|
Barry Bonds is one of the most hated players playing baseball today. Anywhere outside of San Francisco he is taunted by fans, slandered by media, and is hated on by just about everyone. Hell, I am not even a Barry Bonds fan. But, unlike most fans that let their prejudices cloud their judgment, I can see Barry for what he really is: one of the greatest players to ever play the game of baseball.
It’s not hard to see why Barry is the best, his career is unparalleled. He has had six MVP’s, 13 All-Star selections, 11 Silver Slugger Awards, he’s in the 600 home run club, he is the only one in the 500/500 Club, he won the batting title in 2002, he was the player of the decade for Sporting News, he holds the all-time major league walks record and he is the single season home run king with 73.
There is no way to look at his career and objectively decide he isn’t one of the greatest ever to play the game. Yet, so many people I talk to hate, not dislike, but hate Barry. The biggest reason for the vile spewing from many sports fans mouths can be directly attributed to the sports media.
It’s not a secret that Bonds doesn’t like the media, this is not a surprise to anyone. To me, his response to the media is almost an honorable trait. Too often in sports world you have athletes trying to get as much attention as possible. The media is their ticket to more publicity and, in turn, more endorsements. To get on Sportscenter and the rest of ESPN programming is the goal for most of these players. Most guys would rather be mentioned on PTI and Around the Horn more than win a game. Not Bonds.
Here is a guy who works hard on his game, and has nearly perfected it. Yet he isn’t a slave to the media mogul in an attempt to create the best image of himself as he can, he let’s his game speak for itself. There is no doubt that the media plays a huge part in the bad image Bonds has today. There is no straight reporting, just writers who have an agenda against Barry Bonds because they were shunned or disrespected by him.
Kobe Bryant played the media game, and he played it well. He had more endorsements than he could handle and was always referred to as “one of the good guys” in sports. Now, Kobe Bryant can no longer hide behind his media-created image as his sex scandal exposed him for who he really was. Unfortunately, this knife doesn’t cut the other way.
Barry Bonds has always been a devout family man. He doesn’t get caught up in sex or murder scandals, yet compared to pre-sex scandal Kobe; the media had portrayed Bonds as the baseball antichrist. Most fans have been conditioned by the media to the point that they think the Barry Bonds Family Foundation is an organization created by Bonds as a cult to distribute drugs to young children.
The fact of the matter is that the Bonds Family Foundation was created to promote programs to improve educational achievements, standard of living and quality of life for underprivileged youth in the Bay Area. This is just one of the ways he gives back to the community. What a monster.
Now there are many fans who try to make the “Barry Bonds is on steroids” argument. The fact of the matter, however, is that there is no proof whatsoever. The latest unfounded accusations deal with other accusations supposedly recorded on tape, probably illegally. Surely, this guy must be telling the truth, after all, if he’s not that would be the first time EVER anyone has lied, right?
The reality is that many fans use the “steroid” issue as a crutch on which to base their hatred of Bonds. For some fans, this hatred is so blinding that they totally ignore any facts while making arguments. Last week, someone told me I was a moron for suggesting Bonds should easily win another MVP award this year over Albert Pujols. He told me to look at the numbers, so I did.
Bonds has a higher batting avg. (.362 to .331), OBP, (.609 to .415), slugging percentage (.812 to .657) and many more walks than Pujols (232 to 84). Still, this person, who shall rename nameless, argued that Albert should win it because he had more RBIs (123 to 101) and HRs (46 to 45) than Bonds. This is a useless argument, as Pujols had over 200 more at-bats than Bonds. To put things in perspective, if Bonds had the same amount of at-bats at Pujols Barry would have had 71 HRs and 171 RBIs, dwarfing Pujols’ numbers. Fans need to remember that this is based on what a player has done; it is not some high school popularity contest.
There is no question in my mind that Bonds is not only MVP of this season, but one of the greatest to ever play baseball. It is long past time for sports fans to stop relying on the media to tell them what to think. You may not like Barry Bonds, but you sure as hell have to respect him.
The sad thing is that most fans refuse to think for themselves. Their blinding, yet to them blissful, ignorance will cause them to miss the twilight of one of the greatest careers baseball has ever seen.
Mark is a weekly columnist for SportsFan Magazine. You can email him at Rockne48@und.com
|
|
|
5 comments - join this discussion...
|
|
|
|
|
|
