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AP - Barry Bonds would boycott Cooperstown if the Hall of Fame displays his record-breaking home run ball with an asterisk.

That includes skipping his potential induction ceremony.

"I won't go. I won't be part of it," Bonds said in an interview with MSNBC that aired Thursday night. "You can call me, but I won't be there."

Yes, another Barry/steroids thread.
In my opinion, 90's-00's should just be labeled the steroid era in general, and be done with it.

I agree with Barry. Are they going to put an asterisk on all the other cheaters that are in the hall of fame?

Like who?

Like Hank Aaron.

LOL.

Knicks 316 wrote:Like who?

Gaylord Perry and Hank Aaron among others.

Nobody provides better "WTF are you talking about" quotes than Barry:

I don't think you can put an asterisk in the game of baseball, and I don't think that the Hall of Fame can accept an asterisk," Bonds said. "You cannot give people the freedom, the right to alter history. You can't do it. There's no such thing as an asterisk in baseball.

Part Jor-El, part Jimmy Dugan, 100% asinine. In other words: Vintage Barry!

Knicks 316 wrote:Like who?

IMO, none of those inducted in the last 30 years are without suspect. Steroids have been proven to be used regularly by some MLB players before that time and "greenies" even before that. Their use was common knowlege by team members but mostly kept from "outside" the clubhouse.

Bonds has made himself clear on this point. I believe him to be right on this. Interesting to see if the HOF would rather have his HR ball with the asteric or Barry Bonds the player, in their hall.

What a person does in their career, the stats they put up, the awards they won, how they rate against others at their position, should dictate who gets in the hall. A popularity contest should have no effect, especially when one's popuarity has been attacked and villified by a biased media intent on getting even for Barry's dislike and lack of trust in them.

No one is saying that his plaque is going to have an asterisk on it. His record setting HR ball is/will be(?) branded with one because of the internet voting. The HOF obviously is going to want the record setting ball for display purposes. If they have the jersey worn by Jason Varitek because of the WS victory up for awhile, they are going to want the HR kings ball. I doubt it stays permanently because once he hits his final HR, that would be the one to go up. But that's what Barry's pissing and moaning about. I say piss off Barry. Maybe if you tried to make nice with the public more, you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. mahalo
~Chach~

Chach wrote: I say piss off Barry. Maybe if you tried to make nice with the public more, you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. mahalo
~Chach~

I don't think you know what your talking about or would even say that if he had been on your favorite team. Sounds like the media Bonds your refering to. The real Bonds always tried his best to put on a show in visiting parks. Even under the most unusual heckling this past year, he visited well with the home team players, and seldom took cheap shots at their park, players, or fans. Under the circumstances, a class act.

At home, well, standing, roaring ovations are earned...enough said.

Trying to make nice. Over and over he tried, the media would mis-quote and screw him, every time. He tired of it, told them to stay away, and i don't blame him.

backer55 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



I don't think you know what your talking about or would even say that if he had been on your favorite team. Sounds like the media Bonds your refering to. The real Bonds always tried his best to put on a show in visiting parks. Even under the most unusual heckling this past year, he visited well with the home team players, and seldom took cheap shots at their park, players, or fans. Under the circumstances, a class act.

At home, well, standing, roaring ovations are earned...enough said.

Trying to make nice. Over and over he tried, the media would mis-quote and screw him, every time. He tired of it, told them to stay away, and i don't blame him.

No sh_t hes talking about the media Bonds. Bonds has always been cold towards the media & guess what, they are the ones who shape public opinion. They also are the ones who vote for the HOF. Good luck getting in on your first try, Baroid.

VinnyTheMick wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



No sh_t hes talking about the media Bonds. Bonds has always been cold towards the media & guess what, they are the ones who shape public opinion. They also are the ones who vote for the HOF. Good luck getting in on your first try, Baroid.

It would be absolutely absurd - and quite petty of the BBWAA - if Barry Bonds doesn't get in on the first ballot.

Which probably means it will happen, sadly.

backer55 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I don't think you know what your talking about or would even say that if he had been on your favorite team. Sounds like the media Bonds your refering to. The real Bonds always tried his best to put on a show in visiting parks. Even under the most unusual heckling this past year, he visited well with the home team players, and seldom took cheap shots at their park, players, or fans. Under the circumstances, a class act.

