Barry Bonds clearly does not want to be outdone by Mark McGwire. Not on the field while hitting home runs and not off it by imparting his wisdom on younger hitters.

While attending Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night, Bonds was asked if he wanted to be a coach someday. In classic Bonds fashion, he reminded everyone that he has a gift that needs to be shared.

When asked if he’d like to do more than just cheer on his former team in the future, Bonds said he would be interested in becoming a hitting coach in the future.

“I have a gift and sooner or later I have to give it away,” Bonds said. “I have to share it. Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity here.”

First and foremost, the Giants already have a hitting coach in Hensely “Bam-Bam” Meulens, who speaks five languages and oversaw a club that is now in the World Series. (I mention the language part because the Giants’ roster is chockfull of players from all over the country, including Juan Uribe (Dominican Republic), Edgar Renteria (Colombia), Pablo Sandoval (Venezuela) and Andres Torres (Puerto Rico), thus, it’s a nice skill to have if you have to communicate with foreign-born players.)

That said, the thought of Bonds joining the Giants as a hitting coach is intriguing. Steroids or no steroids, Bonds was one of the best pure hitters the game of baseball has ever seen. His pitch recognition was outstanding and as the story goes, he used to be able to sit in the dugout and tell his teammates which pitch would be thrown next based on who was on the mound, the count and the situation. He was that good.

The problem is that he’s also Barry Bonds. When the Giants finally moved on from him in 2008, there was a sense of relief in a clubhouse that was once dominated by their ego-driven left fielder. He commanded his own part of the clubhouse, which included multiple lockers, a personal reclining chair and a big screen TV, and he was consistently salty to the media, team personal and even teammates. With the Giants new team-first mentality, that kind of environment would never fly nowadays.

Oh, and let’s not forget the guy will be going to trial next March for perjury charges after he allegedly lied to congress about his involvement with steroids. That alone should have the Giants saying, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Bonds doesn’t do low-key. Whether he’s the left fielder or an usher, he draws attention to himself and I don’t think the Giants would welcome that back. So as intriguing as it would sound to have him instruct their hitters, it wouldn’t behoove an organization that is succeeding without all that hoopla.

The Giants are doing just fine without him.

I’m not sure Ken Griffey Jr. knows how to inject HGH or even know how to get it. I don’t think he knows what “the clear” actually is or what it does, and the same goes for “the cream.”

I don’t think taking steroids and cheating the game of baseball has ever crossed Griffey’s mind. And that’s why he’ll always be viewed as a true hero during the darkest days that baseball has ever seen.

Griffey announced his retirement on Wednesday night. He’ll leave the game with 630 home runs (which rank him fifth all-time), 13 All-Star appearances, 10 Gold Gloves, seven Silver Slugger Awards and one MVP honor (1997). He’s a sure-fire Hall of Fame inductee and as I’ve alluded to above, one of the few sluggers whose name has never been mentioned for steroids.

I’ll always remember the days when people would compare Griffey and Barry Bonds in terms of what young outfielder was better. People always said Griffey until injuries started hampering his career and Bonds started crushing 500-foot home runs (while his head grew to the size of a grapefruit). But looking back, Griffey will always be remembered as the better player because he didn’t have to cheat to have his success. Bonds has better numbers, but we all know how he got them later in his career. We also know how Griffey got his: pure, God-given talent.

Griffey’s retirement doesn’t come as a surprise. He wasn’t getting regular at bats in Seattle and wasn’t a part of the Mariners’ present or future. He’s also 40 year’s old and it’s harder for players to balance baseball and their family life when they get to be that age. It was time and I found it appropriate that he made the announcement rather quietly. He’s never been flashy.

Thanks for all the memories, Junior. You never let us down.

Barry Bonds says he’s proud of friend Mark McGwire for admitting to his PED use back in January of this year.

