year with a .389 + .502 = .891 OPS.

Bonds ($19M in 2006), an embarrassment to the game, hang it up already, a shadow of his former self: .447 + .482 = .929 OPS.

Here’s what’s aggravating: right now, there’s this idea catching fire that if Ryan Howard should hit 62 home runs, he should be granted some kind of populist home-run crown, because he’s "clean." (Setting Bonds, who at least had a book written about him, aside for the moment, when was it that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were convicted of steroid use? One didn’t dance for Congress and the other…hell, I honestly don’t know what Sammy Sosa did that rises to any level of actual proof, even by the obnoxiously low standards of this particular cesspool.)

Howard is becoming some kind of hero for all the people who want to whitewash the recent hitters’ era, which as we all know was solely the result of steroid use and nothing else. Howard has been tested for his entire career, so they "know" he’s clean, making it safe to jump on this particular bandwagon. No chance of being forced to distance yourself from the things you write about Howard a few years down the road, no sir, and if you think that’s not a factor here, you’re kidding yourself.

Well, Barry Bonds has played the duration of Howard’s career under the exact same rules, and he’s tested positive exactly the same number of times as Howard has. I might argue that what he’s doing, having one of the greatest seasons ever by a 42-year-old and doing it with half a body, is perhaps as impressive than what Howard is doing in his prime. (Or do we only like our superannuated, record-setting superstars hopped up on greenies and The Racing Form?)

Missed this from earlier:
if I could play devil's advocate (ie Joe Morgan), the intentional walks devalue the OBP cuz they result from disproportionate fear.

I guess that was my question. Bonds is having a good year, especially for his age. But it seems like pitchers are walking him more than they need to (current hot streak aside). His AB per HR is 14.1, the highest by far since 1998. He's still good, but teams are nuts if they intentionally walk him in the 1st inning.

Bonds' forecasted estimate of 136 games played this may set a record for a 42y/o, can anyone verify?

someone parse this please, brane hurts.

and during that 3 season stretch, they have both been subject to the same PED testing policy.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/leaders_42_bat.shtml

1) Why did Cap Anson ever stop playing?

2) What happened in 1884 that the Cubs (mostly) magically started hitting home runs like crazy and what happened in 1885 that they stopped?

Trad Stats
.262 BA = #8 among NL LF
24 HR = #7 among NL LF
67 RBI = #9 among NL LF
68 Runs = #6 among NL LF

SABR
110 BB = #2 in MLB, #1 in NL
2.39 BB/K = #1 in MLB
.459 OBP = #1 in MLB
.543 SLG = #3 among NL LF
1.001 OPS = #10 in MLB in , #5 in NL
.625 Secondary Average = #1 in MLB
.280 Isolated Power = #9 in NL
9.41 RC27= #5 in MLB, #3 in NL

"Although Bonds fell nine plate appearances short of qualifying for the Major League lead in on-base percentage, the Elias Sports Bureau added those appearances to his season-ending total -- determining that even with the extra at-bats he still would have led the league in that category -- and awarded him MLB's top mark at .454. It was the highest on-base percentage since 1894 for a player his age with more than 300 plate appearances."

A Greenwood Avenue couple were frightened when an apparently disgruntled and intoxicated sports fan broke into their home early Wednesday morning. They hid from him until police came after he threatened to kill them, using profanity, according to incident reports. Statesboro (Ga.) police said officers responded to the couple's call for help around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, and found William Benjamin Smith, 21, also of a Greenwood Avenue address, "inside the residence in the kitchen in an apparent intoxicated state."

According to police incident reports, Smith was yelling and said "Barry Bonds doesn't deserve to be the Home Run King."

WHAT MORE DO YOU MONSTERS WANT FROM HIM?

Jonathan Cohen in The Nation:

Even though Barry Bonds is approaching Hank Aaron's home run record, Sports Illustrated's panel of experts excluded him from its "all time" team because his numbers "are not to be believed." It's sad that SI's list has so many players whose careers were in the pre-1947 "major" leagues, when the color bar was in effect. I am not condoning steroid use, but when 30 to 35 percent of qualified athletes are not allowed to play because of the color of their skin and are replaced by others who most likely would have been in the minors if segregation had not been in effect, the statistics are sharply skewed. It is often asked when someone will hit .400 again, as Ted Williams did in 1941. George Brett's .390 year (1980) is actually a greater accomplishment, given the level of the competition he faced (this is no knock at Williams, who was confident enough in his own abilities to openly support integration). The stats of the pre-integration majors, inflated by the exclusion of nonwhites, should be far more open to question than those of Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds. There are more teams now, but the US population has more than doubled since Babe Ruth's time, and baseball now draws players from all over the world. By continuing to honor the illegitimate records of the pre-1947 "major" leagues and excluding equally deserving Negro league players, SI is not only missing an analytical point but is condoning the discriminatory practices of Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and the owners of that era.

The stats of the pre-integration majors, inflated by the exclusion of nonwhites, should be far more open to question than those of Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds.

DING! DING! DING!

QUESTION: did Ty Cobb cream or clear?

"I don't have any thoughts about Barry. I don't even know how to spell his name." - Hank Aaron, today

LINK

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ai55pLBRthyCsEizRlng4SYo0bYF?slug=ap-aaron-bonds&prov=ap&type=lgns

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AuWtUWbuh6bs66f0Q7gyD1o5nYcB?slug=ap-aaron-bonds&prov=ap&type=lgns

oh, yeah

Once more.

hstencil, why is yours longer than mine?

oh lee.

Barry Bonds is an AIRPLANE!!!

Carew applauded Aaron's "clean liver" during an ESPN interview.

am i wrong in thinking Bonds has the demeanor of a later-era Orson Welles right now?

