Luvofthegame
09-04-2006, 01:48 PM
By Phil Rogers
Chicago Sports.com
9/4/06
In the top of the eighth inning Sunday, with another lethargic Cubs crowd hoping for a good time, Barry Bonds drove a fastball from Les Walrond high to center field. The ball had a tail on it, in part because of the wind that was blowing in, but still flew into the seats to the left of the juniper bushes.
Freeze the moment in your mind. This was Bonds' 400th career at-bat in the splendid little ballpark where Babe Ruth hit his most famous home run, and it was probably his last.
No one knows where Bonds will be when the 2007 season begins. The choices range from:
Back for a 15th season with the San Francisco Giants.
Somewhere in the American League, playing designated hitter and chasing Henry Aaron's 755.
In court fighting charges of perjury, tax evasion and obstruction of justice.
Serving a 50-games-to-life suspension for violating baseball's steroid policy.
Sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring.
My guess is it will be one of the latter three.
One of the agencies investigating Bonds will surely take him out of uniform before he runs his homer total from 729 to 756, knocking the universally respected Aaron—close friend of Commissioner Bud Selig—off his throne. If federal prosecutors or George Mitchell's committee on steroid use don't stop Bonds, I will bet a lack of interest from the Giants and all 14 AL franchises will.
Bonds isn't finished as a hitter, but he just might be as an employable leader of a franchise. He can still get hot—the Cubs' scouting reports from last week cautioned he was swinging the bat as well as ever. But his bum knees have made him a one-dimensional player.
When pitchers come at him with good stuff, the way Will Ohman did late in Saturday's game, they can handle him. That wasn't the case back in 2001-04, when he was the best hitter anyone had ever built, and back then the Giants were the only team that had a jones to have him on their team.
When Bonds reached free agency after his 73-homer season in 2001, Scott Boras did his best to find teams to bid against the Giants. In the end, none surfaced, at least not publicly, and the Giants gave him a five-year, $90 million deal.
What's the market going to be like after this season, when Bonds' batting average has dropped to .263 while his ratio of at-bats to home runs has increased to 1 every 14.5 at-bats? The homer he hit into the bleachers in left-center Sunday was the fourth in his last five games but only his 21st of the season, which ranks 50th among major-leaguers.
At 42, those bone-on-bone knees won't get any better. Neither will his left elbow, which could make playing the outfield a problem.
Bonds' preference is to stay in San Francisco. He began trying to leverage the Giants into a contract extension as far back as May, when he was closing in on Ruth's 714, but owner Peter Magowan has thus far resisted the temptation.
While the low level of competition has allowed the Giants to hang around in the National League wild-card race, they are an old team in need of some major remodeling. Manager Felipe Alou, born less than three years after Ruth's called shot, is likely to retire after this season. Would you saddle a new manager with easing Bonds off stage?
That hardly seems wise.
No NL team is going to take a gamble on Bonds' health. A return to Pittsburgh would have some sentimental value, but he burned most of his bridges when he left there after 1992. That leaves the AL, with the DH option.
But no club is going to sign a guy who would be an immediate target for its fans. The best bet might have been Oakland, where fans cheered when he hit his 714th home run, but Frank Thomas has been healthy and productive, contributing to a first-place team. He's almost certainly going to get an invitation to return.
If general manager Billy Beane wanted to make two once-great hitters unhappy, he could sign Bonds to platoon with Thomas. Wouldn't that be something?
But let's assume Beane had a need for a DH. How much money would he (or any other GM) offer Bonds?
Would Bonds' pride allow him to take a deal like the one Thomas received—$500,000 guaranteed with $2.5 million in incentives?
Sammy Sosa couldn't swallow having his name taken down from the marquee, deciding to walk away rather than have to prove himself for the Washington Nationals. While Bonds is motivated by the chance to catch Aaron, it's hard to imagine him leading the life of a supporting actor.
Chicago Sports.com
9/4/06
In the top of the eighth inning Sunday, with another lethargic Cubs crowd hoping for a good time, Barry Bonds drove a fastball from Les Walrond high to center field. The ball had a tail on it, in part because of the wind that was blowing in, but still flew into the seats to the left of the juniper bushes.
Freeze the moment in your mind. This was Bonds' 400th career at-bat in the splendid little ballpark where Babe Ruth hit his most famous home run, and it was probably his last.
No one knows where Bonds will be when the 2007 season begins. The choices range from:
Back for a 15th season with the San Francisco Giants.
Somewhere in the American League, playing designated hitter and chasing Henry Aaron's 755.
In court fighting charges of perjury, tax evasion and obstruction of justice.
Serving a 50-games-to-life suspension for violating baseball's steroid policy.
Sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring.
My guess is it will be one of the latter three.
One of the agencies investigating Bonds will surely take him out of uniform before he runs his homer total from 729 to 756, knocking the universally respected Aaron—close friend of Commissioner Bud Selig—off his throne. If federal prosecutors or George Mitchell's committee on steroid use don't stop Bonds, I will bet a lack of interest from the Giants and all 14 AL franchises will.
Bonds isn't finished as a hitter, but he just might be as an employable leader of a franchise. He can still get hot—the Cubs' scouting reports from last week cautioned he was swinging the bat as well as ever. But his bum knees have made him a one-dimensional player.
When pitchers come at him with good stuff, the way Will Ohman did late in Saturday's game, they can handle him. That wasn't the case back in 2001-04, when he was the best hitter anyone had ever built, and back then the Giants were the only team that had a jones to have him on their team.
When Bonds reached free agency after his 73-homer season in 2001, Scott Boras did his best to find teams to bid against the Giants. In the end, none surfaced, at least not publicly, and the Giants gave him a five-year, $90 million deal.
What's the market going to be like after this season, when Bonds' batting average has dropped to .263 while his ratio of at-bats to home runs has increased to 1 every 14.5 at-bats? The homer he hit into the bleachers in left-center Sunday was the fourth in his last five games but only his 21st of the season, which ranks 50th among major-leaguers.
At 42, those bone-on-bone knees won't get any better. Neither will his left elbow, which could make playing the outfield a problem.
Bonds' preference is to stay in San Francisco. He began trying to leverage the Giants into a contract extension as far back as May, when he was closing in on Ruth's 714, but owner Peter Magowan has thus far resisted the temptation.
While the low level of competition has allowed the Giants to hang around in the National League wild-card race, they are an old team in need of some major remodeling. Manager Felipe Alou, born less than three years after Ruth's called shot, is likely to retire after this season. Would you saddle a new manager with easing Bonds off stage?
That hardly seems wise.
No NL team is going to take a gamble on Bonds' health. A return to Pittsburgh would have some sentimental value, but he burned most of his bridges when he left there after 1992. That leaves the AL, with the DH option.
But no club is going to sign a guy who would be an immediate target for its fans. The best bet might have been Oakland, where fans cheered when he hit his 714th home run, but Frank Thomas has been healthy and productive, contributing to a first-place team. He's almost certainly going to get an invitation to return.
If general manager Billy Beane wanted to make two once-great hitters unhappy, he could sign Bonds to platoon with Thomas. Wouldn't that be something?
But let's assume Beane had a need for a DH. How much money would he (or any other GM) offer Bonds?
Would Bonds' pride allow him to take a deal like the one Thomas received—$500,000 guaranteed with $2.5 million in incentives?
Sammy Sosa couldn't swallow having his name taken down from the marquee, deciding to walk away rather than have to prove himself for the Washington Nationals. While Bonds is motivated by the chance to catch Aaron, it's hard to imagine him leading the life of a supporting actor.