Will Hit Home Runs for Food
Steven Rawlins
Posted on: 22 August 2008 - 11:11
Baseball
Ok. So Barry Bonds isn’t that desperate yet.
But the ex-San Francisco Giant and seven time Most Valuable Player, who broke baseball’s most hallowed record by hitting his 762nd career home run over a year ago has not raised a bat in anger for the entire 2008 season, and may not do so for some time to come. Seriously? No one will take BALCO Bonds?
Indicted on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice in November 2007, accused of lying under oath regarding his use of anabolic steroids during a time when testing for these substances in Major League Baseball was not mandatory, Bonds is baseball’s biggest anti-hero. If you ask me, he’s also the biggest scapegoat the sport has ever seen.
The discussion as to whether Bonds is actually guilty or not is outside the frame of this blog. Do I think he was juiced? I think that if he got that big, that quickly from eating his greens and pumping iron, we’d have more than one member in the 500-500 club.
In any case, the courts will decide if Bonds goes to jail or not. The question here is whether anyone is going to sign the one-man stat sheet this season. Whether anyone should.
Undoubtedly, the all-time career home run leader could return to the major leagues and help a team. A bunch of teams, in fact. Just this week the general manager of the Giants, Brian Sabean, focused the spotlight back on his former slugger after he suggested Bonds might make a good fit at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who had a stunning first half of the season but are losing steam rapidly.
But bringing Bonds on board is not a simple decision. In big market like New York, Boston or Chicago, it’s frankly out of the question. As if the media circus surrounding the Yankees and Red Sox needs another clown. In a smaller team, you have other things to worry about. Sign Bonds, and he brings you a solid left handed DH who has an undoubted magic touch, with or without the “clear” or the “cream”. But what does he do to your locker room? What will the fans think?
Who cares what the fans think!
Tampa Bay has a great shot at winning the AL East and dealing out some long overdue punishment to the spend-happy Yanksox. But they need help down the stretch. They’re currently 4.5 games ahead of Boston and 9.5 ahead of New York, but their DL is getting fatter by the day. Longoria, Crawford, Percival, Upton. All big names who are currently not fit enough to play.
Bonds, on the other hand can apparently be “game ready” in 24 hours. Tampa Bay have just begun a tough series against the Angels that starts Monday which could shape the rest of their season. If there’s one team that needs a Barry Bonds boost, it’s the Rays.