I eagerly await his "crumb-crisp coating" moment.

Bonds gives interviews to Merv Griffin?

Clay Davenport of BP, projecting:

Up to 748 now, after Saturday’s Fenway shot. That isn’t enough to change his chances of making it by the All-Star break any (still 13%) there, but it does drop his “not this year” chances back into the sevens; the only way “not this year” happens is with an injury, and each HR closer gives less time for an injury to intervene. It has concentrated the odds even more onto the July 16-19 series at Wrigley Field (just under a 19% chance of his 756th happening during those four games) or in the following Milwaukee series (11% in three games July 20-22).

im so psyched abt this

i didn't get a chance to see the replay of the HR ruled foul... was that really a HR?

Barry seemed to think so.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070617/capt.627b11ef96be4cefbbb2fccc6937ddec.giants_red_sox_baseball_bxf112.jpg

Is he doing the El Duque?

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/images/2007/06/30/3cAYFlaH.jpg

the dude abides

"Aye, brother. My name's Desmond. Apologies for interrupting and I'm a wee bit soused but I'd be humbly honored to shake your hand."

lol Barry:

I felt safe with him . . . he had no shoes on. If you come at me one-on-one, you'd better come with a lot, Jack. More than one-on-one, and you've got me nervous.

Bonds needs five more home runs to tie Carlton Fisk for most by a player after his 40th birthday.

I'm looking forward to Barry breaking this record!

"I will not intentionally walk Barry Bonds in the All-Star Game," Leyland said.

Bonds will believe it when he sees it. Skepticism comes naturally to him. Boldness does, too.

"You throw me three fastballs, you let me know it's coming, I'm going to put it in the cove," Bonds said sharply. "You tell Leyland that. You throw me a change-up and don't tell me, OK then. But if you tell me what's coming, that water's not far enough."

so in about a week, the Giants go to Chicago and... Milwaukee. Oh man, how many Hank-Barry-Selig stories if he hits 756 in Milw?

Hah, from the same article:

Bonds, who turns 43 on July 24, will hit second in N.L. Manager Tony La Russa's batting order, ostensibly to put immediate fear in American League starting pitcher Dan Haren.

No more waiting until the 2nd to piss yr pants, Haren!

It turns out Bonds knows how to plan a party. At least, that's what Griffey says. Griffey was among the players who attended Bonds' bash at Roe Restaurant in San Francisco on Monday night.

Bonds said he stayed until nearly 3 a.m., which is well past his usual bedtime.

"I was brain dead," Bonds said before the game. "This game isn't going to turn out well. Really, guys. You'll have to forgive me if I go 0 for 5. I don't care though. My party is more fun."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Now that the All-Star Game and Dmitri Young's hairdo are history, all attention will turn to Barry Bonds' home run quest and his closest pursuer -- and, no, I'm not talking about the feds, Sen. George Mitchell or Bonds' alleged former mistress, Kimberly Bell.

O RLIA?

http://webpages.charter.net/mphilip/bbf/images/rich_aurilia.jpg

I am British, so I do not get this:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-moneybonds11jul11,1,7666664.story?coll=la-headlines-sports&ctrack=1&cset=true

It mentions the drug allegations only in passing, and seems to imply the main reason Bonds is unpopular is his personality. Is that really why he is so bad and hated? The US attitude to doping seems to be rather more tolerant than it is elsewhere. Is that fair?

It's intolerant here mainly when baseball and "surly" black men are at issue.

It's not so much a toerant-of-drugs thing - as nothing has ever been proven. Look at how Palmero got treated after he was caught.
Bonds is just a dick. He once got his kid to cry on national television.

Ted Williams was a dick too (and the fact was widely reported) and yet he was almost always spoken of reverently, at least in retirement.

Sorry. I was not aroudn for that!
Ty Cobb tho - heard he was a prick - what was he like? ;)

For the zillionth time, here are my issues with Bonds treatment by the media:

1a) The media and the majority of baseball fans think that Barry Bonds would not have hit 73 HRs or 751 HRs without the alleged use of anabolic steroids or HGH.

1b) Of the 15 admitted users in MLB history and 17 positive tests (32 players total)... only 3 of them are bonafide power hitters (ie, career slugging average of >.500): Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Rafael Palmeiro. If you add in Bonds based on his sealed grand jury testimony that he admitted applying a topical cream consistent with BALCO's "The Cream" for 2 weeks before stop using it because "it wasn't working" on his sore knees: than that is 4 out of 34. Including Bonds makes 11.76% of admitted/positive-tested steroid users "power hitters".

1c) If (per point #1a) steroids make you hit homeruns and give you power, why did it only help Palmeiro, Sheffield, Giambi (and Bonds)? (Caminiti and Segui only had two >.500 slugging average seasons between them).

2) Why are so many middle relievers and center fielders testing positive for steroids?

3) Jose Canseco was laughed at for his claim in his book that 50-70% of MLB players were taking steroids in the late 80s. Lyle Alzado's first steroid use was in 1967 when he attended a small Christian university in rural Iowa, hundreds of miles from any major metropolis. East Germany had been testing athletes and steroids since the late 1950s. Why should we assume that steroids in baseball began only with the home run hitters of the late 90s/early 00s?

Cosign

Somewhere, Marvin Bernard (sp?) is hitting 500-foot homers and popping back zits.

Bonds is just a dick. He once got his kid to cry on national television.

lmbo is this true? if so i admire barry more than ever~~

I think he means the 2005 spring training, when he had Nikolai with him while he talked about how his knee was busted and he might have to retire. The kid didn't actually cry, IRMO.

Oops! I mean 2006.

Wow he's worse than Benoit.

