Tag: Barry Bonds (Page 6 of 10)

      A-Rod passes Jackson on all-time HR list

      June 27, 2009 /

      Mr. April has officially passed Mr. October on baseball’s all-time home run list.

      Alex Rodriguez hit home run No. 564 to help the Yankees beat the Mets 9-1 on Friday night, moving past Reggie Jackson into 11th place on the career list.

      “The negativity that surrounds the steroids is certainly not something that I carry over to him,” Jackson said. “I do appreciate the fact that he admitted his mistakes, so from here we move forward. Judgment on him will be passed with the next 7 1/2 years of his time with the Yankees.”

      Jackson was sixth when he retired in 1987, trailing only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson and Harmon Killebrew. He’s since been passed by Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and A-Rod.

      “You get used to it really,” Jackson said.

      Remember when A-Rod was supposed to save us all from Barry Bonds and “legitimize” the home run record again?

      Moments like Rodriguez hitting his 564th mean very little now. Maybe Griffey will keep playing until he’s 80 and pass everyone.

      MLB

      Top 10 MLB active free passes

      May 16, 2009 /

      There are some batters that no pitcher wants to face, especially in a crucial situation with runners on base, or with first base open. But some guys are intentionally walked with regularity, and in some cases, even with the bases loaded to give up one run instead of four. Here is the current Top 10 among active players in intentional walks. Pitchers, proceed at your own risk…..

      1. Ken Griffey, Seattle Mariners (244)—Of course this guy has always been a feared slugger, but he had a career high 25 intentionals in 1993, and the year he slugged 56 homers with 147 RBI on his way to winning the AL MVP (1997), Griffey was intentionally walked 23 times. Yikes. But before we get all excited about that, consider that Barry Bonds was given the free pass 120 times in 2004, a league record that surely will never be broken.

      2. Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels (240)—He’s topped 20 seven times and 30 once. Is he that feared or are pitchers tired of looking at that crap on Vlad’s helmet?

      3. Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers (199)—‘Roids, no ‘roids, hormones, no hormones, whatever. This is the one guy in baseball I am never pitching to if I don’t have to.

      4. Carlos Delgado, New York Mets (186)—As a Mets fan, I’m just glad my team doesn’t have to face this guy. There is always the potential to hit one 600 feet the opposite way.

      5. Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies (172)—You don’t give a guy like Helton anything to hit, not with a .329 lifetime batting average, as well as an average of 30 homers and 109 RBI per season.

      6. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (160)—Oh yeah, screw what I said about Manny. I forgot about Albert. He’s only 29 years old and should easily hit 700 homers or more. THIS is the guy I don’t ever pitch to if it’s not necessary.

      7. Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox (159)—It’s interesting to note that in the ‘90’s Thome and Ramirez typically had single digits in free passes. That’s because if you put them on, you still had to face Albert Belle or Eddie Murray.

      8. Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves (143)—It’s kind of funny that Chipper’s intentional walks are declining as he’s becoming a better and better hitter.

      9. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (129)—This one baffles me. Why put a guy on who averages 40 steals per season?

      10. Gary Sheffield, New York Mets (128)—A nice, long career, and sheer intimidation at the plate, even today at age 40.

      Source: Baseball Reference

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      If Manny was juicing in Boston, are Red Sox championships tainted?

      May 11, 2009 /

      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.

      Continue reading »

      MLB

      Is Bonds only safe in Frisco?

      May 3, 2009 /

      Art Spander of Real Clear Sports has an interesting column up concerning Barry Bonds’ recent seclusion. Sander feels that, over time, sports fans will learn to embrace the troubled slugger.

      A cheater? A steroid user? A perjurer? Those are the claims against Bonds, and the reasons that, as his career wound down and the home run totals went up, Barry was booed virtually everywhere.

      Except San Francisco.

      Where this season, the fans have taken to booing Manny Ramirez, who has never been accused of anything similar to Bonds’ sins, but plays for the franchise that drives San Francisco partisans to frustration, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

      The Dodgers, hailed and hated, came to San Francisco for a three-game series. Bonds came out of, well, it might not have been hiding – but he does spend his days down in Beverly Hills – to be a willing viewer and to be willingly viewed.

      There was Barry, in the seat adjoining that of the individual in charge of the Giants, Bill Neukom, receiving a standing ovation. There was Manny on the diamond, receiving derision for no reason other than he’s Manny. And a Dodger.

      Sander is dead on throughout his piece. As supporters of our favorite teams, it’s in our blood to despise rivals no matter what players are on the opposition. That’s why you never see trades or signings within the same division. As far as baseball is concerned, the last one I remember is when Johnny Damon was traded from Boston to New York. As expected, Damon gets booed every time he returns to Fenway.

      Bonds spent the bulk of his career with the Giants and gave San Francisco dozens of historical moments that will not only live on in infamy within the city, but all of baseball. Any punishment he’s received has been deserved — Bonds even knows this. Still, he should be welcomed in San Francisco because of his performance playing the game for their team. Bonds didn’t taint the franchise — he tainted himself.

      Of course, Spander broaches the subject of whether or not Bonds will play again. I agree with him in thinking it won’t happen. Nevertheless, I always thought it would be a kick in the pants to see Bonds play for a team like the Royals instead of the Yankees or Red Sox. The media circus would be less manic and Barry could help a team in serious need of power.

      MLB

      A-Rod refuses to address latest allegations

      May 1, 2009 /

      To the surprise of absolutely no one, Alex Rodriguez has decided not to discuss latest allegations that he used steroids as a member of the New York Yankees.

      “I’m not going there,” he said after homering in an extended spring training intrasquad game in Tampa, Fla. “I’m just so excited about being back on the field and playing baseball. My team has won two games (in a row) up there and hopefully I can come back and help them win some more.”

      The Daily News reported in Thursday’s edition that Roberts’ book offers an unflattering portrait of the MVP slugger as a needy personality who wanted his ego stroked constantly.

      Rodriguez said he wasn’t worried that the steroids issue was being brought up again.

      “No. Not really,” he said. “I’m in a good place. I think more importantly physically I feel like I’m getting better everyday. We’ve had a great week here. We’ve worked extremely hard, and I’m just very anxious to do what God put me on this earth to do, to play baseball.”

      The book also goes on to say that two anonymous Yankees said they believed A-Rod was using banned substances based on visual side effects, and that a clubhouse staffer said management had a suspicion that that the third baseman may have been juicing.

      What’s interesting to me is the differences between A-Rod and Barry Bonds when it comes to each player (allegedly in the case of Bonds) using steroids.

      Bonds took steroids (again, allegedly) because he knew he was getting older, his body was breaking down and he wanted to add years onto his playing career. He wanted to play as long as he could so that he could break records and (try) to be remembered as the best to have ever played the game.

      But by all accounts, it seems that A-Rod really just took them for vanity purposes. Everything you read on this guy is that he’s not a bad person – he’s just a weird dude with several complexes. He’s self-conscious and always worried about how he’s perceived. He’s arrogant, but he’s not a total jerk (unlike Bonds, who was both). He didn’t need to take steroids to help his on-field performance, but probably wanted to take them to improve his total look, which is probably just as important as his numbers in his eyes.

      Bonds felt the need to take steroids to prolong his career. It seems like A-Rod needed them to feel good about himself and project a certain image. In both cases, it’s sad.

      MLB

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