Uh, so are you! And don't even try to pretend otherwise. Shaq and Yao Ming are much bigger than BB but I'm not envious of 'em. I'm definitely envious of A Rod though.

 

naa. i'm just envious of these guys for being rich and famous...

 

Werd.

 

 

One of the people planning to sue for a share of the 700 HR ball lives down the street from me - the TV van was there today taping his statements.

 

Until Bonds can conclusively prove, without a doubt, that he has NOT used performance enhancing drugs, he will always be questionably the best player in the game (today). The BALCO scandal will eventually come to light, and I believe a number of players (including those on my beloved Yankees) will be exposed as cheaters. If Bonds passes with flying colors, then more power to him. If not, I hope his records are struck from the books and his whole professional existence is forfeit.

He's also a bad person, for a number of reasons, which makes it very difficult to root for him.

 

<---Evil Evo here

Yella...You need to remember hes 40 years old, he doesnt have the legs he used to have. I'll agree, I dont think hes the best all around player (right now) but he definitely one of the top 2 or 3 and definitely the most intimidating player in the league.

I've always been a Giants fan, but my favorite player has always been Barry Bonds, even when he played for Pittsburgh. The one thing I hate is all the damn walks, sorry but if I pay good money to watch my favorite player play I expect him to get pitched to, I dont want to see him walked 4 times. Its funny how Barry gets walked so much but they pitch to all the other sluggers, I guess thats the intimidation.

IMO hes the league MVP again...The guys in St.L are having awesome seasons and so is Beltrae, but I dont think anyone is more important to their team than Barry is.

 

Alright, to tell y'all the truth, I know jack about Barry. The only thing I know about him is his home-run record.

What makes him a bad person? If he is, then booo! I like Ichiro because he's nice and polite. I like A Rod because he's an all-around player and he's pretty good looking. Sounds gay, huh? But actually, I'm envious of him (including his money).

 

Bonds does some sketchy things like setting up a charity organization. . . then paying his mother >$300,000 to "run" it. Pathetic and disgusting. Plus, his attitude as a team player just sucks. He makes it very easy to not like him.

 

You make some good points. They have nothing to do with his playing ability, but let's look at them. (except the BALCO story. I know all the people involved in Barry's situation and all I can say is Barry is a fitness/nutrition freak. He wouldn't take anything that would screw up his body like steriods ultimately will. (Guys who takes steriods don't play into their 40's; they can't) Greg Anderson, a trusted lifelong friend and employee of BALCO was giving Barry "nutirtional supplements" that he assured him were completely legal and steriod free. Barry trusted a friend. Time will tell what was actually in that supplement, but even if it contained "the clear" or HGH as rumors purport, neither were banned substances at the time!

I'll again point out that while many of the other players implicated as using steroids have noticeably lost weigt and power since testing has been initiated in baseball, Bonds is batting .372 and even though he's walked seemingly every time he comes to the plate, he still has managed 43 homers (two behind the league leader who has 200 more at bats ) he's also got 97 RBIs and 120 runs in the 347 times he's been pitched to. The other 207 times they decided it was safer to walk him... Sorry Evil... I hate it too.

As for the charity "scandal". Almost all charities have higly paid people at the top running things. You're pissed because he gave the job to his mom? The guy donates a ton of $$ and he wants some of it to go to his mommy while giving her an important respected position. Sounds just awful to me. This isn't some chick he was doing on the side or a way to divert $$ for drugs or gambling... it went to his mom.

Lastly, it's said he's not a team player. Well he's no cheerleader, that's for sure. He's not much of a teacher either, he doesn't have the patience to be a coach. He doesn't socialize with the other players much, he kind of keeps to himself. All he does is train 365 days a year so that he can show up at the ballpark every day, ready to give his best to help his team win. Because of that, he's been voted the "Most Valuable Player" twice as many times as anyone else. (And he will get it again this year at 40 to be the oldest MVP ever!)

In an era when players move from team to team whenever there's more $$ to be had, Bonds has played with only two: the team he came up with, Pittsburgh, and his hometown team that he went to as soon as he could. Although he's the most dominant, he's not the highest paid player, and he has turned down significantly more $$ to play elsewhere. (in more hitter friendly parks)

I think last year really proved what kind of a team player he was. His father, with whom he was incredibly close was dying. Barry's team was in a pennant race. He stayed with the team until he could help them build a huge lead in the division, then left to be at his father's side. The team immediately began to slide. After a week of no Barry, their lead was in serious jeopardy. He knew what his job was and left his dying father's side to return to his struggling team. Their lead was never in jeopardy again, but Bobby and Barry Bonds were not together at the very end. What more could a team ask from a player?