Nate Silver on BP:

Barry Bonds has not started 16 of the 91 games that the Giants have played so far this season. There are 260,462,895,672,871,000 (260 quadrillion) possible combinations of games that Bonds might have “chosen” to miss. For example, Bonds missing Giants games # 88, 4, 62, 18, 22, 23, 61, 2, 91, 54, 87, 10, 58, 19, 65 and 83 is one such combination.

Of those combinations, 1,200,635,647,008,340 (1.2 quadrillion) involve each of the three Giants games that have been nationally televised on ESPN this season, as well as any other set of 13 non-ESPN games.

In other words, the probability that if Bonds were picking 16 out of 91 games at random to miss, it would so happen that all 3 of the ESPN games were included among those 16, is 1,200,635,647,008,340 divided into 260,462,895,672,871,000, or about 215-to-1 against.

So this is relatively unlikely to be just a coincidence.

Well, ESPN games are largely early games on the west coast, and Bonds often misses early games after a night game the previous day. He might be missing ESPN games on purpose, but I think it isn't that unlikely that he could have done it for non-ESPN-related reasons.

BONDS ON BONDS

#752 out onto Sheffield with the wind blowing in. I'm guessing the ball didn't get thrown back.

Wow the Giants let him play a road game!

wow, there are gonna be PED-free brawls at the SABR con if he breaks the record that weekend.

753. He might just get this thing done today if Lou brings in Scott Eyre.

That ball was crushed.

The best part is that now that he's 3-24, he'll be walked like 10 times in the next series.

bEELZEBUD, GET TO MILWAUKEE!

Comcast poll during the Cubs game: 4:1 against Bonds breaking the record. HA HA TUFF SHIT

Also: Giants plz acquire one (1) bullpen pitcher.

I'm sure Sabean's working on getting some extremely ancient washed up closer as we speak.

Hey, Sabean got Vinnie Chulk from Toronto for Jeremy Accardo (who got the save against the Yankees and has filled in quite well for BJ Ryan out for the season).

Hillenbrand really helped our playoff push though, come on guys!

Aaron his his 755th in Milwaukee 31 years ago today, with Bobby Bonds in the field at RF.

What are the odds of that Nate Silver?!

good stuff.

Where was Bud Selig?

If you can make it past the idiot fan with the video camera, the crowd reaction to #752 is really great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ualSr5VfhwA

http://www.silverscreentest.com/koala/eucalyptus/bud.jpg

give or take 10 years

Happy 43rd bday to BB.

In other news, Bonds' alleged mistress Kimberly Bell announced today that she is posing for Playboy and also added "He was very envious of Mark McGwire," she said from her San Jose home. "He never said that was the reason, but I know it was."

Selig Will Watch Bonds Go for Record
By JACK CURRY

Commissioner Bud Selig has said that he would make a decision about attending Barry Bonds’s pursuit of Hank Aaron’s career home run at an “appropriate time.” That time came on Tuesday, when Selig announced that he would be in San Francisco for the game between the Giants and the Atlanta Braves. He is expected to stay until at least Thursday.

Bonds has 753 career homers and is three shy of surpassing Aaron, who has been a close friend of Selig’s for nearly 50 years. Because Bonds has been suspected of using performance-enhancing substances, Selig had delayed in saying whether he would be in attendance for Bonds’s attempts to reach home run No. 756.

But now with Bonds so close to the record, Selig said in a statement that he would make “every attempt to attend the record setting moment.”

Selig had hinted during the All-Star Game break that he would follow Bonds by saying that he needed to do what was in the best interests of baseball.

In his statement, Selig referred to the tradition of the game and the magnitude of the record as reasons he would be with Bonds. But Selig also referenced Bonds’s legal problems in saying, “all citizens are innocent until proven guilty.” Bonds could be indicted for perjury because of his testimony four years ago in a federal investigation into a steroid distribution case.

Selig was tentatively planning to be in San Francisco for a few days. He was committed to traveling to Cooperstown, N.Y., to attend the Hall of Fame inductions of Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn on Sunday. Selig was scheduled to be in Cooperstown by Saturday, so he will probably attend only the Giants’ games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

If Bonds reaches 755 by Friday and is one homer away from eclipsing Aaron, Selig may adjust his schedule and stay in San Francisco for that night’s game.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Well so much for all that media bullshit...

Took you long enough to make the common-sense call, you shyster piece of shit!

re: Schilling blabbing about 'roids on Costas:

As for Bonds, he took the high road when asked about the Costas show – saying Costas is a “midget who knows (nothing) about baseball.” lozl

Bonds derides Costas
Los Angeles Times

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, speaking to HBO's Bob Costas in a show that aired Tuesday, said the refusals of Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire to address steroids accusations are tantamount to admissions they used performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds' response? He lashed out at Costas.

"You mean that little midget man who absolutely knows jackshit about baseball, who never played the game before?" Bonds said to a handful of reporters before Wednesday night's game. "You can tell Bob Costas what I called him."

Patrick Arnold, who created THG, the drug known as "the clear," told Costas he found it "pretty hard to believe" Bonds didn't know what he was taking.

"I've never seen the man in my entire life," Bonds said of Arnold on Wednesday. "I've never heard of the man ... never."

Schilling said on the Costas show, "If I wrote a book about Bob Costas and in that book I wrote about Bob Costas' girlfriend being on the road, and Bob Costas giving that girlfriend card-show money and I outlined your daily steroid regimen, I've got to believe your first line of defense is to sue my (butt) off."

Bonds actually did sue the authors of "Game of Shadows," The Chronicle's Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, in March 2006, claiming they should not profit from the book because it used illegally obtained grand jury testimony, but he dropped the suit three months later.

