Where’s Barry?
I was expecting to see him today with all the other MVP’s. I was going “conspiracy theory” until I read that the Giants had invited him and he never RSVP’d. Why no RSVP? That suggests ANOTHER conspiracy theory. 🙂
After Barry retired, the SF Chronicle published a Letters to the Editor section that had (from my memory) like 18 Bonds letters posted and 15 of them were anti-Bonds. As a long time subscriber, I canceled my subscription the next day. After the Chronicle made 15 years worth of sales off their stories of this dude, it pissed me off that they ran almost all negative letters against him. And I know SF Giants fans and they aren’t 15-3 against the best hitter they ever had. And I haven’t bought a single Chronicle since I canceled my subscription. Though it still has me doing a slow burn that they logged all those sfgate hits I gave them when I blogged at the Splash. Whatever, that place is dead to me.
He’s been seen at the ballpark several times times over the last couple of years. At least a couple of times that I remember. Today was a perfect day for him to come back. He didn’t RSVP? It’s not making any more sense the more I type…..
True Giants fans love Barry Bonds for obvious reasons. He will be celebrated for as long as flags fly at AT&T. And I have to believe he’s not so consumed with biking around California that he couldn’t find the time to RSVP to today’s event.
But what do I know, he’s pretty lean and focused these days.
🙂 🙂 🙂
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
And I learned how to read by my dad shoving the Sporting Green in my face as a kid. It was still an easy cancel after the hatchet job they ran on Bonds.
I always thought listening to Bonds, even if it was just around the batting cage, would be pretty beneficial to any hitter, esp so if you were young and hit left. I also think the competitive spirit he has would be inspirational too.
If St. Louis could “bury the hatchet” with a known cheater and apparently true dip-shit like McGwire, then the Giants should be able to figure it out with Bonds. I remember someone commenting to me once, “how could you cheer for that guy? What a cheater.” Nevermind all of the responses I could’ve given about “yeah, and how do you know who else is or is not cheating?”, etc. Instead, I just told him, I don’t care. I was blessed in a baseball sort of way to personally see many Bonds homeruns, and they were most often beautiful to behold. Yes, too bad he wasn’t there yesterday…
Barry – Barry, even from the Pirates’ days
my heart beats Barry
https://www.facebook.com/BarryBondsInTheHof
Like most people, many Giants’ fans have mixed feelings about Barry. I’m as “true” as any fan, and my feelings are certainly mixed. I have no problem with this so called “cheating” as to PEDs, he did as athletes have done since some dude figgered out that a bigger rock did bigger damage than a little one…he looked for an edge. But he cheated in a real way in his later years- he cheated the team and the fans by not giving his best effort all the time. I have no idea of the real reason he wasn’t here for any of the festivities, maybe he didn’t want his presence to over shadow the other events- and I can see that as a reason for his absence. But I don’t know. Another possibilty that the “invitation” wasn’t sincere, what did it say? With two of our players suspended in the last year, the brass may not have really wanted him him here..”You’re welcome, Barry, but….”
All of this is speculation, of course. With the admission of my mixed feelings. mostly my feelings are respect for the greatness of Bonds the ballplayer and sadness that what has transpired, some of it of his own doing, will forever tarnish his accomplishments and his reputation. Like others have said, he has a lot to offer the game and the Giants’ organization- whatever his failings, they are failings of a mortal, of a man with imperfections, that played out on a bigger stage than what we fellow imperfect mortals encounter. I fear it will never happen, but I hope he will be welcomed back into the fold as so many of the other Giants’ greats and not so greats have. We’ve all heard him talk hitting and unlike many great hitters, he is a true student of the art, he would be a real asset to the organixation as the hitting guru of the whole system, IMO…
I wonder how much he really wants to come back to the game. He seems pretty focused on his bike riding and who knows what else. A lot of these guys seem to need the game more than the game needs them but there have to be players who walk away and that’s that; on to the next chapter in their life.
