mickeef2

This guy pretty much hits the nail on the head. Barry should spare us all and go away now By Gene Wojciechowski ESPN.com So Barry Bonds is going to hang up his cleats and violin after this season, eh? Good for him. Good for us. Bonds told USA Today on Sunday that he will retire at season's end, which must be why the birds are chirping a little louder, the sun is shining a little brighter, and the beer on tap tastes a little colder. This is like the Wicked Witch of the West throwing a bucket of water on herself. Not since Reggie Jackson and the "magnificence of me" days has there been a player more tone deaf when it comes to understanding how tiresome his martyr act has become. Bonds could have had the baseball world giving him a mani and a pedi. Instead, his arrogance and three-act victim's play will be in the opening paragraphs of his eventual big league obituary. Bonds is seven home runs from surpassing Babe Ruth's 714 dingers and 48 from moving ahead of Hank Aaron's 755. Yet, his legacy is, and will be, as mixed as a can of Planters nuts. And much of it is Bonds' own doing. Listen to him: "I'm tired of all the crap going on," Bonds said. "I want to play this year out, hopefully win, and once the season is over, go home and be with my family. Maybe then everybody can just forget about me." And later: "I love the game of baseball itself, but I don't like what it's turned out to be. I'm not mad at anybody. It's just that right now I am not proud to be a baseball player." This is the hypocrisy of Bonds. No one is holding a Jugs Gun to his head and telling him to play in 2006. If he's so tired of it all, so desperate to be forgotten, so embarrassed to wear a big league uni, then retire now. And don't let the clubhouse door hit you on the way out. "But I can still hit," the seven-time National League MVP said. "I can rake. I can hit a baseball." He also can still whine, still pontificate, still act as if he'll be missed. He won't be. Bonds might not be beloved, which is no prerequisite for greatness, but his numbers produce jaw drops. He has eight 40-plus-home run seasons, including the record-breaking 73 homers in 2001. Along the way he has alienated fans, managers and teammates alike. He is crustier than a baked pie. But he can hit a baseball. You have to give him that. The problem is, the shadow of steroid allegations follow him around as if he's Punxatawney Phil. In this case, Bonds gets six more months, not six weeks, of questions about "did he," or "didn't he." "I'm clean, I've always been clean," Bonds told USA Today. Yes, absolutely clean, except for the times he unknowingly used two designer steroid substances obtained from his trainer, who just happened to get indicted in the BALCO scandal. All this according to federal grand jury transcripts. Bonds has said he wasn't aware the substances were steroids. Even if you believe Bonds -- and sorry, I don't -- he doesn't make it easy to root for him. If you're a San Francisco fan you root for his health (he lasted only 14 games in 2005), you root for that Haagen-Dazs-sweet swing of his, and you root for him to lead the Giants to the franchise's first World Series championship since 1954. But do you root for Bonds the person? You do if you buy his version of the truth, which, I suppose, is fair enough. There doesn't seem to be much in-between when it comes to Bonds. You're either for him or against him. Frankly, I'm just tired of him. He said he didn't want to play in the upcoming World Baseball Classic because of the condition of his knees. One knee is without cartilage, which means bone on bone. Totally legitimate reason to skip the WBC. But Bonds couldn't help himself. He trivialized the first-ever Classic, saying, "Come on, the World Cup isn't the Olympics. Who cares? Does it mean anything?" Not in BarryWorld, it doesn't. He said he didn't care about records. Maybe not, but his official Web site is full of Bonds-approved links to purchase photos, baseballs, caps, T-shirts and just about anything else related to his reaching the 700-home run mark in 2004. My favorite Barry on Barry quote was this one: "I think that's been my only downfall in all of this. I never let people know me. I just wanted to do my job and get the [expletive] out." Your loss, not ours, Barry. Of course, Bonds later backpedaled on his earlier comments, which figures. As for getting out, the sooner the better works for me.