From ESPN.com:

“I have a really good friendship with Mark McGwire. I’m proud of him,” the 45-year-old Bonds, back in the Bay Area for a reunion at AT&T Park of the Giants’ 2000 NL West champion team, said when asked what he thought of McGwire’s January admission. “We’ve had a great relationship throughout our entire lives and throughout our career. I’m proud of what he did. I’m happy for him.”

He appeared to be in great shape and said he is down to about 225 pounds from his playing weight of 238.

“I’ve just been working out a lot, that’s all. I work out all the time,” Bonds said. “It’s been in my genes my whole life. I just don’t work out as hard anymore. I don’t lift as heavy weights anymore to be bulky. I don’t know, I’ve got that Hollywood look.”

I’ve got that Hollywood look? Does anyone else need to vomit or am I the only one?

People love to talk about “Manny being Manny” when it comes to the antics of Manny Ramirez, but ManRam has nothing on Bonds. This is a man that will look the media dead in the face and tell them that he’s proud of Mark McGwire for admitting his PED use, as if he shouldn’t have done the same thing long ago. Barry is one of those people that has subscribed to his own lies for so long that he actually believes in them now. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.

On Thursday, Barry Bonds’ agent Jeff Borris confirmed what everyone already knew: The juiced up slugger’s career is officially over.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

“It’s two years since he played his last game, and if there was any chance he’d be back in a major-league uniform, it would have happened by now,” agent Jeff Borris told The Chronicle. “When 2008 came around, I couldn’t get him a job. When 2009 came around, I couldn’t get him a job. Now, 2010 … I’d say it’s nearly impossible. It’s an unfortunate ending to a storied career.”

Technically, Bonds hasn’t retired, and he repeatedly has said he won’t retire, leaving open the outside chance that some team will call.

There are many who believe that baseball owners blacklisted Bonds from the game because of his alleged ties to steroids. If you believe in conspiracy theories, then it’s an easy argument to buy; surely one AL team in need of a DH would have called Bonds in 2008 when the Giants dumped him, right?

But considering he was severely limited (and that’s putting it mildly) in the outfield, it would make sense that no NL team would sign him. And given that he was being probed for lying to a grand jury regarding his involvement with performance-enhancing drugs, it would make sense that no AL clubs would sign him either. Let’s not forget that Bonds was also highly regarded as an a-hole and was poison to a clubhouse with what, his extra lockers, reclining chairs and big screen TV. It would make sense that no club would think he was worth the risk.

What’s interesting about Borris’ comments is that back in 2008, he said that multiple teams were interested in Bonds. Yet now Borris claims that he “couldn’t get him a job.” I realize all agents lie, but it’s just interesting to hear Borris admit now that nobody wanted his client.

When you put aside the notion that he cheated the game of baseball for his own personal gain, what most people are generally upset about in regards to Barry Bonds and steroids is that he broke Hank Aaron’s home run record. Not only was he allegedly juicing, but in doing so, he also broke one of the most sacred records in all of baseball and most are calling for his name to be scratched from the record books.

In the wake of Manny Ramirez’s 50-game suspension, there’s another topic that should be broached, similar to Bonds’ home run record. Considering Manny hit cleanup for the Red Sox’ two championship teams this decade and also won MVP of Boston’s World Series sweep of the Cardinals in 2004, should the BoSox’ titles be considered tainted if Ramirez was on steroids?

To get the semantics out of the way first, no, Manny didn’t test positive for steroids. He only tested positive for a women’s fertility drug that is often used by athletes and bodybuilders to restore testosterone levels after steroid cycles. To be fair, Ramirez has never tested positive for steroids and therefore anything linking him to PEDs should be considered speculation.

However, if we’re truly being fair, Bonds never tested positive for steroids either. Yet, because his head grew to the size of a small watermelon and his physique went from Bruce Banner to the Incredible Hulk over the course of only a couple of years, it’s safe to say that Bonds was on some kind of human growth hormone and therefore his accomplishments should be questioned and criticized.

And so should the Red Sox’s two World Series titles.

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