Forego's not sure exactly what Bonds did that was so terrible. He's cranky to be sure, but my god man, in addition to inherting a prodigious baseball talent from his father, Bobby, Barry also inhertited a tendency towards chemical depression. What a tragedy that Bobby Bonds chose to self-medicate himself to an early grave via the bottle.
For whom exactly is Barry Bonds supposed to be a role model? Who could ever "be like Barry."
In addition to inheriting his father's athletic ability and brooding personality, Barry Bonds was also born into a life of privilege and blessed with an IQ well, well above average. Oh, yeah, he's also the greatest POSITION PLAYER (meant to include fielding and overall productivity, not just home run power) in baseball history. Through 2005, on Mike Gimbel's RPA ratings (tm) which wash out the distortive effects of home park, era in which he player played, etc., (meaning IF Bonds was using steroids in a "steroid era" his rating is adjusted for that), Bonds was just slightly behind Babe Ruth for the #1 spot. Bonds, however, has had 3 outstanding seasons since then and will probably have a few more to come.
Moreover, in 1995, the last season before the so-called "Steroid Era" began, when Barry Bonds was still thin, he was 6 1-2 WINS better than the median starting National League Left-Fielder, Jeff Conine. The next best of these comparisons for that year were peak Mike Piazza versus the median starting National League Catcher, a peak Todd Hundley at 3 WINS.
Forego will listen to an argument that Ruth's amazing pitching makes him hard to catch for #1 and will also listen to the argument that maybe Josh Gibson of the Negro Leagues was actually the greatest because the Negro League standard of play was so much higher than the Majors at the time and it's unlikely that anyone's going to come close to Gibson's HR record.
So, in Barry Bonds, you have a very intelligent man born to wealth and privilege who at worst is the 3rd best baseball player of all-time. How many people fit that overall profile? FDR, DeKlerk, Jacob Bernoulli? Certainly. Felix Mendelsson and Peyton Manning, maybe. Anybody else? Forego's probably missing four or five. Anybody think FDR and DeKlerk were particularly cuddly? Apparently not. Mendelsson probably fails the Bonds analogy anyway in that he wasn't as good a composer as Bonds is a bsseball player. Jacob Bernoulli was an asshole by historical account. Is there anything paricularly role-modelish or loveable about Peyton Manning? Fuck, no.
Barry Bonds is what he is -- the best player Forego has had the privilege to watch play live. And Forego, Jr., could pick way worse role models than Barry Bonds, believe. Dick Cheney? Harry Reid? Joe Lieberman? Bonds'll do.
But for argument's sake -- though it's absurd to consider Barry Bonds in the same light -- let's say Bonds is supposed to be a role-model for African-American children, and somehow failed miserably at a task that was not appropriate for him nor did he ask for. OK, let's have a little peek at two famous athletes who just before the BALCO case became a big deal were in fact considered role models for disadvantaged inner-city African-American youth and were making far, far more in earnings and endorsement deals than Bonds was at the time: VENUS AND SERENA WILLIAMS. Remember them? The numbers #1 and #2 players in the world. America's sweethearts with all their talk about "the Lord" and their huge endorsement deals. Forget that both of them are dumb as a couple of fenceposts and probably couldn't beat Barry Bonds at Scrabble if Bonds played his tiles open and only had access to 1/8 of the letter bag. Jeez, Forego's not fully convinced either Williams sister can actually read. But physically? Neither Williams sister was much smaller than Bonds is and both were much bigger than the Bonds of the 1990s.
But that's just invective and anecdotal stuff. Let's have a little dance, though, shall we? Here's the data link.
http://home17.inet.tele.dk/wta/
Some highlights. In 2003, when the public first became aware of BALCO Venus Williams played 37 matches,with a 31-6 record including the two famous "suspicious" losses to her sister in the Australian Open and Wimbledon, in which she had opened a -140 favorite, and was bet down to +110 underdog amid suspicions that Richard Williams had punted a few million sterling on the "winner". It was not a great year for her, as she did not win any big events and disappeared following the Wimbledon loss. 2004 found her with a 51-14 record, no major wins and a "walkover" injury loss to Chandra Rubin, though, to Ms. V. Williams's credit, she did make it through the year's schedule. It's all downhill from there. In 2003, Serena Williams had perhaps her best year, going 42-3 and "winning" two majors: Australia and Wimbledon. She, too, disappeared following her Wimbledon "victory." 2004 was a little worse for her than 2003 had been. In 2005, she went 22-9 including an injury walkover loss. Nothing good's happened since. That's not exactly true. A normally pro-portioned Venus Williams did win Wimbledon this year, but you all get the point. Senator and Ambassador Mitchell, as you have subpoenaed Mr. Bonds, would it not be a terrible idea to subpoena the Williams sisters as well? Or do they still move too many racquets, sneakers and tennis gear? We'll leave it to Scotland Yard and the Southern Bookmakers' Association of The United Kingdom to deal with their adoring father.
As for yesterday's British Open finale, what can be said that hasn't already been said about Sergio Garcia? This: His new nickname, replacing "El Nino," ought to be "El Labio" (The Lip).
Forego having suffered along offers condolences to the world's tiny cadre of elite boxing handicappers for losses backing Oscar De La Hoya against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Ronald "Winky" Wright against Bernard Hopkins. Such is life. it's the hardest way to make an easy living.
--Forego, a poor skin-head without a dollar
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