I could see him coming back for the random days like yesterday, just to hear the crowd cheer for him again. But riding the pine as a bench coach? It doesn’t seem, to me anyway, to be the way he rolls……
I meant his position as more of a roving instructor, which would fit better for him, IMO. But I think management is too frightened by the perception of him as the poster boy of the Steroid Era to consider welcoming him back in any official or permanent capacity.
The organization has stiffed Chili Davis as well.So its not just Barry.
Chili being hitting coach for the A’s kinda pisses me off. Not at him, just the idea of it. Not a well known fact, but Chili is in the top 5 or 6 all time HRs for switch hitters. KNBR went over that yesterday with Marty Lurie. I had no idea…
Barry has his own beat. Sharing attention with others is not in the works. Bank on it. Anyway I Iiked Bonds and paid to see him at the Stick and later at ATT.
Hey, where was the rep for Carl Hubbell?
Looking at MVP history, I was surprised to see that Mel Ott never won one. Check out 1929: Ott went 42-151-.329 — and lost to Rogers Hornsby, who went 39-149-.380 and was on the pennant-winning Cubs (this really was a long time ago). Or 1934: Ott led NL with 35-135 and hit .326, but lost to Dizzy Dean (30-7, .266), who was on WS-winning Cards. In ’36, Ott lost out to Hubbell. And in ’38, Ott went 36-116-.311, but lost to Ernie Lombardi (19-95, NL-best .342) of the 4th-place Reds.
I am surely in the minority here by declaring that I count myself a “true Giants fan,” to use your term, Magnus, but I don’t know that I have ever *loved* Barry Bonds. Admired, respected, was thrilled by — all of that. But I just never warmed to him, aside from and before any talk of steroids, etc. For that matter, I probably *loved* his dad more, back when he thrived for the Giants. (I think I was at Bobby Bonds’s first games, at Shea.) There, I’ve said it. And I am free of guilt. It’s how I feel. That’s my fan experience. Ban me if you must, o faithful legions.
the Ban is rollin on, all over Kokonut
I think I love Barry just out of sheer conditioning. The number of times that dude sent me springing out of my seat screaming “fuck yeah!!!” with one of his no doubt laser beams is just something that will always be with me. Even watching him play all the time, I was in awe of Bonds. I can’t think of another athlete who was as jaw dropping or unique. And I think it was more powerful for the Giants fans who watched so many of his games live. It’s different if you’re reading a box score or watching a replay on sports center. The number of times he would come through, they’re just too many to ever count–and after a while, I found myself loving Barry Bonds in a very non-gay way. There. I said it.
I feel like a big pussy but I am really excited, almost giddy, to see this ring ceremony. And I can’t wait to put a pic of the ring next to the one Lincecum is wearing. Word is that Bee-Wheezy was invited. I get the feeling he’s not wanting to be around Sabean right now but it would be fantastic if he showed up…..
I am awaiting the Flapper who confesses his gay love for Barry. I think the blog world is ready for this kind of progress.
I’ll go as far as owning an “Air Supply” album once.
“I’m all-out of love I can’t live with out you.(insert gay Smiley face)
Well, the ‘roids kinda made him, uh, not, uh, you know, not as big in the gay community, We, er, I mean, THEY… well,never mind..where’s the chicks? Bring ’em on…
Henry posts that “Aubrey Huff will be here to get his ring. We’ve heard Brian Wilson, Ryan Theriot and Guillermo Mota will not be.”
Wilson never even responded to the invite so I guess we know where he’s at these days with his feelings about Sabean
Maybe Bonds didn’t want to be part of yesterday’s MVP thing because his presence would have taken away from the focus on Posey. I’ll go with that…
That’s one of my several theories. Always try to maximize my chances of being right…you didn’t have the number 4 plate at Sadie’s did you? I forgot to warn you.
