Bonds doesn’t get that many walks because they “don’t pitch to him,” he gets that many walks because he TRIES TO DRAW WALKS. He’s a selective hitter and lays off the bad stuff. It’s part of his game. You don’t think NL pitchers are eager to throw more strikes to Sammy Sosa, do you?
If Bonds were to swing at more pitches, he’d probably hit FEWER home runs, not more, since that isn’t his style of hitting.
Well, contrast that with the video of his latest homer, available at http://www.mlb.com under “Current Cuts.” (You need RealVideo.) He shakes hands with the third-base coach; he hugs several teammates; he pats the batboy on the back; he high-fives a lot of teammates in the dugout and they all seem happy he hit #55. Was all that just show for the camera?
(I don’t know how long the video will be on the site.)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by jab1 *
Going along with what jab1 said above, one of Reilly’s main points in his diatribe was that Bonds’ teammates disliked him SO much they wouldn’t even come out on the field to celebrate his 500th home run, only the bat girl would. Of course the reason they didn’t was that the Giants had an elaborate ceremony that began immediately after Bonds hit the home run which involved bringing Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Bonds’ family onto the field for a brief celebration. Bonds’ teammates were specifically asked not to come onto the field so there would be no delay in the ceremony as the game was still going on at the time. His teammates were all over him hugging and congratulating him once he reached the dugout after the ceremony. I was at that game and I specifically remember watching how happy all the Giants were, especially since Bonds’ 500th was a two run shot in the bottom of the 8th to give the Giants the lead against the hated Dodgers. I just got finished listening to Jim Rome give Scott Boras (Bonds’ agent) a hard time about this incident and it really got me steamed. Leave it to Rome to leave out the actual context of the incident. :mad:
Reilly is a liar and an avowed hater of major league baseball; remember, this is the columnist who said last year he would never watch baseball again because he thought it was boring.
In the column, Reilly alleges that Bonds’s teammates didn’t congratulate him after his 500th homer - a lie, and a very easy one to disprove, since tens of thousands of people saw otherwise. He castigates Bonds for having extra perks that are completely normal for a major league star and which are substantially less than what CAL RIPKEN has (Ripken doesn’t even travel with the team or stay with them on the road) and yet Bonds is burned for it while Ripken is a saint.
His entire column is based on the (Alleged) comments of Jeff Kent, who himself is reputed to be an unpopular teammate. Not that there’s any context given to his remarks.
Bonds reminds me of Eddie Murray; a great, hustling, hardworking player who wasn’t enormously interested, or any good at, dealing with the media. Sportswriters seems to have a lot of difficulty comprehending that their job is to report on the SPORT, not on themselves, and so they seem to think that a player’s worth is somehow tied to how good an interview he is.
What I find REALLY interesting, though, is this; the vast majority of ballplayers who are criticized by the media for having attitude problems are black. Bonds, who gets criticized by Rick Reilly for having clubhouse perks, is black; Cal Ripken, who is the most pampered player in baseball and hardly spends five minutes with the team, is revered as a god, and he’s white. Eddie Murray, who was criticized for being surly, is black; any number of white players who are similarly surly are not so criticized. There were people criticizing Sammy Sosa for not being a team player last year, while the media moaned and bitched about Mark Grace being traded, yet the evidence would suggest Grace was not the wonderful guy the media would have you believe. Sosa is black, Grace is white. Rickey Henderson is regularly trashed for allegedly being a jerk; Pete Rose, who was a thousand times the jerk Henderson is, was practically fellated by sportswriters until it got to the point where he was such a scumbag he couldn’t even be trusted to be in the sport.
The Expos recently called up Tim Raines again. In articles talking about his career, I’ll bet every one longer than ten sentences mentions that he did some coke back in the 80’s. How many stories about Paul Molitor now mention all the nose candy HE did in the 80’s? It’s practically been wiped out of the record. Raines is black, Molitor is white. When I engage in internet discussions about marginal Hall of Fame candidates and Dave Parker’s name comes up, the second thing that comes up is that he was snorting coke. Curiously, when Keith Hernandez’s name comes up, nobody mentions that he was such a druggie the Cardinals traded him just to be rid of him. Parker: black. Hernandez: white.
If Bonds was white, would they write about him the way they do? No way, Jose. He’d be MUCH better treated by the media if he were white. And if he were a better, more cooperative interview - well, they’d treat him like a king. And yet he wouldn’t have to change the way he plays or deals with his teammates at all.
And maybe – just maybe – racism is why Bonds’ pursuit of McGwire’s record is not getting the attention that McGwire got while pursuing Maris’s record. (I wonder if Bonds is getting hate mail like Aaron did when he was approaching 715 HRs?)
