On Barry Bonds

As a follow up to the Giants post, I'll delve into a rant on every Giants fan's favorite Giant.

Yesterday, on espn.com's Page 2, an article appeared that is the most vicious assault on Barry Bonds I have read. Written by Jeff Pearlman (author of Bonds biography, Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero), the piece attacks Bonds as a bad teammate, role model, husband, and father. "Barry Bonds is an evil man. A truly evil man." Says Pearlman. He claims he's not writing the article to promote his book, but rather as a plea to Bonds to come clean on performance-enhancing drugs. By doing this, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams would be spared jailtime for not revealing their sources to the Grand Jury for their book (Game of Shadows--the first book that described Bonds' supposed steroid use).

The first thing worth mentioning here is that when Pearlman mentions his book, it is a link. And by clicking on the link, you are directed to amazon.com's page for the book. But he's definately not promoting his book. Not in the least.

Secondly, on his critisms of Bonds: "As a father, he has been absent and indifferent." How the hell would he even know that? The only people qualified to judge that are his kids and I somehow doubt Pearlman was able to interview them for the book. And if he did, I would guess they would have a favorable opinion of their dad. "As a Giant, he has held a franchise hostage and refused to help teammates in need." Please. There is nothing Bonds has wanted more than to win. Throughout his entire career, he has stated that winning a World Series is the most important thing. Even if you don't believe him (I do), how can you say he has held the franchise hostage? By winning 4 MVPs in a row? By being the sole reason the Giants got a new stadium? By being the reason people fill it? I think most teams would have enjoyed being "held hostage" by Barry Bonds. This is a guy who changed the game more than anyone since Babe Ruth. HE GOT INTENTIONALLY WALKED WITH THE BASES LOADED, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE.And if you ask me to, I can name countless examples to back up a statement the casual or cynical viewer may not believe true: Barry Bonds is a team player. Don't tell me he refuses to help his teammates in need when, on his birthday, he throws out a guy at home to keep the game tied in the top of the 9th inning, and then in the bottom of the inning hits a walk-off home run. Please.

Now, as for these authors of Game of Shadows. First of all, I read the exerpt that came out in SI. And this is the most sensationalized piece of writing I have ever read. Literally. I'm suprised it didn't appear in the tabloids. Yet pretty much everyone 100% bought into 100% of it. Now these authors are being asked to name their source of much of their information to a Grand Jury hearing investigating Bonds. The information in quesiton is from a previous Grand Jury hearing in which Bonds testified he never knowingly took steroids. The authors say they wont reveal their source even if it means jail time for them. Now they are being made out as martyrs, as heroes. A lot of people are finding it attrocious that they are gonna have to go to jail, when they did nothing wrong. They are the ones who "cleaned up baseball"--they did what Congress and MLB couldn't do. Well, if I may steal from Damon Bruce again: Imagine this: A guy is very good at his job. But a lot of other people are good at the same job. They guy feels like in order to become the best at the job, so he can make the most money, he might need something extra. So he tries some illegally obtained materials to beef up his performance. It works. He shoots to the top of his profession and makes a lot of money. Sound familiar? I'm not talking about Barry Bonds. Here, the "guy" is actually two guys: Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams.
Now, the analogy is not perfect. Because the real criminal is the person who leaked the testimony, not the guys who obtained and used it. But I still think it's an interesting and valid way to look at the situation. I can't blame the guys for not revealing their sources. They're journalists. But by not testifying, they are impeding the investigation into who leaked the Grand Jury testimony. This situation is not Daniel Ellsberg leaking the Pentagon Papers to the media. Whoever leaked the Grand Jury testimony was not blowing the whistle on some evil government. He ratted out a steroid user. Now you could make a point by asking where do you draw the line between a source that needs protection and one that does not need to be protected. I just think it's pretty clear in this case.
So the point is, these guys are not heroes. They did not clean up baseball. Baseball had a steroid problem because it had no testing program. Now that it does, the problem is pretty much as solved as it can be. People will find loop holes, and maybe a stricter policy may be needed, but don’t tell me the guys who exposed a number of players “cleaned up baseball.” They are not heroes. Moreover, to the city of san Francisco, these guys are villainous traitors.

So, here is my take on Barry Bonds: Yes, he probably used performance enhancing drugs. So did a ton of other people. These substances, however, were not banned by Major League Baseball. So if you are gonna blame someone, blame MLB. I've even read something that said since the testing policy has been in place, more pitchers have tested positive than position players. So was the playing field really uneven? And if you want to put astericks by Barry's numbers, you gotta put astericks by sooooo many other stats. Rafael Palmiero's 3ooo hits and 5oo home runs. All of Jose Canseco's statistics. These are just the high profile guys with high profile cases. But is this really what you want?:
Single Season Home Runs:
Barry Bonds - 73* - 2001
Mark McGwire - 70* - 1998
Sammy Sosa - 66* - 1998
Mark McGwire - 65* - 1999
Sammy Sosa - 64* - 2001
Sammy Sosa - 63* - 1999
Roger Maris - 61 - 1961
Babe Ruth - 60 - 1927

The fact is, this is a persecution. The media, Grand Jury hearing; they are out to get Bonds. If it was Bonds (not Palmiero) who testified "I have never taken steroids. Period." and then later tested positive, do you think they would have said "yea we looked into perjury, but couldn't find enough evidence"? No. We would be in pretty much the same situation we are in. Bonds has never tested positive for steroids, and yet he is undeniably the face of the entire scandal. Not Jason Giambi. Not Rafael Palmiero. Not Floyd Landis. Newcomers to the list are Marion Jones and Justin Gatlin. And I'm not saying race has a lot to do with it, but in this day and age it is still a lot easier to demonize a black man.

Yes, Barry Bonds has been a dick to the media. But since when is he paid to be friendly to the press? Is it in his contract? No. He has chosen not to deal with one inconvenience that comes along attached to his job. And with the way the media has been treating him lately, can you blame him? Maybe he is a total jerk. I've heard a lot of bad things about him. But I've also heard a lot of good things about him as a person. In fact, everyone I know who has met him has said great things about him. This includes my mother. And while she may be a little crazy, she has met Barry Bonds, which makes her pretty dam cool.