Asked about Schilling's comments, Bonds was cryptic.

"Don't worry," he said, "my day will come."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

HAHAHA

Hey I'd be interested in a recap:

* Barry admits using steroids, only he didn't know
* Barry's mistress says he told her he used steroids
* Jason Giambi says he got steroids from Barry's trainer (?)
* The guy who invented 'The Clear' says Barry took it
* Barry's head and feet grew past age 30

Are all of these true, and is there any more?

Sheffield:

I'm sick of Bud Selig and Major League Baseball and the way they've been grandstanding.

Barry Bonds should be the face of baseball. Instead, Bud Selig is making him the face of the steroid era. It's the most ridiculous thing ever. Why doesn't Bud Selig tell the truth? Why does he keep lying and saying he doesn't know nothing about nothing? It's a bunch of hogwash. It's a cop-out. He knew everything (about steroids) we knew.

Bud Selig wants to talk about the integrity of the game? To him, the integrity of the game is how much money they make. That's how far their integrity goes. I hope Barry not only breaks the record, but shatters it. The more homers Barry hits, the better, because that'll really piss Bud Selig off.

Sheffield is great sometimes. :)

* Barry admits using steroids, only he didn't know

Bonds admitted he took flaxseed oil orally (consistent with the clear) and that he didn't like the taste after a few times so he stopped.

* Barry's mistress says he told her he used steroids

incorrect. she said that she believes he did. they never spoke about steroids.

* Jason Giambi says he got steroids from Barry's trainer (?)

Giambi admitted taking steroids for years before he even heard of BALCO.

* The guy who invented 'The Clear' says Barry took it

No he said he believes that Bonds took it (despite never meeting or being in Bonds' presence).

* Barry's head and feet grew past age 30

yes, as is the case with most human beings.

The part of our skull that encases our brain already achieves 63% of its mature size by the time we are born. When a person reaches his/her first birthday, the skull has taken on 88% of its mature size. And by the time you turn 10 years old, the skull has achieved 95% of its full size. From then on, it grows at a very slow rate and it reaches its full size by your mid 20's. So by the age of 17, you ought not expect much more skull growth.

So by the age of 17, you ought not expect much more skull growth = 1/4" (or 2 cap sizes between age 20 and 43?)

What are you going to say if it turns out that Bonds did steroids?

For the zillionth time, here are my issues with Bonds treatment by the media:

1a) The media and the majority of baseball fans think that Barry Bonds would not have hit 73 HRs or 751 HRs without the alleged use of anabolic steroids or HGH.

1b) Of the 15 admitted users in MLB history and 17 positive tests (32 players total)... only 3 of them are bonafide power hitters (ie, career slugging average of >.500): Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Rafael Palmeiro. If you add in Bonds based on his sealed grand jury testimony that he admitted applying a topical cream consistent with BALCO's "The Cream" for 2 weeks before stop using it because "it wasn't working" on his sore knees: than that is 4 out of 34. Including Bonds makes 11.76% of admitted/positive-tested steroid users "power hitters".

1c) If (per point #1a) steroids make you hit homeruns and give you power, why did it only help Palmeiro, Sheffield, Giambi (and Bonds)? (Caminiti and Segui only had two >.500 slugging average seasons between them).

2) Why are so many middle relievers and center fielders testing positive for steroids?

3) Jose Canseco was laughed at for his claim in his book that 50-70% of MLB players were taking steroids in the late 80s. Lyle Alzado's first steroid use was in 1967 when he attended a small Christian university in rural Iowa, hundreds of miles from any major metropolis. East Germany had been testing athletes and steroids since the late 1950s. Why should we assume that steroids in baseball began only with the home run hitters of the late 90s/early 00s?

-- Steve Shasta, Friday, July 13, 2007 8:58 AM (2 weeks ago)

I think my head grew a little trying process that logic.

My understanding:

1a) Everyone agrees that Bonds is naturally good anyway

1b/c) There is no statistical evidence that steroids do not make you a good power hitter

3) Bonds or the late 90s is not unique, and he or that era, should not be singled out for opprobrium.

I don't understand 2), but then I don't get baseball. I'd be grateful if someone could elaborate on that point.

1b/c) There is no statistical evidence that steroids do not make you a good power hitter

fixed.

steve: "and it reaches its full size by your mid 20's" - right before the part you quoted.

i'm not picking on your boyfriend or anything, dude. i just don't think the human head is suposed to keep growing into your 30's is all!

If (per point #1a) steroids make you hit homeruns and give you power, why did it only help Palmeiro, Sheffield, Giambi (and Bonds)? (Caminiti and Segui only had two >.500 slugging average seasons between them).

Did these two improve in other ways unrelated to power hitting but that wouldn't have been predicted from their prior performance? If anyone is arguing that steroids "make you hit homeruns," they're clearly out on a limb; but arguing that they make sluggers into stronger sluggers and outfielders into faster outfielders? That's something else entirely. Clearly they people taking them expect them to have SOME effect or they wouldn't take them at all.

i think we all know the effect is indirect, improving rates of recovery on banged up players. if this means a middle reliever who is due to be sent to the minors get off the DL three days earlier, so be it. they can also be used to improve workout regimens, reducing the amount of rest time between intensive weight room sessions. a fatass couch potato taking steroids doesn't benefit one iota.

also bonds rules for what he said about perennial douche bob costas

Clearly they people taking them expect them to have SOME effect or they wouldn't take them at all.

Wasn't there an article on BP or some similar site where the author sought out a medical doctorb who specialized on physiology or somesuch, and the doctorb said that HGH would not enhance muscles that would be used by a baseball player (and perhaps by most athletes of any sort), and that either the HGH would only provide a placebo-like effect or at best marginal improvement that would give a player a marginal edge over his competition.