I’d prefer that racism not be the answer. I’d prefer to believe it’s because McGwire set the record only three years ago, that it’s too soon to get excited again. But one must consider all the possibilities.
I wonder if interest will pick up if Sosa gains on Bonds?
Oh, and the Giants play the Mets this weekend. I bet Bonds gets another homer and maybe two.
I’m with you. I’d like to think the lack of excitement is due to the newness of the record and the fact that it was just chased two years ago. Having a 60+ HR year is no longer a novelty: we just saw two guys do it two years in a row.
I think interest will pick up when Bonds has 60 HR with about 20 or so games left.
Like most people eager to inject charges of racism into EVERY discussion, RickJay overlooks inconvenient facts.
The white sportswriters, whom he alleges are hostile to Sammy Sosa, gave SOSA the MVP award over popular, white Mark McGwire. Moreover, it wasn’t the white sportswriters who first raised the charge that Sosa is an incomplete player who doesn’t hustle in the field or on the basepaths, and doesn’t do any of the “little things” that it takes to win- it was his own manager, Don Baylor, who first made that charge (Baylor is, by the way, black). Baylor was absolutely right, but almost got fired for alienating Sosa.
Sportswriters have frequently given awards to surly black players when they could have (and in a few cases, SHOULD have) given them to friendly white guys. Surly black George Bell won an MVP award that should have gone to friendly white Alan Trammell, and surly black Jim RIce won the 1978 MVP award that should have gone to friendly white Ron Guidry. Coke-head black pitcher Fergie Jenkins won a Cy Young Award that could easily have gone to wholesome white Tom Seaver. Surly black Kevin Mitchell won an MVP award when writers could easily have justified giving it to white Will Clark.
Now, I fully agree that sportswriters let personalities sway them- that’s why Albert Belle lost the MVP award he deserved to Mo Vaughn (who is ALSO black, I might add). But come on, has there ever been a player of ANY color as beloved by sportswriters as Kirby Puckett or Tony Gwynn?
Re: the Rick Reilly column, it is quite possible that all points of view are valid and all quotes are accurate. Reilly has an axe to grind against Bonds, probably based on some prior slight (like Barry fanning off an interview)–quite easy to believe, as Barry has no fondness for the media. Kent and Bonds have never been close; this has been well known to Giants fans for years. Kent makes some mild comments to Reilly, to the effect that “Barry plays by his own rules, that’s the way it is”. Reilly notices the clubhouse perqs that are obvious to anyone. Voila, instant column.
(Scratching head) Uhh… Cal Ripken?
I’m not saying there’s a vast conspiracy against black players - in fact, in many regards, I would say there is no bias at all. Black players do as well in MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year voting as white players; they would seem to do as well in Hall of Fame voting. The Bell-Trammell example is a good one, it being one of the greatest MVP ripoffs of all time.
However, in the Specific area of players earning media reputations for being moody, surly or “bad clubhouse influences,” the majority of unjustified targets are black. I have trouble believing it’s a coincidence.
Bonds hit #56 just a few moments ago. Slammin’ Sammy Sosa hit #50 and #51 on Sunday. Can Sosa catch Bonds?
And with those 2 homeruns by Sammy, he became only the 3rd Major Leaguer to hit 50 or more homeruns in four different seasons. The other two are Babe Ruth and Mark McGwire. Sosa and McGwire also hit their four 50+ HR seasons consecutively. Think Sosa will have another good year next year and be the only person to do it 5 years, and in 5 consecutive years at that?
I’d say he has a pretty good chance.
Sosa hit #52 tonight.
I kinda hope he doesn’t because I’ve always been a Mark McGwire fan, but if he does I want to see what Todd MacFarlane (who paid $3 mil for #70) has to say.
I don’t think it’s looking particularly good for Barry. He would need to have the best September of his life.
Interesting stat given in last night’s Giants-Diamondbacks game: 52% of Barry’s homers have tied the game or given the Giants the lead. None of the other big guys mentioned (Sosa, Gonzales, Shawn Green) are over 44%.
Bonds hit #57 last night in a loss to Colorado.
Bonds is going to have to pick up the pace to make it to 71. Of course, he’d prefer to make the playoffs. The Giants are four games behind Arizona for the West and 1 1/2 games behind Chicago for the wild-card. Unfortunately for any West team trying to catch the Cubs, the Cubs have no more games scheduled against the West.
And Luis Gonzalez hit #51 against San Diego.
Today, Sammy Sosa hit #53, the longest homer ever hit at Turner Field. The Cubs won, 5 to 3.
Here I go, out on a limb: Sosa will pass Barry. Neither will hit 70 (Sosa 65, Barry 63).
Yesterday, Bonds hit #58. Sosa still has just 53.
And Bonds did it again last night.
Oh, did anyone else see the no-hitter on Monday night? Or the near-perfect game on Sunday?