At home, well, standing, roaring ovations are earned...enough said.

Trying to make nice. Over and over he tried, the media would mis-quote and screw him, every time. He tired of it, told them to stay away, and i don't blame him.

VinnyTheMick wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
No sh_t hes talking about the media Bonds. Bonds has always been cold towards the media & guess what, they are the ones who shape public opinion. They also are the ones who vote for the HOF. Good luck getting in on your first try, Baroid.

It's called playing the game. There are a lot of little things that Bonds could have done to endear himself to the press and the public more. You're right, if I were a Giants fan I would feel a lot different about Bonds. And that's the problem, the only people who loves Bonds are Giants fans. Everyone loved Sosa, everyone loved McGwire. It's not the steroids that has caused this hatred for Bonds; the steroids are a cop out and an easy reason to hate him. Bonds has just done a very poor job presenting himself as a wonderful human being to the general baseball public. Peter Gammons, the man who once proclaimed that Ugie Urbina was a wonderful but troubled individual after his mother passed (and, has since been found guilty of attempted murder) has been continually frustrated by Bonds. He says Bonds can come off as intelligent, funny, charming, and a generally nice guy. And other times he comes off as an arrogant ****. If only he puts forth a bit more effort to be the former, there would be no asterisk and there might not even be a Mitchell Report. mahalo
~Chach~

Chach wrote:-= original quote snipped =-


You're right, if I were a Giants fan I would feel a lot different about Bonds. And that's the problem, the only people who loves Bonds are Giants fans. Bonds has just done a very poor job presenting himself as a wonderful human being to the general baseball public.
~Chach~

Chach, i respect your opinion. You express it very well and are obviously well informed. I do however, disagree with you stance on this guy. Bonds doesn't present himself and doesn't like to present himself. For as many years as i've been a fan of his, he has been lied about and blasted by the media. He has been the story many wanted headlines about and the press gave them, true, not quite true, or, out in out lies.

He is not the only one who chooses not to talk or give interviews, right? As far as i know, Jeff Kent is the only teamate that has had a problem with Bonds and Kent is a self centered A-hole. The guy wants to have fun, play ball, win it all, go home to his family, and be left alone but the media hound's him like no other.

Also, this past year, i watched near every game that Bonds played in. About half were away where there were many fans in the stands clapping and cheering for him. Yes, in most road games, there were more boo's than cheers, still, there were many cheering so your statement that he is "only loved [or liked] by Giants fans" is just not true. Many have disgarded the negative media reports and have fairly judged him by what he brings to the GAME... and bring it, he does.

.

I would probably consider myself a Bonds fan because I've done exactly what say, I value him for what he brings to the field rather than his demeanor and personality. I guess I've had learned to do that being suck with Manny for seven years. And I do agree that there is a sizable portion of the baseball fandom who respects Bonds abilities. But there is a considerably larger portion that hates him. Now part of that is simply haters hating, nothing Bonds can do about that. But the media has influenced people's opinions of Bonds , fairly or unfairly, and he is paying for that now. He has dug his own grave on a few occasions, like saying he would never play in Boston because it was a racist city. Boston has had a racially insensitive past but considering it's biggest star if David Ortiz and it's two new favorite sons are Randy Moss and Kevin Garnett, I would say that breaking out the race card in this day and age is just silly. So when Bonds does stuff like that he is not endearing himself to neutral fans. He would have received a lot more cheers when he came to Fenway had he not made that comment.

Then you have a situation like the taking up three lockers or whatever that was. I obviously won't pretend to know a lot of the story and situation. Was it temporary, did his teammates care, was it real? This is evidence of the media bringing something into the national spotlight that really shouldn't matter but will influence the average fan's perspective. It's unfortunate but ther has to have been some measure of media kissassery that he could have taken to prevent this sort of silliness from happening.