Almost as awesome as the Costas jabs:

I like that Bonds grabbed teammate Ryan Klesko’s hunting bow Friday night, squinted an eye and scanned the room for a target. “Where’s Pedro Gomez?” he said quietly, referring to the ESPN reporter who has been tracking Bonds for more than a year.

Agreed that anyone who dumps on Costas is OK by me.

On Costas's show, Chris Rock said "Bob, if there was a pill you could take that would get you as much money as Dan Patrick makes, you'd take it in a second." (or something to that effect)

1) The evidence suggests that Bonds knowingly used steroids. That's the end of that.
2) The idea that steroids can't help you hit more home runs is not sound. It helped Grimsley pitch 5 mph faster. It helps muscles grow. Why can't it help you power the ball a few more feet? Not much difference between a fly-out and a home run in many instances, is there?

shasta it's only going to get worse what with the broken search function directing everyone here.

hank aaron had a hammer.
you have a ban hammer.

Vin Scully on Bonds.

I don't think I ever heard his call of Aaron's 715th (how is that possible?), but it's awesome:

Scully is famous for going silent at the right times. When Aaron hit his 715th home run, passing Babe Ruth, Scully let 26 seconds pass, allowing the crowd in Atlanta to roar. Only then did he reflect on the setting, the meaning and the times:

“What a marvelous moment for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time idol. And it is a great moment for all of us, and particularly for Henry Aaron.”

PITCH TO THE MAN SO HE CAN HOMER FOR FUCK'S SAKE

AND STOP POPPING IT UP FOR FUCK'S SAKE

don't tell me Chris Berman is going to be the Voice of this home run, whenever it happens.

welcome to the record books, CLAY HENSLEY!

training for strength doesn't hurt baseball players

Did you know that running takes its toll on THE KNEES?

Are the Padres announcers the absolute worst all the time, or just right now?

aren't you watching ESPN2? lol'd at Orel's "I drew energy from fans mocking my name"

i watched the ESPN2 feed because Extra Innings has the San Diego feed tonight.

can't wait until Bonds goes away and this is coming from a San Francisco Giants fan.

it's at times like this that i miss the Duane Kuiper or Jon Miller calls that i loved to hear.

OREL CAN DO NO WRONG YOU TAKE YR LOLS BACK

At least we got the win!

LOLbom

Even as that ball flew over the wall on a 2-1 pitch Saturday night, there were more knots in stomachs than lumps in throats.

Later on:

Look no further than that to see how easily what Bonds did last night can be ignored. We have hardly celebrated Bonds’ achievement of 2001. So darkened is that mark by the shadows of steroids that you almost forget he holds it.

The same might happen with this all-time home run mark. Bonds puts it in his pocket, but that no more means he owns it than the thief owns a stolen watch.

One more dinger to go, and this farce will be over. If there were justice, if people told the truth, if steroids had not haunted baseball, then Bonds would have been shy of Aaron, and Saturday night would not have happened. But there is not always justice. There is not always truth. Bonds will trot around the bases and will, one day soon, march off into his own tainted horizon. Shed no tears when his parade passes you by.

CONGRATS BARRY YAYY!!!

congrats Barry and fuck a Selig

selig was there.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1202/1019470416_5fe3421657.jpg

Selig later issued a statement congratulating Bonds and saying, "No matter what anybody thinks of the controversy surrounding this event, Mr. Bonds' achievement is noteworthy and remarkable."

Classy.

Selig was there and put his hands in his pockets while 50 000 fans applauded. Dickhead.

the big LOL: Clay Hensley failed a minor-league steroids test in '05.

Why does it matter what selig did? I don't think i could've given less of a shit if he'd been up there with a Bonds voodoo doll sticking needles in it's knees.

Are you serious? The commissioner is supposed to be the sport's top representative, and he clearly doesn't give a crap about what is arguably the most important record in American sports. Or at the very least, he's doesn't want to have any association with Bonds just in case some new evidence magically appears.

It's like the Prime Minister deciding that Canada Day doesn't matter to him, so he decides to go on vacation to Switzerland instead of staying in the country he's supposed to be leading and giving a speech or something. And then explaining it by saying that Quebec might separate one day, so he's worried that sometime in the future he'll look like the jackass who once gave a speech about a country that later ceased to exist.

Selig's reaction is laying the groundwork for MLB and the BBWAA to ignore Bonds and the record as soon as it is feasible to do so. If it is.

Are you serious? The commissioner is supposed to be the sport's top representative, and he clearly doesn't give a crap about what is arguably the most important record in American sports. Or at the very least, he's doesn't want to have any association with Bonds just in case some new evidence magically appears.

if this is the case, then why was selig there?

it is not going to matter when a-rod breaks bonds' record in a few years from now anyway.

as someone on BP or ESPN wrote, he was there to look like someone just pissed on his suit.

his reaction was indeed bizarre.

barry - your comparison between selig and the prime minister of the dominion of canada is a tad ott, dude. i'm trying to think about any other records he may or may not have been in attendance for. was baseball's commissioner in attendance when Aaron set the record? (probably - i'm just curious)

I'm looking to see if Kuhn was there. In the meantime, I never knew this:

More controversy surrounded Aaron as the 1974 season began. The Braves' management opted to bench their cleanup hitter for the first three games at Cincinnati so that he could break the home run record in Atlanta. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn disagreed with the move and ordered that Aaron play in the opening games. He played two of the three games and tied Ruth's record without breaking it.

