Monday, January 5, 2015

Let's Discuss Barry Bonds

With the Hall of Fame selections coming up we loyal Giants fans should consider the greatest baseball player that any of us have ever seen, not counting faint glimmers of memories of having seen Willie Mays in our youth.
My dominant feeling as a Bonds fan is that I've been cheated, cheated out of the pleasure of being able to gloat about how great a player he truly was, and to be overtly proud that I was there, in the stands, seeing much of it happen.
That spring when he showed up with the round face I knew immediately he had been juicing and I mostly thought, "Wow, I hope he gets away with it." But if I knew then pretty much everybody knew. And guess what? He DID get away with it.
He's on the ballot.

20 comments:

M.C. O'Connor said...

I have lost all interest in the Hall of Fame.

Zo said...

The Hall of Fame has become a platform for pontificating, self-righteous, mostly white male egotists. He's on the ballot because those are the rules. Some will vote for him because he was great. Many will not because they want to get back at him for being unwilling to kiss their asses and for "ruining the innocence of the game" whatever the fuck that means.

Brother Bob said...

1993 was a wonderful year. Bonds's first season in SF he was spectacular, 46 HR, 123 RBI, .336 BA, 1.136 OPS. New owners, new bleachers.

Unknown said...

Smacks of self-righteous hypocrisy!! Really?? You saw his rounded face and knew immediately he was on the juice? WOW, you are really something!!

Ron said...

As usual, I have to throw in my 2 cents on this subject, &, as usual, it involves my normal commentary regarding the so-called great Commissioner. I suppose that you could say that 'I saw his beady little eyes & knew that he (& the rest of his lacky Owners) were fully complicit in the steroid era.' What a joke that this guy is regarded in a positive light, while the Players involved are scorned. They were all in this together, & they should either all get a free pass together or should all get hammered about it together. But, who has the most responsibility ... the Leader should always take the most responsibility. Bud Selig ... you are, & always have been, a slimeball.

(And, don't even get me started about the All-Star Game 'meaning something'.)

Brother Bob said...

Tami, you hurt my feelings. Yes, I really am something, I'm an RN and I recognize things that most people don't. I also recognized Pat Burrell going through alcohol withdrawal during the 2010 post season. As far as I know this never became public knowledge. Of course I may be wrong but I know what I saw.

Zo said...

RIP
Stu Miller.

Zo said...

Well here is the HoF voting: http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_2015.shtml. I don't understand how they can elect Craig Biggio with his steroided uniform shirt and ignore Barry Bonds. "It's a farce."

Zo said...

"It's a farce."

Brother Bob said...

I'm happy for Randy Johnson. I was psyched to have him as a Giant.
I bet all 4 inductees used steroids to some extent.
Who knows?
Discussing BLB turned out to be a dud subject, causing much crabbiness, and this sort of makes my point. We don't get to enjoy our Bonds memories.
But who needs that now when we have 3 titles to make us happy?

M.C. O'Connor said...

There's a tweet by Baggs on the sidebar saying since Hudson is having surgery the Giants should re-sign Vogie as insurance. I suppose they already have Petit and/or Lincecum for that role, Vogie seems superfluous. But I agree, I'd like to see Vogelsong back with the team.

obsessivegiantscompulsive said...

I believe the Giants have already came out and said Hudson will make opening day and thus don't need to get a starter. So no need for Vogelsong.

Plus, unless Vogie is joining as a minor league signing, the Giants would need to drop another 40-man player, and he would be battling Strickland and Kontos for the remaining reliever spot, now that Romo has resigned.

Plus, he pitched well enough to be average last season, barring some bad luck. Average players get around $5M per season, which is what he got the past two seasons. He's old, but there should be a team somewhere willing to give him more than a minor league signing to be on their team, I would think.

Now, I would love to have him back, he's a great Giant and we probably don't win in 2012 without him, but I just don't see how it will work out with him returning other than via minor league signing. And that seems insulting to me.

But if he's still looking for a job come start of spring training, I don't see why the Giants don't sign him to a minor league deal, like they did in 2011, and stash him in AAA just in case.