Not to be be on a negative roll — at precisely the wrong time for it, i.e. ringtime — but not RSVPing is rude, and that rudeness — from anyone — bothers me.
Thanks a lot. You just reminded me I forgot to RSVP a friend of a friend’s daughter’s extortion,uh, I mean Graduation ceremony..
Found it! Watching the ring ceremony! Hall of Famers! YAY!!!
Murph!
Seeing the HOFers in the twilight of their lives is always very moving for me. It’s not a sad feeling, but one that brings back torrents of wonderful memories- not really of these particular men but of the many that I watched in their youth, and mine. What to say? I love this game.
Bummer, Cain will not be a 100% DOMer this year.
And I thought Dickey was bad today.
9 UNEARNED RUNS! WTF?
They are all earned.
I needed something to cheer me up
CAIN matches his “most runs in a game” in that inning. WOW
this sucks. no cy for cainer this year.
I would have traded the experience of watching the ring ceremony for a win today. Time to start contemplating the happy hour cocktail. Maybe this one:
Velvet Jacket
2 1/4 oz St. George Single Malt Whiskey
1/3 oz Creole Shrubb
1/3 oz Velvet Falernum
heavy dash Angostura Bitters
spray Talisker 10 Year
orange peel
Stir first four ingredients with ice, then strain into a martini glass. Spray surface of cocktail with a mist of Talisker. Flame the orange peel so that caramelized orange oil coats surface of the cocktail. Garnish with peel, then stop, drop, and roll!
Really not good to see Belt hacking. Combined with the bad luck, he is getting off to the terrible start that I dreaded. I’m weary of defending players like him. It is a heavy responsibility and it takes a psychological toll. Maybe it’ll be 2 drinks tonight.
Didn’t Fred Lewis prepare you for such a burden?
Yep, it doesn’t get any more challenging than Fred – thanks for that, MacDog. I’ll find the strength somewhere . . . .
Laying an egg today wasn’t a huge surprise. The focus was on the ring and the ceremony was probably a distraction, it’s probably hard to re-focus on the game. Luckily, all this stuff is now done and they can focus 100% on this season.
You forgot about “Loss of BBOTD day” at AT&T park later this week
I have the faintest memory that there was one among us who questioned Angel’s defensive abilities last year. . .
Shit almighty the amount of bling and diamonds in those bad boy rings would throw- off any player today.
Ace those cool gold jerseys as well.Love em but 0-1 ain’t cutting it.
I popped pics of both rings into the right side of the blog. I’ll upload a better one as I find it on the internet.
Well, Belt survived the dreaded “Bochy 10 AB Trial Period “. I guess he didn’t sass Bam-Bam this year.
Well, I’ll take small comfort in knowing EVERY *** pitcher has days like this — maybe not 9-run-inning days, but bad days. And remember; after MadBum’s historically dreadful outing (2010? 2011?), he was terrific after that. *** I was in Cincy in the Seventies when Carlton faced Seaver. Seaver got creamed. Drunken Pawlie was stupid enough to exalt about this in front of the good-ol’-boy hometown crowd.
If you look around the league there were actually a lot of them just today, including Dickey, Verlander, Weaver, price, strasberg and Hamels. And King Felix got beat last night.
At first glance, in my view, the 2010 ring is more stylish because it is simpler and less gaudy. But who cares. It is a freaking World Series ring. Let’s have more.
The idea of wearing either of them in public is kinda funny. They are both hideous. But, yes, one or two more in the next few years is what we demand!
I think it was the lady that did Miss Manners that said wearing a gaudy WS ring was OK. Something about an achievement. But I agree with Pawlie, I like the 2010 one better.
