Put PEDs in the past
On Marty Lurie’s radio talk show on KNBR 680, another issue about Barry Bonds came into view, this time whether or not he should be welcomed back in the Giants organization as a coach. There is no doubt if Mr. Bonds wanted a coaching spot schooling up the Giants hitters, he would be overqualified for the job.
Whether or not Bonds wants, or should want, a place in the organization which gave him the pedestal to become one of the greatest players in the history of the game is a completely different issue. But I’m here to tell you if he did, the team in the city by the bay should welcome him back with open arms.
Who knows if Bonds even has the itch to get back in the game he played so stunningly, but the league has seen admitted steroid user Mark McGwire welcomed back as a hitting coach by the St. Louis Cardinals and now he holds the same position for the Los Angeles Dodgers, so there is precedent.
The MLB has also let Alex Rodriguez continue to get at-bats for the New York Yankees after serving a yearlong suspension last season.
McGwire apologized and A-Rod got caught, but any way you slice it, they are back in the game.
However, not everyone believes it is the right thing to do to let Bonds back in the league. Keith Olbermann, an ESPN anchor who is always in the news for his controversial opinions, had this to offer about Bonds becoming a coach according to nbcsports.com.
“You cheated the game. You dishonored the game. The game has been better off with you forgotten, with you in the wilderness, with your statistics as meaningful as video game numbers,” he said. “Barry Bonds is a liar, a cheat, a shame to this sport, and to all sports and to this country.”
These comments came in his show after Bonds was brought on as a hitting consultant of sorts in this year’s Spring Training in Scottsdale, AZ. For one, it is just Spring Training. I understand Olbermann has a huge background of baseball knowledge, but he lets his emotions run wild when he does his show, which will always be the reason why I will not completely agree with him.
This is one of the topics in baseball in which I do not agree with Keith Olbermann, who I respect as a great baseball mind and news-person. Everyone deserves a second chance when it comes to the issue of PED’s. It does not necessarily mean the player should ever be in the Hall of Fame, but as far as not letting a PED user be a coach in the MLB, well I think that is just plain childish.
Steroids or not, anyone who knows the game would know that Barry Bonds would make for a great hitting coach. The guy has every record in the books and a baseball family/background you would not even believe. If you played in the big leagues, and your dad is Bobby Bonds and your Godfather is Willie Mays, I think that automatically qualifies you for a spot on an MLB team as a coach, let alone if you are Barry Bonds.
The thing that will always go against Bonds is the media. In all the interviews I’ve ever seen him give, whether it was during his playing career or after, he has not come off as a particularly likeable person to the public eye. You cannot blame the guy, though, after all him and his family have gone through in court trying to clear his name.
As long as Barry stays away from the league, and the San Francisco Giants organization, Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens’s job is safe. But based on Brian Sabean’s history of bringing veterans to his ball club and former Giants players in to coach from time to time, I would say if Bonds wants it, Sabean will think long and hard about bringing him back even if Meulens is doing a good job.
jack
May 10, 2015 at 10:11 am
you’re kidding right. who your daddy is and “godfather” is should not guarantee anyone a job anywhere, so I have a problem with your thinking to start with. You should earn a job based on who you are . you’re thing about him owning every record in the books is fawning bombast. He holds 2 records. HR’s and walks. His results once drug testing got serious show exactly what the steroids were doing for him. He became a slightly above average once the drugs were gone. His ego couldn’t handle it. Arod is still playing, Giambi played through it. Bonds has never come clean or even rinsed off. All he proved was he could do more drugs than anybody else and let his money do his talking when the shit hit the fan. Keith is dead on. I don’t hear a drumbeat of respected names calling for Bonds to be back in the game as was the case for Big Mac and Giambi. He proved, like Sammy Sosa, that he couldn’t do it without the drugs. He played in 1 world series in his life, and lost. No rings. The most selfish player I ever saw, and I’m 65. In fact, he’s let one of the most self centered lives I’ve ever witnessed. He’s a poor excuse for a human being and the game is FAR better off without him.
I was just looking at the baseball reference site where they list bonds as 6’1″ and 185. I rolled around laughing for awhile. I saw McGuire in Oakland, He was a big guy to start with and NOT bulked up like Cansaco. His weight on his rookie cards is listed as 215. Let me do the math. Bonds was 35 pounds lighter than Mac as a rookie. Mack hit 49 home runs as a rooking. Bonds didn’t hit 40 until his 8th year. In his first six years McGwire hit 217 HR’s. Bonds hit. 142. And btw, McGwire played in the world series in each of his first three years.
Point’s? Mac was huge to begin with, Bonds was not. McGuire was a power hitter from day one, Bonds was not. Not kidding, even bonds HEAD got bigger.
In his career Mack hit a HR every 13.2 times at bat. Bonds hit one every 16.5 trips, Why? Because he didn’t have the power until he did the drugs. Mac had power from day one.
You want to excuse Bonds being a prick because of what he’s gone through to clear his name? First off, his name is not clearable. Clearing ones names is proving you didn’t do the things people say he did, and since he actually did them, proving he didn’t is a stretch, and to be clear, would be wrong. Secondly, which of the other big name guys became a prick after being found out? Bonds has always been an arrogant prick who’s numbers have been more important than the game. Players have to trust coaches. Bonds does not inspire trust. Being a prick matters. Bonds alienated players his whole career. Now, the chickens have come home to roost.
Bonds and Sosa were the big offenders proven by the fact they didn’t have that power before the drugs and couldn’t play well once they were gone. Sosa has gone away, I hope for Bonds to do the same.