Nope:

Insult of insult, then-baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn didn't even attend the game where Aaron claimed the home-run title. His flimsy excuse was that he had a "previous commitment" in Cleveland.

as someone who was often unofficially "limited" to one or two wire shots of selig as options for story art, i have to say that the suit-pissed expression comes sorta naturally for him.

<i>i'm trying to think about any other records he may or may not have been in attendance for.</i>

If the commish can't be bothered to show up to watch the most important record in baseball being broken, then he shouldn't bother going to any games at all.

Stence -- he waffled on his decision for weeks. It should have been a no-brainer. He only went because he thought it would look worse if he didn't go. And whether Bonds' record is eventually broken by ARod or anyone else couldn't be any more irrelevant.

eh, see, i just don't really care about selig to get riled up one way or the other.

The commish was not around for Barry 73, McGwire 62, or Maris 61 either. Another manufactured media controversy.

Kuhn's assistant Monte Irvin, the HOF player, was his rep on 4/8/74. Monte wrote in his autobio that he was PO'd when the first thing Aaron said to him was "Where's the commissioner?" cuz Hank knew very well Kuhn had decided not to attend.

Uh, he was there for McGwire's 62nd, and for Barry's 70th. He only missed #71 (which happened the very next day) because he was in San Diego honouring Rickey for breaking the runs scored record and for Tony Gwynn's retirement.

wait, it's the 71st that was the recordbreaker, right?

Was he at St. Cal's 2131st?

No need to bother going to any of the playoff games this year since there will be some in 2008.

now you know how i feel about the al east, andy k.

You people disgust me.

Love,

Lance Armstrong

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003621797

Watch Aaron hit #715 and hustle his ass out of the batter's box. Then watch Bonds hit #755 and stand there like he's watching a beautiful fucking sunset. That's what I don't like about Bonds.

And yeah, I know that's how it is with modern HR hitters, I just think it stinks. You made it, dude, now get out of the box and run the goddamned bases like a baseball player.

What did Aaron do on 714?

But seriously Rip Van Winkle, not sure if you noticed but these basketball players they got today wear long shorts and can dunk the ball through the hoop. And some of the more excitable football players, let me tell ya, they go sofaras not just spiking the ball in the end zone, but formulating a little dance routine to celebrate as well. Yessiree, if only we could return the game back to its proper roots.

the bigger question/problem is why bonds doesn't get drilled after watching his beautiful fucking sunset. you're probably going to walk him anyway, so you might as well plunk him.

aaron hustled because he was afraid some redneck would shoot him. ;_;

Run the bases in a zigzag fashion.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=482

Your criteria are too high.

Phil, the first 'spectator' HR hitter I remember was Reggie Jackson, so blame him.

Smacked off NPR this morning when they ran their feature on Little Leaguers' opinion of Bonds, which certainly didn't sound like they'd be parroting everything they've heard from the MSM. I can't wait til this Fifteen Minutes of Moralizing is over.

I'm also glad BB came up empty last night, cuz I turned the game on and went to sleep.

Reggie had a candy bar. When I can partake of some creamy BB nougat he can get a pass on watching his HRs. I think there were also some WS wins involved.

Steve, I don't know who you think you're arguing with but it's not me.

Smacked off NPR this morning when they ran their feature on Little Leaguers' opinion of Bonds, which certainly didn't sound like they'd be parroting everything they've heard from the MSM. I can't wait til this Fifteen Minutes of Moralizing is over.

Beligerent, arrogant, and tactless coaches and parents do far more damage to Little Leaguers than any MLB player.

Granted, I once sorta told off one of my brother's teammates, a Tanner Boyle-alike who had admired a 190-foot moonshot. "Are you Barry Bonds?" No. "Oh, so you're Ken Griffey Jr.?" No. "Well, your homer was enough to show up the other team." OK. "Next time, unless you hit it 420 feet, you can choose to either do your trot or NOT get your post-game Dairy Queen."

:D

well thank god that's over with.

what's the chances he gets put on waivers?

COME ON GUYS

:D

oh barrypaws~

I SAID COME ON

HE DID IT!!!

http://mypickspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/bonds%20hero.jpg

But you guys, Clint Hurdle is "indifferent."

I invented the water splash.
I invented the water splash.
I invented the water splash.
I invented the water splash.
I invented the water splash.

57 new answers? what, did something happen last night?

Murph disapproves

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12585934

As Bonds rounded the bases suppressing a smile, his teammates and family streamed out to greet him. Fireworks showered the field and an errant fan ran across left field, only to be mercilessly tackled by a group of security guards.

lmaaaao

also

As for the ball itself, it wound up in the hands of 22-year-old Matt Murphy of Queens, N.Y. he was bloodied and his clothes torn as security guards hustled him and his prize ball out of the park. The ball is estimated to be worth at least $500,000.

God bless George Vecsey

METS FAN REPRAZENTS BALL-AUCTION CAPITALISM!!!

Loved hearing one of the Game of Shadows authors and Jeff Pearlman (of another BB tome) whining on the assorted ESPNs within minutes of #756. "I'm disappointed in Hank Aaron..."

When i saw that huge mound of people fighting over the ball i was wondering how seroiusly people might get hurt. leave it to a new yorker to come out on top!

xpost

in a REYES SHIRT, baby!

The ball is estimated to be worth at least $500,000.

lol, now Barry is just going to be mad that McGwire's ball went for $3MM

Innaresting that ESPN's RSS feed has had absolutely nothing about Bonds today.

God bless George Vecsey

-- G00blar, Wednesday, August 8, 2007 1:58 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

Awesome.

Vecsey is the antidote to that bleating sheep Selena Roberts' column last Sunday.

Except that the central logic of the piece is flawed, but hey, what can you expect when discussing Barry Bonds.