The only thing I hate about Bonds is that prior to his use of performance enhancing drugs, he was probably one of the best players in history. I know, I know he has never tested positive, in American you are innocent until proven guilty. Well I am not Chief Justice Roberts and this is not the Supreme Court, there is enough circumstantial evidence and illegally leaked grand jury testimony to show that he did use PED, knowingly or unknowingly. If he were just content with being one of the best of all time and not becoming THE best of all time, his reputation would be a lot more sparkingly and he would have gone into the HOF, first ballot with one of the highest percentage ever. It's just disappointing that his lust for improvement has gone on to ruin his reputation and make his life that much more difficult. mahalo
~Chach~

Chach wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



It's called playing the game. There are a lot of little things that Bonds could have done to endear himself to the press and the public more. You're right, if I were a Giants fan I would feel a lot different about Bonds. And that's the problem, the only people who loves Bonds are Giants fans. Everyone loved Sosa, everyone loved McGwire. It's not the steroids that has caused this hatred for Bonds; the steroids are a cop out and an easy reason to hate him. Bonds has just done a very poor job presenting himself as a wonderful human being to the general baseball public. Peter Gammons, the man who once proclaimed that Ugie Urbina was a wonderful but troubled individual after his mother passed (and, has since been found guilty of attempted murder) has been continually frustrated by Bonds. He says Bonds can come off as intelligent, funny, charming, and a generally nice guy. And other times he comes off as an arrogant ****. If only he puts forth a bit more effort to be the former, there would be no asterisk and there might not even be a Mitchell Report. mahalo
~Chach~

I hate McGwire. Always have, even before the nandrolone thing. I mean, I hated him even more after that, but I always hated him.

Edit: Actually, I don't think I hold the legal steroid thing against him. I've pretty much accepted that at least half of ball players have been on something, which is why I don't particularly hold it against Bonds, so I can't really hold it against McGwire.

Edit again: I need to be clear, I still hate McGwire.

As does my mother. So everyone but my mom and ME loved McGwire.

My point was during that HR chase, everyone was loving baseball again. Maybe Bonds run was too soon and people didn't care, I don't know. But overall, fans around baseball loved that chase and the two guys in the center were lovable guys. Bonds has never come across like that and I think it might have cost him in the long run. mahalo
~Chach~

Chach, is your mind so set in stone that you won't take reason from someone that knows, that has made his last 10 years his business to know, about Barry Bonds. You say Bonds doesn't come across as this or that. Where are you getting your info? I don't kiss butt, Bonds doesn't, and i don't know if you would or not. When someone does you wrong...pound salt buddy, and take a hike!

You stated a couple examples of Bonds things that might be considered odd. How about a pitcher with ties to steroids, that only plays half a year and then doesn't have to go on away games if he's not pitching? Oh, he must come across as a nice guy, let's not talk about him.

I'm not even gonna go into Bonds trainer's actions, Anderson. I will say that i think Anderson screwed Barry over big time. He feels guilty about it, that why he has done the jail time. He doesn't want to do or say anything more that may hurt Bonds. This is all very possible, even likely, yet you and others have already condemmed Bonds and labeled him. It's in the news right? must be true. Shame on me if i'm wrong. What if i'm right?

I'm not brilliant, i don't spell so good and i type with one finger, but i know baseball. Barry Bonds is one hella good player, a great teammate, and comes ready to play everyday. That is all i'm concerned with and the rest of baseball fans who consider themselves knowlegable should be concerned with. The rest of the crap force fed by the media is for haters and idiots.

I think we are discussing two separate things. I am not saying Barry isn't a hard worker or a bad teammate or a bad person. I have never met him and I personally try not to judge people until I do so. What I am talking about is the PERCEPTION of Barry in the general public. Barry in reality and the perception of Barry are two separate things. Not all of us get to follow Barry daily or watch Giants games or know him personally. What people like myself, who live on the East Coast, have to go on is media reports, feature stories, and sound bites. This is the part I spoke about "playing the game". Like I mentioned in my first post, Peter Gammons has said before that Bonds is very perplexing because he's got that Jeckle/Hyde thing going. When you get that sort of "endorsement" from Gammons, that has to make you scratch your head.

It's not a matter of kissing ass, it's playing nice. If a reporter did him wrong, I don't blame him for ignoring the guy or being cold to him. But it's not ONE reporter, it's the entire journalistic community. What choice does the general public have but to believe everything they are fed? I'm a 22 year old, fresh out of college. I've got plenty of free time to read things online and think for myself. Not everyone has that luxury. So as unfortunate as it may seem, the media as a whole has it out for Barry now. All I'm contending is if he played nice from the start, a lot of this garbage could have been avoided.

By the way, I'm from Boston so everyone around here thinks that pitcher you mentioned is an ****, so no, not everyone thinks he's a nice guy . mahalo
~Chach~