M.C. O'Connor said...

That'd work for me. I wonder how realistic it is for a 40-year old guy to be ready for Opening Day after surgery, but I'll leave that to the medical types. And I have not heard of Vogie drawing interest, which surprises me. 32 starts last year. Aaron Harang got $5M on one-year deal with Philly, so you know that cagey vets are still in demand.

Ron said...

If the Giants had any belief that Vogelsong had something left, they would have signed him awhile ago. I think that they know something, & it appears that everyone else in baseball does, too. It's time to move on. The guy gave us an inspirational 2011 & 2012, & he made sure that, because of those years, all of his own personal long-term toil paid off pretty handsomely. I'm not expecting us to sign him. It's the Timmy / Yusmeiro show, with Krick as the back-up plan.

obsessivegiantscompulsive said...

Krukow is of the mind (per CSNBA interview recap) that it would be fine if Hudson misses the early part of the season, as that would leave him fresh for the most important part, Sept/Oct.

And that would make sense in a traditional rotation where the top four starters go for a month plus, then the 5th starter is fitted in, with Hudson playing 5th starter since he's out.

But since the Giants have been thinking differently, they probably would start Petit in the rotation (to lessen load on all starters) and insert Hudson when ready. That would give one of the younger prospects, like maybe Huston, a chance to long relieve in Petit's spot, or give one of the young reliever prospects, like Strickland or Okert, a chance to log some time against MLB hitters.

obsessivegiantscompulsive said...

I disagree with Ron's assertion that the Giants would have signed Vogelsong long ago had they thought he had anything.

They noted last season that they didn't want to sign him unless they were going to sign him as a starting pitcher. They thought that they might upgrade, but ended up deciding that getting him back would be best last season, whereas this season they upgraded with Peavy. But they didn't know that Peavy really wanted to come back or easy to negotiate with, he could have wanted to join his buddy Lester on the Cubs, per the rumors.

I presume they felt that way for this season as well, respecting his abilities as a starting pitcher. And it was not like he didn't have talent last season, his K/9 was good as well as his K/BB. He BB/9 was also good too, under 3.0.

But he is old and he had another down year. And there are a number of teams still looking for better pitching, he's a back of rotation fill-in, and those types tend to get signed just before spring training. And I think he's still good enough for some team to pick him up in January to round out their rotation.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Positive WAR for Vogie last season and 3.85 FIP plus decent peripherals. He's got something left, I'd wager. He'll get a shot on some rotation. There has to be a dozen teams looking to fill in the back end. I love the guy and wish there was a spot.

I do worry that Hudson will be slowed down by this surgery and not fully ready by April. And he's 40 in July. Still he's an old man in baseball terms. Maybe we'll get to see more of Petit and/or Lincecum in the ro' early on and get a better read on what they can do. I'm chomping at the bit to see Matty again. I miss that guy!

Zo said...

According to this Ben Zobrist will be an A. A A. Whatever.

obsessivegiantscompulsive said...

The only way all these A's moves makes sense to me is if Billy Beane had a Harvey Dent type of breakdown and is in a corner of his house flipping a two-headed coin with one side scratched, while his computer come up with randomized trade suggestions, out of an electronic hat filled with players names...

It just doesn't make a lot of sense, trading off these prospects like Russell and Robertson, unless there is a fatal flaw in either's makeup that will curtail them from reaching stardom, else they could have been young All-Star middle infielders for the A's from, like, 2016 to 2021.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Looks like the A's gave up a lot. Jaso is a good ballplayer, C and DH, lefty, decent hitter. But Robertson is their biggest prospect, only 20, a SS who can hit, their 2012 #1 pick. I'm glad the Giants didn't go there. I imagine the Rays wanted something out of the Panik/Susac/Crick fold and I'd just soon the Giants keep those guys.

Beane is a hard one to figure, that's for sure. But, his teams have a winning record so he must be doing something right. I've always liked him (but glad we have our guy instead!) but can't say I always "get it." I know A's fans are just as bewildered by many of his moves.