Barry Bonds' HR Record Tainted by Elbow 'Armor'?

posted upthread.

that actually makes a lot of sense, though i couldn't know for sure w/o knowing exactly how the brace is constructed and trying it on myself. the only mystery is why doesnt every hitter use it!

"At the moment, Bonds' apparatus enjoys "grandfathered" status. Similar devices are presently denied to average
major leaguers, who must present evidence of injury before receiving an exemption."

oic

i know they banned the whole mega-armored thing that he was rocking for a while, but for some reason i thought maybe he was using smaller/lighter armor now, stuff that was compliant with current rules. is this not the case? what's the maximum that a hitter can wear at the plate?

Willie (Portland, OR): What team do you see Bonds playing for next season? Why wouldn't an American League team go after him, he'd be a great DH especially for Detroit, Minnesota, etc?

Rob Neyer: (12:27 PM ET ) Detroit doesn't have the space, Minnesota doesn't have the money. I think it's either Anaheim or the Bronx for him.

Doug (New Rochelle, NY): Bonds in the Bronx?? Don't you think Cashman (and even the true powers that be) have shown that they are past that kind of move??

Rob Neyer: (12:54 PM ET ) You mean, not including Roger Clemens? I'm not sure what kind of move you mean...

John (Parsippany, NJ): I think the Yankees would rather sign Torii Hunter before Bonds. Were would you put him? Assuming no is dealt, you would have Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera, Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Andy Phillps, Shelley Duncan and Bonds split time between OF, 1B and DH daily.

Rob Neyer: (1:11 PM ET ) A lot of you are asking me where Bonds would play, and mentioning the logjam at 1B/DH/OF. Well, okay. Except Bonds obviously is better and maybe even healthier than Damon and Giambi. The Yankees probably should just eat Damon's contract -- which looked silly when he signed it, and looks insane now -- and worry about Giambi when he's actually healthy enough to play.

Could the devil ice-skate? I think not!

I could never play hockey. I've tried. I can ice skate, but it's not good, you know? I play hockey in the wintertime with (actor, game-show host) Alan Thicke. Me and my family. We do. We go down to the ice skating rink, all of us. Funny thing, I'd never seen my son skate, and he beat all of us.

Question: (The Pirates) are doing a tribute for you. What do you think about that?

Bonds: I think it's nice. That's the team that gave me my first shot, the team that drafted me.

No Barry, the Giants drafted you in the second round of the 1982 MLB draft as a high school senior, but the Giants and you were unable to agree on contract terms, so you decided to attend ASU.

2007 PECOTA: .267/.441/.535, 12 HRs, 51 BBs, 3 SBs = 29.9 VORP

2007 ZIPS: .269/.464/.539, 21 HRs, 102 BBs, 3 SBs

2007 Actuals to date: .281/.498/.585, 24 HRs, 118 BBs, 5 SBs = 50.1 VORP (tied for 9th in MLB)

RC/27 for the 4 MLB position players over age 40:

Barry Bonds: 10.84 (#1 in MLB)
Kenny Lofton: 5.87
Craig Biggio: 3.96
Omar Vizquel: 3.16

ok srsly - what is "rc/27"???

do u no hoo bill jamez iz?

runs created per 27 outs

ie how many runs a lineup of Barry clones would score per game.

Apparently, Bonds was removed from the game yesterday after loafing on a fly ball and was not pleased about it.

Wait, Bonds didn't homer again?

(0-1, 2 runs scored).

Fuck this guy. I am trading Reggie Stocker off of my team in The Show as soon as I get home.

lols at 9 Craig Biggios scoring 4 per game.

I always want Reggie Stocker but his salary is so prohibitive.

i play in steinbrenner mode (salaries disabled)

Do you just stock your team with the best of the best, or players you dig?

There are some good steals to have who don't command high salaries:

Ortiz
Sizemore
Hafner
Howard

the pitching gets out of hand real quick so I usually draft all SPs.

The Slowing of Barry Bonds?

career average 1986-2006:
games played: 136
on-base percentage: .443
slugging average: .608
ab/hr: 12.95

2007 estimates:
games played: 137
on-base percentage: .495
slugging average: .608
ab/hr: 11.25

obviously fielding is the only part of his game that's vulnerable to immobility.

what are your fielding stastics of choice, Dr. Morbius?

just using my eyes, the Atlanta way!

o i c.

I'm curious, Steve, what fielding statistics do you have that indicates that Barry's an improved fielder over the course of the last year. Cuz FRAA has him at a dismal -10 and his Revised Zone Rating is .834 which is basically better than Chris Duncan and Adam Dunn and not much else.

No way he has to be better than Cliff Floyd, Luis Gonzalez and Pat Burrell... the last thing I looked at (HardballTimes I think?) had him in the top 10 LFs in MLB. I'm not saying that's an improvement over the automatic write-in Gold Glove vote, I just think the Morbiusian mainstream media view has never been put to a test (because of the nebulousness of defensive stats?)

Would it be too much to focus on the fact that his 2007 offensive metrics are tracking at/above his career #s! Or is that less interesting than his defensive FRAA?

shit "10 LFs in MLB" where MLB = NL

He's 13 out of 19 on Hardballtimes list of LF for the MLB on RZR (not sure what their cut off is--Floyd isn't even on the list.) You are correct that Gonzalez and Burrell are even worse by RZR (and Manny is even even worse than that apparently) but by no means is Bonds an impressive defensive LF anymore and he was a pretty strong one by most statistical metrics when he was young.

His offensive year is indisputably very impressive. Pity the Giants surrounded him with nonsense.

