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Former Rays All-Star Randy Winn has played the last few years with Barry Bonds in San Francisco and told the Chronicle that Bonds would be in for an experience if he were to come to Tampa Bay due to the amount of fans who don"t cheer for the home team: "I think he'd get booed a lot. It would be different if you had the backing of Devil Ray Nation." Other Giants had mixed opinion on the idea.
If Rays officials do decide to pursue all-time home run leader Barry Bonds, two of their young star outfielders said they would welcome the move.
"C'mon,'' B.J. Upton said, "it's Barry.''
Two-time All-Star Carl Crawford said Bonds could be a good addition to the team's lineup, despite whatever issues, and attention, might follow him.
"If they are really serious about it, I'm pretty sure we can adjust to it,'' Crawford said before Monday's workout. "It's Barry Bonds - who wouldn't want to have him on their team?
"He still hit, what, 28 home runs last year? He's walking a lot, still been very productive. You can understand why we could be interested in him. I'm surprised to see him not signed yet.''
The Times reported Monday that Rays officials have had internal discussions about Bonds, as well as other remaining free agents, but have not decided whether to proceed. Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris, is in Tampa this week but wouldn't say if he planned to meet with the Rays.
Rays officials didn't have to much to say about the subject on Monday. Through spokesman Rick Vaughn, Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman said: "It's a non-story.''
ESPN's Buster Olney addressed the subject in his daily Insider blog, concluding "he does make a whole lot of sense for Tampa Bay,'' and offering this idea for what the Rays lineup could look like in mid-summer (implying that Evan Longoria will start the season in the minors):
The Cardinals considered Bonds and decided not to proceed, according to manager Tony La Russa.
Also, the Twins have decided Delmon Young will play leftfield, and manager Ron Gardenhire praised him for his restraint in responding to Carl Crawford's comments last week.
Home run 756 was inevitable, so our colleagues nationwide had plenty of time to fix their opinions about Barry Bonds. Here is a little bit of what they wrote, with links to their complete stories.
Phil Taylor, Sports Illustrated
In the endless discussion of all things Bonds -- his personality, his moral code, his legal affairs, his hat size -- the one inarguable fact about the man seems to have become an afterthought: Bonds is an incredible hitter, an absolute virtuoso in the batter's box. If there is to be an asterisk next to his name in the record books, perhaps it should be for that.
* He was a hell of a ballplayer, steroids or not.
John Donovan, Sports Illustrated
At best, Bonds has made a lot of stupid, arrogant choices, associated himself with exactly the wrong type of people, played stupid when it served him best -- c'mon, Barry, flaxseed oil? -- and shown no regret for any of his actions. At best, as comedian Chris Rock told Bob Costas recently, Bonds has pulled a fast one.
At worst, Bonds has blatantly worked around and above the game's current drug policy and ignored the spirit and intent of baseball's rules against performance-enhancing drugs when they weren't enforceable. At worst, he took the drugs even though he knew he shouldn't, tried to hide that fact and cheated his way to this record.
Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle
Bonds' legacy is still up in the air. The free world will forever be
divided along the love-Barry/hate-Barry line. To many, Bonds' achievement is
like a bad movie, "Honey, I Shrunk the Home Run Record."
But to Bonds' fans, including seemingly every last person in the packed
house at the Giants' ballpark Tuesday night, the new record is the real deal. Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution How many superstars, in any sport, could break such a hallowed mark and
not receive even one major endorsement during the chase? The pursuit
should’ve been worth millions, not scorn. A soft drink commercial, a
snack food, a car. Stephen A. Smith, Philadelphia Inquirer The commissioner of Major League Baseball may indeed be a good man, but
who cares right now? Today, (Bud) Selig, who was not there last night when
Bonds broke the record, looks like a weak man devoid of any leadership
ability, too caught up in protecting his personal interest and using
the interest of the game as his personal shield. Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune The man is a 14-time All-Star, a seven-time National League MVP and an
eight-time Gold Glove winner in the field. Whichever asterisks need be
placed behind his numbers and name, this is a highly decorated athlete
who many a time has been granted the considerable respect of both the
public and his peers. Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times For Hank Aaron, that's 755 home runs, and one save. Bless him. Baseball
did not deserve his grace. On this night, Aaron saved the game he
loved. Never has an athlete served as a better role model than Aaron
did Tuesday, 32 years into retirement. He acted selflessly, with
dignity and nobility, demonstrating to the commissioner and to all the
world one can put aside personal feelings for the greater good. Jerry Brewer, Seattle Times
It might not rub off on Bud Selig, but it rubbed off on Barry Bonds.
The problem with disregarding Bonds is that he rarely inspires dispassion. During his pursuit of Hank Aaron's record, which ended Tuesday night, I kept getting the same question.
What do you think about Bonds?
Here's my answer.
Nothing.
 Follow the Rays through spring training and the 2008 season with Marc Topkin, Joe Smith and the Times sports staff. We invite your participation in the comments area.
E-mail Marc: topkin@sptimes.com |
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