Yeah, I meant to say that I'll eat my hat if he doesn't stick around long enough to break the record (he couldn't stand to walk away form all that attention), but I can't see him being around much longer after that. I can't believe Scioscia would ever put up with the Angels signing Bonds, and what other team would even want him? He wouldn't come back for a couple mil, and nobody would offer him anything more. He's not worth it. I know he's your boy and all, blu, but I really, really hope he doesn't break the record. He already basically passed Ruth, which is a travesty, but for him to pass Aaron would be criminal. It would be poetic justic if he completely broke down physically just short of the record.

Now that's a dude who loves his weed.

Some quotes from Barry: "The game [isn't] fun anymore. I'm tired of all of the crap going on." "I love the game of baseball itself, but I don't like what it's turned out to be." "Right now I am not proud to be a baseball player." I know this is hard to believe folks, but he's not talking about the scourge of steroids. He's actually talking about the media's treatment of him. :lol: :lol: :lol: Some more classic comedy quotes from Barry: "Thank you for all of your criticism. Thank you for dogging me." "I'm just not a skinny person, dude, I'm not. I never will be." "So what [are] they going to say now? Are they going to say, 'Wow, I guess it can't be steroids anymore because he didn't lose all that weight?' Or are they going to be mad that I'm fat. Come on, which one is it?" "I think that's been my only downfall in all of this. I never let people know me. I just wanted to do my job and get the [expletive] out. Don't get me wrong. I love Michael Jordan, and I respect Michael Jordan. But I never wanted all that attention." "I go to work like every other American."

By "stroke", you're obviously referring to the motion of his thumb pushing down on the hammer of a syringe filled with human growth hormone, correct?

Hey, I'm not saying you're wrong, and nobody knows what's really going to happen, but you kind of made my point for me. You don't have a dominant starter, and while Wang, Chacon, and Moose could all have great years, they could also fall apart and you wouldn't be surprised. It certainly ain't like going into the season with Clemens, Pettitte, a younger Moose, a younger Wells, etc.

That's not a problem. I just know that the squeaky wheels here usually get the grease- that is posters who like to dish out the insults, but whine to you guys when they don't like what comes back at them.

Yup, and that's what I came here to do. Just keep that in mind.

Obviously, you're referring to Shocker since he's the only one who "started a verbal fight" in this thread. Is that right?

Awww, did I hurt your feelings? You're disturbed? I'd say you've got a fixation with me then, bud. And where exactly are my other two posts about Ozzie Guillen's opinion of ARod?

Hmmm... Disagree with you on just about everything. Yeah, Wang may be the real deal, but look at the rest of the rotation. Question marks all around. Mussina's not getting younger, RJ looked very mortal last year (and though he did have a strong 2nd half, he blew the playoffs for them), Pavano's already hurting and Wright is Wright. Small figures to pitch out of the pen, from where he was much more hittable last year, and the rest of the pen, except for Mo, is nothing to write home about. They just signed Scott Erickson to a minor league deal. What does that tell you? As for Damon, I think he'll have a great year and you'll be happy with him. But they didn't improve defensively out there at all, and that was their big problem last year. Matsui's a clutz, Sheff is a shell of his former self defensively. The only thing I agree with you on is the clutch hitting. Jeter had an off year last year in this dept., but I think he'll bounce back. I think Giambi will be big in the clutch, too. But guys like ARod- that's his history, being small in the big spot.

Not a big Guillen fan, but at least he has the balls to call a spade a spade. Guillen calls A-Rod hypocrite in SI for WBC decision Another spring, another member of the Sox taking shots at Alex Rodriguez. This time, however, it isn't the Boston Red Sox; it's Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. Guillen, in an interview with Sports Illustrated, targeted A-Rod's much-publicized back and forth standing whether to play in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic or United States. "Alex was kissing Latino people's asses," Guillen, who's from Venezuela, said in the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated. "He knew he wasn't going to play for the Dominicans; he's not a Dominican!" Rodriguez, who has dual citizenship in the Dominican Republic and United States, decided to play for the American squad after once saying he wasn't going to play in the WBC because choosing a team was too difficult. Guillen apparently found his wishy-washy attitude to be disingenuous. "I hate hypocrites: He's full of [expletive]," Guillen told Sports Illustrated. "The Dominican team doesn't need his ass. It's the same with [Nomar] Garciaparra playing for Mexico. Garciaparra only knows Cancun because he went to visit."