Record-breaking Bonds ball nets $752,467

John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, September 15, 2007

(09-15) 18:58 PDT Mission Viejo, Orange County -- The winning bid on Saturday night for Giant slugger Barry Bonds' record-breaking 756th shot was $752,467, well above expectations, while the shot to tie Hank Aaron's career home run record sold for $186,750.

The prices included the required 20 percent buyer's premium, which were added to the final bid. There were a total of 11 bids on home run ball number 755, which Bonds hit in San Diego on Aug. 4, and 31 bids on the tie-breaker.

The final price for 755 was only slightly below the $200,000 many memorabilia experts expected.

But the big prize was the record-breaker, and bidders had their checkbooks out for the ball that Matt Murphy, a contract supervisor from New York, plucked out of the stands at AT&T Park on Aug. 7.

A slow start to the bidding, which began Aug. 28, had naysayers suggesting that Bonds' links to baseball's steroid scandal, as well as his less-than-sunny personality, would keep the price of the record-breaking ball down. But the bidding took off Saturday and the ball more than doubled in price, soaring above the $500,000 experts expected it to bring.

Bids for the ball had reached $301,625 by the 1 p.m. end of the initial phase of the online auction.

But in the world of big bucks, online auctions, that's little more than a starting point for the effort to squeeze every possible dollar out of the object up for bid.

Anyone who cast one of 16 bids in the first part of the auction was allowed to jump back in and boost the offer in the extended auction, which continued until 3 p.m.

But even that didn't mark the end. Under rules set by Sotheby's-SCP Auctions, the Mission Viejo auction house, the bidding continued after 3 p.m., going on until no one increased the offer for at least 30 minutes. Each time a new bid was made, that 30-minute countdown clock was reset.

The clock ran down to seven seconds at 4:20 p.m., when a bidder jumped in with an offer of $467, 918, $22,000 more than the previous high bid. At 6 p.m., there was about a minute left when a bid for $627,056 was recorded.

There was a lot less suspense for home run ball No. 755, which tied Aaron's record. There was only a single winning bid made after the 3 p.m. close, one of 11 offers.

The estimates for the record-breaking ball were well below the $1 million that Heritage Auction Galleries originally offered well before Bonds' record-shattering blast. But the company withdrew that offer in June, citing concerns about the safety of fans scrambling for the ball and the company's potential liability.

Many memorabilia dealers believe the really big price will be for Bonds' final home run. That ball will represent baseball's career home run record, which for Bonds is now at 762 and counting.

When it comes to sports records, however, there are never guarantees. When St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire shattered the single-season home run record by slamming 70 in 1998, cartoonist Todd McFarlane paid $3 million for the ball, figuring the record could stand as long as the one Roger Maris set in 1961.

Bad call. Three years later, Bonds hit 73 home runs, breaking the record and sending the value of McGwire's ball plummeting.

justin (ny, ny): I hear bonds talking about how he wants to play next year, but is there any team willing to sign him? What do you think will happen?

Jayson Stark: (1:34 PM ET ) Here's my team to watch on that front: Texas.

any of you sabermetricly inclined financial whizzes want to post estimates on:

1) club he plays for next year
2) more importantly, salary?

bonds to red sox oh plzzzzzzzz

2 problems there:
1) David Ortiz
2) Manny Ramirez

i mean i know id be the last brick in the sox are basically the yankees now house but i dont care bring on baaaaaarrrry

im not really looking at this from a logical pov

imagine the crazy lovable/douche juxtaposition if ortiz/bonds hit back to back

Doesn't Barry hate Boston? Sry jhose. ;_;

barry hates all - he is a hateful man

boston media + bonds = match made in heaven

would the Sox move Manny if they could sign A-Rod and Barry this winter? hahahaha

oh dear god how i would love to see bonds with boston next year

but what's his salary this year? 15.8MM? what's the lowest offer he might take in 2008 that doesn't bruise his ego too much?

it wasn't 20M this year?

How about 8 + incentives?

The Tigers have used something like 10 left fielders this year and could benefit in '08 from cutting the number down to three or four. But hey, like a couple writers in Detroit have said, Bonds' best years are behind him and he hasn't even hit 30 HRs this year. He is paid to hit home runs, after all. (And besides, with a .483 OBP he is clearly a base clogger.)

Last 8 hours to vote on the 756 Ball's fate!

http://www.vote756.com/marcecko/

if space doesnt win ill be really disappointed

D) Place in high-speed pitching machine, shoot it off my face.

ooh - i like that one!

it wasn't 20M this year?

How about 8 + incentives?

-- Dr Morbius, Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:19 PM (5 hours ago)

it was $15.8 plus $5 in incentives (based on criteria which his agent says he easily surpassed).

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/26/sports/baseball/ecko.190.jpg

yeah i voted brand. though it really should be six or seven brands, so if it ever makes it to a display case, the hof can't obscure it

where's that Gaylord Perry-Whitey Ford-Don Sutton brand?

boooooring come on space space is an awesome place.

apparently the hall can agreed to not obscure the brand in any way

has agreed

that sucks, i guess Bonds will be taking all of his gear back from the HOF....

Gilbert Areans, I love you even more.

"Like, who are you? Are you Superman?" is so totally my new shutdown comeback.

i'm not even sure who that guy is but i like the cut of his jib

heguag (Louisville): Where does Barry play in '08?

Gary Huckabay: Anaheim, for the league minimum, after ARod signs there, and they trade for Johan Santana.

For Shasta:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/turn2/ci_7201582

xoxox

For Leee:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/78/155391987_11c01a5369.jpg

xoxoxoxox

If you're 756 Ball fuckin', I ain't inductin'.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3090631

no surprise there

Can't watch this at work, but wtf is my first instinct.

i like his "Barry Bonds" jersey.

i hope he just wears that next season.

Tampa Bay is preparing an offer.