Apparently Phillies fans don't like Bonds

[NomaBlueCollar]

i saw it when the game played on ESPN and couldn't start laughing... that even tops the Padres fans and the syringe

you mean couldnt STOP laughing? cause i sure think its pretty funny.

haha yeh i meant stop, obvoiusly. it was late night...and thats all im gonna say about that.

[laxative]

it was late night...and thats all im gonna say about that.

Yeah, you sure it's the "Friendly City" and not the "Kind City."

[Adam G]

Philly's fans are notorious. 76er's, Eagles, EDIT: Phillies, Flyer's? That's one city when I visit I'd keep my Wisconsin pride to myself...


Whoops!

[ineedmorecowbell]

i think you mean eagles, phils, flyers, and sixers. the pens and pirates are pittsburgh. don't associate my philly with that, please. going to those games, and even wings games when i was growing up there were some of the best sports memories of my life.

at wings games, when the other team's players and coaches are being announced, everyone in the wachovia center yells "sucks!" after each name.

ex. no. 22 gary gait......SUCKS!!

[anklebreaker]

If the record even mattered to Bonds he would've demanded a trade to Oakland or Anaheim to be a DH and hit 50 home runs a year sitting on his bum knee. I don't believe Bonds has ever tested positive, but admitted to using them "unknowingly" Bonds may have or may not used steroids, but his han eye coordination is something to marvel at. Plus people still won't pitch to him on a bum knee so that is something to say about what MLB players and coaches think about Bonds.

[NomaBlueCollar]

it was late night...and thats all im gonna say about that.

Yeah, you sure it's the "Friendly City" and not the "Kind City."

i dont follow...

[CATLAX MAN]

There hasn't been a trial but he has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in the past, if Im not mistaken.

Actually, you are mistaken. He has never tested positive for any performance-enhancing drugs. According to his grand jury testimony, which was supposed to be confidential and was leaked to the reporters who wrote the book - an aside here, why aren't these people being chased down for breaking the law? - , he admitted that he "may" have used them unwittingly if they were given to him by his personal trainer. General perception of his testimony is that no one believes it, but he has never been convicted of anything nor failed any of baseball's drug tests.

Although Bonds is an insufferable boor, he does have a point that he is being singled out like no one else has been before. Look at baseball's celebration of McGwire & Sosa in their steroid infused years of glory. No one is in an uproar about that. Also, no one talks about the countless others in the game, including god-knows how many pitchers, that have been using and baseball just looks the other way as they have for so many years in the past.

[ZagGrad]

Also, no one talks about the countless others in the game, including god-knows how many pitchers, that have been using and baseball just looks the other way as they have for so many years in the past.

That's because chicks dig the long ball. That and nobody cares about pitchers anyways. Their shining moments rely on disallowing hits, in turn, keeping the opponent from scoring, which results in an even more boring game where only one team scores. Yawn...Besides if a pitcher was using the juice, would we not see fastballs at 110MPH? Maybe, but probably not. If they were throwing said speeds, we'd be hearing a lot more about roiding pitchers.

McGuire and Sosa aren't chasing the home run record anymore. People don't care about them because they're in the past. If I'm in the media and every one of my peers is covering bonds and my constituents are pining for Bonds material, I'm going to give them Bonds--not dig up the past. Plus, Selig has said that he will not investigate those two since the substance abuse policy fully "took effect" after they were gone...well, McGuire anyway.

Bonds can plead ignorance all he wants, but that's not going to cut it. Well, back to work...

[MinesGoallie45]

Well, no one likes a Cheater

[CATLAX MAN]

Besides if a pitcher was using the juice, would we not see fastballs at 110MPH? Maybe, but probably not. If they were throwing said speeds, we'd be hearing a lot more about roiding pitchers.

No, those pitchers that are/were using were able to answer the bell for their start every 4th or 5th day. Over the course of a season, you don't think that the aches & pains of pitching every 5th day was not assisted by pitchers taking whatever drugs they could to make themselves feel better and recover from the last outing? You're deluding yourselves if you don't think they they were not doing so also.

