Barry Bonds: Approaching Willie Mays Standing in All-Time Home Runs

this would be too perfect.

I'm just counting the days until he retires or goes to the AL and DHes so I can root for the Giants again.

unlikely, cf: 1988-2004.

judging from bonds' eyes, the ball is about 5 feet in front of the plate (and dropping). if it had passed the plate at this height, this is right on the corner. but ausmus' glove dropped to about 12 inches above ground (this was a fastball, not a breaking pitch) and clemens looked surprised to get the call.

Wasn't a cheapie garbage-time dinger, it puts the Giants up by a run.

Hello dramatics!

rebecca romijn-stamos and john stamos have separated.

(thanks for the link btw)

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040412/capt.fxp10904122239.brewers_giants_bonds_fxp109.jpg

i love that picture.

I wish I remembered to catch replay of the torch passing thing, it sounded sweet.

Maybe Ben Ford will want to try throwing something other than four consecutive 85 mph straightballs next time.

barry's groundball/flyball so far: 0.29.

I think Neyer is neglecting the mythology of baseball, here we have a modern immortal finally cracking the top 3 of a very exclusive club in a category which does not allow much room for error.

Sure Maris, Mantle and McGwire had huge HR seasons... but they didn't have the longevity which is making Bonds' legacy even more apparent.

But there is another reason for the hype: Bonds is controlling his image this year having backed out of the MLBPA. The proceeds from 660 related merchandise featuring both Mays and Bonds will go towards charities as well as a fund for Mays (during Mays' era, baseball players didn't command the enormous salaries of the players today).

Maybe 660 is more of a regional hype, but there are a couple reasons why it shouldn't be so easily forgotten.

i)i don't think bb is portrayed as "menacing or threatening" at all.
ii)even if that's not at all what the writer meant, then richard lapchick, i bring you ted's head on a platter.

hahaha, here's a caption under a photo of mcgwire:
"McGwire was tagged Big Mac. Bonds was known as a Killer B."

Somehow, we want to avoid what may be a real factor regarding the public's unwillingness to accept Bonds. He is a powerful black man who plays by his own rules, not the rules of baseball decorum or white social norms. He does not often share his smile with fans; instead, he is as likely to scowl or glare at those who approach him. To many whites, that fits a stereotype of African-American men as menacing or threatening.

UGH! This is worse stereotyping than David Duke is capable of.

after reading the article, i will say that i feel it was at least written in good faith, which is not the vibe i'm getting from a lot of these accusations. it just wasn't very well thought out (AT ALL). i'm really still incredulous that he thinks bonds is perceived as "menacing".

I think he is... Not as much as Albert (Joey) Belle or Carl Everett have been, but Barry's public behavior can't match the nadirs of those two nitwits. I read at least one spring training column in which, after being peppered with BALCO questions, Bonds was portrayed as turning away and muttering "Get out of my locker." I see those kinda details about him compared to his former teammate/adversary Jeff (CHiPs Mustache) Kent, who apparently talked a whole lot more offensive (sexist, fag-bashing) shit to reporters.

your mention of kent is an interesting one and the reason i was sorry for dismissing the race issue. you mention of kent is interesting and the reason i was sorry for dismissing the race issue. i've thought that in some cases there may be a kind of disconnect between the media and non-whites (just latinos?), but i've always attributed it as much to the language barrier as anything else. i know in boston, it's thought by some that the media is biased toward trot because he's a "white guy who hustles", and against manny and pedro because they're hispanic. but what if trot really is just a harmless, likeable guy who hustles, and pedro and manny are every bit the characters the press (and their teammates) say they are? (i think they are) and barry and kent...jeff kent isn't winning 6 MVP awards, jeff kent isn't breaking the all-time home run record, jeff kent isn't widely considered one of the three best players in history - kent was in barry's shadow, surely. it'd certainly make sense that much more would be written about barry than kent. and let's say the press was horribly biased toward kent - maybe they disliked barry so much (for, we're going to hypothesize here, his general surliness) that when they found jeff kent was the perfect foil (kent hating barry, as i recall), they knew that writing anything negative about him was going to make barry look like less of a bad guy. wrong, definitely. racist, not necessarily.

it's just difficult to know what's motivated by race and what isn't, which is one reason i'm usually uncomfortable tossing out accusations like that. the other, in this case, is that i just don't read much baseball journalism.

i don't know if comparing trot and manny is fair, they're two different ballplayers in terms of skill, expectations, and compensation. i think the manny situation is more similar to how wade boggs was treated. he's a talented guy who's villified because he's perceived as being selfish. the press in boston will eat any player (on any team) who puts themselves ahead of the team. ask boggs. ask ty law. ask antoine walker. when kevin mchale made overtures to the knicks in the mid/late '80s he was torched in the press until he reupped with the c's.

while i would never be so naive as to say there's not any racism in boston (though i will say i've seen more of it in chicago than i saw in boston) i don't think racism in the press is a problem.

Ahem... the Houston Astros have had the Killer B's for years now: Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Sean Berry, Derek Bell, Lance Berkman. All but one of those guys are white.

http://www.kskssports.com/ksks_sports/baseball_mags/images/bm12_12.jpg

The reporters who corner him into his locker (or step on his son's leg like that one reporter did) and get aggressive with questions... is there really anyone surprised when reporters get a reaction out of him when that's the end goal? It makes good press, of course they're going to keep instigating him.

not really relevant, but since i brought him up, here's a long contemporary article about how williams was perceived, by the fans, players, managers, and media. i guess my excuse for posting it here is that i think a similar article on bonds would be fascinating.

a couple excerpts especially interesting today:

"He's been criticized for not going after the bad balls, but that's a theory of his and he stays with it." (recognizing the importance of patience and controlling the strikezone about 60 years before such philsophies would gain widespread recognition. of course, everyone today knows that ted was probably the smartest hitter of all time)

"There resides in Boston, a columnist for the Daily Record, Dave Egan by name, who over the years has been Williams' most persistent nemesis. Egan, is a vivid and often brilliant writer but in a feverish quest for the sensational, his typewriter often drips of vitriol." (remind you of anyone?)

Look at those twin Good Citizens, Jeter and A-Rod... are there two more boring interviewees alive?

you have to wonder if he's going to make a serious run at .400. it's about all he's got left to do. if he gets his typical 400 ABs he probably won't do it, but if misses enough of them for whatever reason, it could get interesting.