I just got back from being in Connecticut. I’m not a big Sports Talk guy but while on the NJ Turnpike two guys from Philly, Tony and Nick, cracked me up. They were talking about Cliff Lee, and I’m not sure if I can get it completely right but the talk went something like this; “What’s up with Cliff Lee”, “Yeah he only got his fastball up to 92”. “You’re right Tony, the tweets from the Beat writers was amazing, they just tweeted, 90”. “Is something wrong with the guy,? I don’t know”, “you don’t know, Charlie Manual don’t know and I don’t know”. “So do you think somethings wrong?” “I don’t know, so why doesn’t everyone just say, I don’t know?”. “I don’t know”.
It was amazing, anytime Timmy pitches I’m just going to say “I don’t know”. I haven’t gone through the four days of posts yet, kinda burnt toast on this end. So…
I don’t know.
Maybe they have it all wrong- they should be trying to get it down to Zito level.
” Uh-oh, Timmy was 84 in the first, he’s up to 91 now. He’ll need to adjust that arm slot to get his velocity back down…”
Thanks, Bozo, you’ve called out the danger of applying my trash aesthetic too narrowly.
What’s the over/under on how many rings show up on “Pawn Stars” someday? I’m going with the over on 2 1/2.
Wotus ( goes off the deep end after serving his 45th year as bench coach ), Belt ( snaps when 2,024 unmatched socks are discovered in his swing hole), Zito- loses everything after “Tuna Squeezer, Inc.” stock goes “belly” up…
RIP Les Blank, for the NOLA-philes.
Loved “Garic is as Good As Ten Mothers”. The theater had garlic frying and the whole joint smelled heavenly. I almost passed out..
Thank You James, he was a hell of a guy. Great work and his son is doing some fun stuff as well (Art car stuff).
Actually, only the starters got the ring we see. The reserves, coaches, and even the HOFers got the Sterlington Collection Diamond-Z4. Even jewelers have a difficult time distinguishing the Z4 from a mined diamond. As we all know similar rings can sell for thousands of dollars, but Baer was able to negotiate an incredible price of just TWENTY DOLLARS!! And Sterlinton even waived the one per household restriction!!!
14-3? WTF? Next . . . Well, I am glad to see that the ring ceremony went off without a hitch. 🙂
The Gate has a picture of what looks like Pagan, holding his arm (with ring) out. Did Pagan grow a beard? Anywho, I love that photo! Almost looks like a DC Super Hero about to zap some dude with a death ray from the ring.
I missed the last two “Barry” posts because I was flying between Turkey and Greece. I loved both of them Flav. Great job on explaining Barry Zito’s pitching prowess; and, yeah, I am conflicted about Barry Bonds, but I wont deny saying the same, “FUCK YEAH!” after one of his moon shots into McCovery Cove. You’re a dead fish if you don’t like that stuff.
Similarly, I just got done reading all the comments and couldn’t figure out the dot, dot, dot, dot comments until later (I think). OH OH! I hope the rift has been healed since the ties that bind us – being Giants fans – are stronger than those that separate us. ‘Nuff said on that one. Anywho, great comments on both threads Flappers.
New post on my blog. Go Giants!
Bob Ley of ESPN did a great piece on “Outside the Lines” on the Rutgers fiasco, Ley is excellent, one of the best. Why he is isn’t the face of ESPN instead of the buffoon Berman is a joke..
Night all.
Well, it certainly can’t be because Berman is photogenic. Agree that Ley is quite good and Berman is????? I can’t even watch his signature NFL gig anymore with the Denver dude (Tom something or other) because they are so irrelevant and out of touch. It’s even worse when Berman has his hand in baseball.
Ley on the other hand is thoughtful, intelligent and most important, himself – not a caricature like Berman – when presenting a story.
Berman is there for entertainment, not erudite reporting.
Javier Lopez got his third championship ring today, some other folks got their second, and some others got their first. It was a grand and glorious day.
It would be hard for me to gripe about the ballgame today. Last week, I said that a 3-3 start would be just fine, given the opening week schedule.
And it’s all good, anyway. 2 World Series in the last 3 seasons. It’s just so astounding.
Come on Zumiee, get angry. Your Giants are losing at home! Better go read another book.