Just like steroids don't make a hitter a better hitter, they also don't make a pitcher a better pitcher. The drugs don't add talent; the player has to provide that. They allow a player to recover from the daily aches & pains faster and keep their strength.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a Bonds apologist. My point is that the hipocrisy of Selig and baseball in general is laughable in this whole affair. They are acting as if they had no knowledge that any of this was going on which everyone knows that is not the case. Bonds is their convenient whipping boy here.

[ZagGrad]

Very good points, albeit, I must say that although steroids don't "add talent," I believe they can turn a regular hitter, like Bonds was in Pittsburgh, into a homerun hitter, like Bonds is now. Recovery is one thing, but the muscle to get the ball out of the park is another...

I also believe he has become the "whipping boy" for baseball and Selig likes it that way...Who else is going to take the heat off of himself? Nobody wants to take accountability and apologize and I think that's what's really wrong here. If Bonds would have fessed up a few years ago, what would have happened? Now, I think he's in way over his head and won't be able to claw out...

[CATLAX MAN]

Very good points, albeit, I must say that although steroids don't "add talent," I believe they can turn a regular hitter, like Bonds was in Pittsburgh, into a homerun hitter, like Bonds is now. Recovery is one thing, but the muscle to get the ball out of the park is another......

Whoa, what are you saying here? Bonds was not a homerun hitter before? Let's assume that the authors of the book are correct as they allege that Bonds began using after the McGwire/Sosa HR 1998 season. Up until that point during his 13 seasons through the end of 1998, Bonds had hit 411 home runs, which is an average of almost 32 HRs per season. I'd call that a home run hitter, wouldn't you? You could on the fingers of one hand the players that have accomplished that feat. Hitting a home run is more about hand/eye coordination and bat speed than it is about brute strength.

[ZagGrad]

When Bonds was at Pittsburgh, I did not consider him a "homerun hitter." He was known for stretching doubles into triples and his fielding--moreso than for hitting homeruns...he was my favorite player growing up since I was/am a huge Pirates fan...

Hitting a home run is more about hand/eye coordination and bat speed than it is about brute strength.

Yes, hand/eye coordination play a part, but how many dongs did Barry get when he was 160lbs? Place his weight next to his homerun average and see if there is a correlation. If anyone can get it, give it to me (we have statistical programs which calculate that stuff).

Also, if someone has great hand-eye coordination, like people claim Bonds has, why juice? To help the muscles recover? Why would you need your muscles to recover if you don't need them to go yard? Take ibuprofen and use ice.

My "arguments" are more of me being a Lawyer's son (I love to argue...even when I'm wrong) and don't rely too much on facts, so take them as they are. Good discussion though...

[CATLAX MAN]

When Bonds was at Pittsburgh, I did not consider him a "homerun hitter."........My "arguments" are more of me being a Lawyer's son (I love to argue...even when I'm wrong) and don't rely too much on facts, so take them as they are. Good discussion though...

I guess it's easy to argue a point if you choose to disregard the facts. However, when you look at the facts, they don't support your argument that he was not a HR hitter. Bonds played 7 years for the Pirates from 1986 through 1992. In those 7 seasons, he hit 176 HRs which is an average of a little over 25 HRs a season. During that period he was only under 20 HRs a season twice, his first year with 19 (in only 113 games and at the age of 22) and his 4th year also with 19. That was amazing consistency from a player in his first 7 years in the league. Anyone that can average 25+ homers a year is a home run hitter in my book.

In any case, the facts tell us that he has been a home run hitter his entire career. He had one freakish season as far as home run totals and the rest all fall in the same relative range. Starting in his rookie season of 1986 the HR totals are: 19, 25, 24, 19, 33, 25, 34, 46, 37, 33, 42, 40, 37, 34, 49, 73, 46, 45, 45, & 5 (played in 14 games).

[mbuff]

I was at the Astros/Rangers game Saturday when they announced Bonds hit 714. 41,000+ booing at the same time was pretty cool. They showed that catcher punch A.J Perzynski on the big screen but nothing on Bonds. Respect is earned, not injected Barry!