04/19/24
August 23, 2003
Bobby Bonds, a legendary "30-30 player" better known today as a dad, has died at age 57. The already updated Wikipedia points out one of his noteworthy achievements: Bobby was baseball's first 300 home run, 400 stolen base player (and Barry was the second).
For the writers who love to bash Bonds at every opportunity (like Rick Reilly), this is the worst thing that could happen. When Bonds takes time off to grieve, they can't slag him for that. If he performs even an iota below his superman level, they can't slag him for that. If he doesn't feel like talking to the media (again), they can't slag him for that. Short of Bonds picking up a writer and breaking him in two over his knee, the writers are going to have to stew in their own juices and save their mindless bile until next season. Otherwise, they come off as cruel and heartless. That said, I'm sure there will be at least one writer (probably for a small paper or internet site) that will write an article that describes this fact in detail and then proceed to say "Screw that. Barry Bonds sucks!" and think he's some sort of "rebel". Interesting note from the wikipedia section: "[Bobby] Bonds' brother Robert played in the National Football League and his sister Rosie was an Olympic sprinter. " That is some fine genetic material that Barry has inherited.
posted by grum@work at 06:02 PM on August 23, 2003
Short of Bonds picking up a writer and breaking him in two over his knee This would be fun to watch as long as it isn't wfrazier! But Bobby was a real guy, right up until the end, even attending Wednesday's game at PB.
posted by billsaysthis at 07:52 PM on August 23, 2003
My heart goes out to Barry. I hope that people will start to appreciate him a little more. I've always thought it was a shame that people haven't given him more credit. The press jumped all over him comparing himself so Ruth but his accomplishments speak for themselves. And remember, his dad was the first member of the 300/400 club and his godfather was Willie Mays. Barry has always had tremendous expectations to live up to. And he's done it. This article is a good start. To me, Barry has always been to baseball what Jordan was to basketball ... our generations greatest player and arguably the greatest of all time.
posted by Mike McD at 11:59 AM on August 24, 2003
Mike McD...such hyperbole. (Hey, that rhymes.) Barry compared to Jordan; no way. They both are/were out of this world performers, but neither Barry nor MLB comes close to Jordan's impact. The NBA was probably the #1 team sport in the 1990's because of Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
posted by cg1001a at 05:56 PM on August 24, 2003
The NBA was probably the #1 team sport in the 1990's because of Jordan, the Chicago Bulls, Nike/Reebok and a shit load of advertising. Bonds SHOULD have had the same media impact as Jordan, but MLB has the worst crew of morons running the teams and league in collective sports history. Any time the league commissioner complains loudly about how bad things are in the game (for about 8 years straight)...
posted by grum@work at 07:00 AM on August 25, 2003
As an aside - I think baseball is one of the toughest sports to pick a 'greatest all-time' player from. Barry is near the top though. Better to pick an all-time lineup and team. Barry would hit 4th behind Ruth and in front of Gehrig. Clean-up on the all-time team. That's special enough.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 11:35 AM on August 25, 2003
My condolences at the Bond family's loss, but their loss has nothing to do with the arrogance of Barry. Barry is an amazing player, but unfortunately, in the long run he will be known for his arrogance and stupid comments. A shame.
posted by scully at 12:50 PM on August 25, 2003
Bonds hasn't gotten a lot of help from up top. Doesn't change the fact that he's a prick.
posted by wfrazerjr at 02:41 PM on August 25, 2003
That sucks. I hope that even the Barry haters give him a break and maybe even appreciate the fact that he's been out there dominating even despite the difficult process of seeing his father slowly fade away. They seemed to have a closer bond than a lot of father-son combos, certainly closer than me with mine. Interesting that he was apparently only 18 when Barry was born.