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Thread: Barry Bonds - History in the Making

  1. #1

    Barry Bonds - History in the Making



    Bonds one away from Ruth on all-time list

    With a national audience watching, Barry Bonds moved closer to one of the country's biggest icons.

    Bonds moved within one home run of Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time home run list Sunday with a prodigious blast off Jon Lieber in the sixth inning of the San Francisco Giants' game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

    The home run was Bonds' fifth of the season and 713th in his legendary career.

    "I think (714) is the greatest thing," Bonds said. "It's awesome. I really do. I may not show it a lot though, but that's just me trying to keep my head screwed on straight. It's overwhelming right now. It's a little bit larger than a single-season record home run."

    Bonds belted a 2-1 pitch from Lieber an estimated 450 feet off the facade of the upper deck in right field at Citizens Bank Park, cutting the Giants' deficit to 5-3.

    "They tell me that's the way the Babe used to hit them," Giants manager Felipe Alou said.

    It was the third plate appearance for Bonds, who was walked intentionally in the first and singled in the fourth.

    Bonds had entered the contest just 5-for-36 in his career against Lieber.

    "It was a sinker, he didn't miss," Lieber said. "He knows the type of pitcher I am. I'm gonna challenge him. That's what happens when you fall behind hitters like that."

    Bonds struck out in his final plate appearance of San Francisco's 9-5 loss - the Giants' seventh loss in their last eight games.

    "We have to win ballgames," Bonds said. "We haven't playing well and the most important thing is to win games. It's a lot more gratifying if you win. Right now, we haven't been playing good."

    The 41-year-old Bonds is 42 homers behind Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755. However, Bonds has stated that he doubts he will ever catch Aaron due to age and mounting injuries.

    Sunday's contest was the finale of San Francisco's five-game road trip. The Giants begin a seven-game homestand Monday, when they make up a previously rained out game against the Houston Astros.

    "I got to watch it," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of No. 713. "He hit it pretty good. I'm glad he's leaving town too, because he's getting ready to get hot. He hit two balls hard tonight. Once he gets his timing down, he'll hit a few more (home runs)."

    Bonds will try to move alongside Ruth against Roy Oswalt. He is 4-for-4 with a homer and two doubles and a triple in his career against the Astros' ace.

    The Giants also will host the Chicago Cubs and archrival Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series.

    It would be fitting if Bonds hit Nos. 714 and 715 at ATT Park, where he has hit many of his historic blasts.

    Bonds hit No. 600 there in 2002, along with 660 and 661 in April 2004 to tie and pass godfather Willie Mays for third place on the all-time list. He hit his 700th into "McCovey Cove" on September 14, 2004.

    Bonds' place in history once was secure, however the slugger has dealt with rumors of steroid use since setting the single-season homer record with 73 in 2001. He never has failed a drug test, but a new book alleged that he took a variety of performance-enhancing drugs over at least five seasons beginning in 1998.

    Written by San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, "Game of Shadows" says Bonds engaged in persistent doping, taking four different kinds of steroids as well as insulin and human growth hormone during his record-breaking season, when he broke Mark McGwire's home run record.

    The allegations led to Selig appointing former United States Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to head an investigation into the alleged steroid use by Bonds and other major league players associated with the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) on March 30.

    With the added pressure of the investigation, along with a nagging knee injury that forced him to miss most of last season, Bonds had gotten off to a slow start this season.

    He did not homer until his 31st at-bat - his longest drought to start a campaign since a drought of 54 at-bats at the beginning of the 1998 season. However, Bonds has gone on to hit five in his next 33 at-bats.
    http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?...ce=barry+bonds

  2. #2
    Remember kids - cheaters never win!



    ...unless of course you choose baseball or politics as a profession....

  3. #3
    Lord of the Alpacas defrocked's Avatar
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  4. #4
    Fuckin cheater. BOOOOOOOOO

    Good for the MLB on not celebrating this phony of a milestone.

    And did anyone see Quite Frankly last night? Now SAS is one of my favorite personalities, but he tried to turn this into a race issue. Fuck outa here with that shit SAS. Not even you can believe that. HE CHEATED!

  5. #5
    Until there is proof that he cheated, I will remain skeptical.

    Kick some ass, Barry!

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by The Archdiocese
    Until there is proof that he cheated, I will remain skeptical.





    i'm going to hell for that....

  7. #7
    LMFAO!

    Nah, God/Allah/Jehovah/Buddha/Satan/Mohammed/whoeverthehellyouworship will find that funny and let you in.

  8. #8
    Shugadaddi's Avatar
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    I typically don't watch Costas NOW on HBO, but they have a great one re-running this week about Bonds and the history of the home run. Watch it if you get the chance. Joe Morgan had an intersting comment about this being a race issue. He said that while race is always present in a lot of issues today in this country, he finds it hard to believe that it should be in the forefront here. Afterall, Hank Aaron is also black. If anything, it's because Bonds is a douchebag whenever the media is within 50 yards of him. Willie Mays, who was also interviewed by Costas, concurred.

    This episode was also key because I really wanted to know who was the biggest Willie Mays fan. As it turns out, it's none other than Willie Mays. Go figure.

  9. #9
    Shugadaddi's Avatar
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    Here were his closing remarks. I thought they were pretty OK:

    So what's the big deal about the steroid era in baseball? All performances are to some extent a product of prevailing conditions. After all, if Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew, or George Brett had played around the turn of the century, they surely would have had seasons where they hit .400. Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux can't get anywhere near Cy Young's 511 career wins not because they aren't as good, but because no modern pitcher gets the ball as often. Changes in ballparks, travel, scheduling, strategy, rules - comparing era to era is not always a case of apples to apples. But here's a key distinction: As the game evolved, those variations affected all competitors equally, and in their time, all those performances were authentic. The steroid era is not a mere variation. It's a gross and unnatural distortion, both of the game's history and of contemporary competition, since many used and many did not.

    There are three seismic shifts in post-1900 baseball history. Two - the advent of the lively ball and the breaking of the color line - helped the game tremendously. The third, the steroid era, now haunts the game. Only segregation represents a greater blot on the game's history and integrity. The Black Sox scandal of 1919 involved one team, one year. Pete Rose - one guy. The steroid era, still ongoing, likely involved every team, and more players than we can count. Baseball can't have it both ways: It can't celebrate its history and revere its records, and then turn a blind eye when its history and its record book are poisoned.

  10. #10
    As the game evolved, those variations affected all competitors equally,

    I was gonna say that until I read it.

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