Barry Bonds is one of the nicest guys in baseball. He never gets in trouble off the field.. for anything. He always takes a few minutes to talk to a fan.
Seems like someone from this BBS has a story of them heckling him and him coming out with signed baseballs and stuff. I think he's definitely standoff-ish with the media and probably teammates, but he's never had problems with fans that I can recall.
Actually, when it comes to the media, I don't think Barry is far off the mark. If he was talking about the team, then its a stupid statement, but the media already gets on Barry's case because of his separate television and recliner in his locker, so I don't think they would give him fair treatment if he had a Roger Clemens set-up, and I think part of that would have to do with race but it would mostly have to do with his relationship with the media.
I totally agree with you Major ... Everyone has things in their life that they want and don't get regardless of color. Most major league pitchers would LOVE to be able to skip road trips if they were not pitching black, white, green, yellow, or brown. For Barry Bonds to say that he could not do that because he is black is just r****ded. Name any position player that is going to get a deal like that. When Barry Bonds paints himself as a victim like this, other minorities should be outraged. This statement is easy for people to brush off because it's so stupid, but when claims like this are made it is a slap in the face to people that face real discrimination.
It is an outrageous statement, sure. However, do you not agree that Barry Bonds would get more heat from the media and fans if he was playing under similar guidelines as Clemens? Hell, look at all the flack he got for his locker space, which, to me is not as important as skipping entire road trips with your team. Of course, it has nothing to do with race rather than a media bias against Bonds.
Of course, it has nothing to do with race rather than a media bias against Bonds. But that is self-created. If he's an ass to the media, he shouldn't be surprised that they portray him as an ass.
Partly his fault. I don't think it's fair to criticize him for something that you might not criticize someone else for. Do you think the media would give him a free pass if he wanted to stay at home during road trips or had some other relatively unprecedented request like that (I know it's different with Clemens being a pitcher and all, but I don't think the media would be any different if Bonds would make that request as a pitcher). However, I'm not going to judge the man based on how he acts with the media though. I've heard plenty of stories about him about his interactions with fans that portrays him in a completely different light than a biased media has.
Could Barry Bonds get away with what Clemens is? Not a chance. But whether that's because of our collective racism or his dickheadedness, I have no idea.
Many in the media take particular glee in highlighting the more stupid things Barry says. But then, they love a stupid quote from pretty much anybody. (Remember John Rocker?). And Barry has a habit of dishing them out. And, I've no doubt their portrayal of him is biased by his treatment of them. Says a lot about the writers, doesn't it? However, his comment above was just pure bunk. Really...to suggest skin colour has more to do with his negative image than his persona is nonsense. Barry being kept down by the 'man' who just can't bear to see a black man succeed? Rubbish. Racism’s far from dead. But Barry Bonds is not its poster child.
I think the Clemens deal is unique. He is doing it to spend time with his family after coming out of "retirement". We were begging him to play. Houston likes him and doesn't care. If he was sucking right now it might be a different story. The public doesn't care so much becasue he is older, and paid his dues. Drexler or Olajuwon could of pulled something off similar if they really wanted (or MJ), and I think they are black.
is the statement even true? For some reason I was thinking Roger turned down not going to road games he isnt pitching in?
And, I've no doubt their portrayal of him is biased by his treatment of them. Says a lot about the writers, doesn't it? Does it, though? I mean, they are going to portray him the way they see him - that's what all of us do. If there's this other nice-guy side of Bonds, but the media never sees it, how could they portray him that way? They can only report on what they see - and if they see an ass, they'll report on him as an ass. And then future comments/statements/requests will be viewed through that prism. If Barry made this request to stay home at certain times, it would probably be viewed as him being aloof or too-good-for-the-team because he has a history of being aloof (his own recliner, separate hotel rooms, etc). This again is how we all look at people. If John Rocker makes a sketchy/borderline-racist statement, we're for more likely to take it as racist than if someone with no history of that type of thing does the same.
he missed the road trip to milwaukee but when his son pitched for the district championship a couple of fridays back...he missed it...to make his own start. it's largely overblown.
madmax.. im hoping he isnt allowed to miss actual starts.. just games when he isnt starting. He seems like someone who once we get into the summer he wont even skip road trips that he isnt playing in.. I dont' really care if he misses games he doesnt play in.. not a huge reason for him to be there.. heck i remember bullpen guys talking about how they themselves sometimes don't even come into the bullpen to watch the game until the game so he isn't the only one not seeing every pitch
i dont' think you have to worry. this guy is as fierce a competitor as there is...and he's feeding off the positive energy right now here in his hometown.
