What do other pros think about Bonds?

[RedBean]

Minnesota Twins All-Star center fielder Torii Hunter says:

"It's so obvious what's going on, He has never failed a drug test and said he never took steroids, but everybody keeps trying to disgrace him. How come nobody even talks about Mark McGwire anymore? Or Palmeiro (who tested positive for steroids in 2005)? Whenever I go home, I hear people say all of the time, 'Baseball just doesn't like black people. Here's the greatest hitter in the game, and they're scrutinizing him like crazy.' It's killing me because you know it's about race."

Dave Stewart, former 20-game winner and World Series MVP says:

"People keep talking about how he's not supposed to keep hitting homers and doing phenomenal things because he's 40-plus, well, Roger Clemens is 40-plus, too, and nobody ever brings his name up. Why not? Is it because one's black and the other is white?"


Seattle Mariners outfielder Matt Lawton, one of 12 major league players who actually tested positive for steroids last season, even has difficulty understanding why those <u>proven guilty have been forgotten</u>. He says:

"If (Bonds) were white, he'd be a poster boy in baseball, not an outcast."


Interesting perspective. Seems like quite a few fellow professional ballplayers feel the persecution of Bonds in the media has little to do with steroids, but more about race and the chase of a record.

[BWebb]

IMO, I don't think it's race as much as he has been viewed as an a-hole his entire career. I think McGwire and Sosa haven't gotten the scrutiny because they were "lovable" and "friendly". Doesn't matter, Bonds is the man, I give a [censored] what the media says.

[Triumph36]

You're a troll.

Hank Aaron is beloved throughout baseball. Willie Mays. Sammy Sosa. Any number of Latino and black players. Frank Robinson. The list goes on and on.

[RedBean]

[ QUOTE ]

Hank Aaron is beloved throughout baseball. Willie Mays. Sammy Sosa. Any number of Latino and black players. Frank Robinson. The list goes on and on.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just so you know, I personally think it is more about the RECORD, than it is about RACE. Race is an agitating factor, make no mistake, but it is hardly the central issue. It isn't about steroids either, oddly enough.

It is totally, unequivocally about a guy a lot of people don't like getting close to breaking a record they don't want him to have. For some steroids is their excuse, and for others race is their motivation.

Just opening the discussion about how interesting it is that several other pro ballplayers feel.

And for what it's worth, Hank Aaron *is* universally beloved nowadays. But if you think it was anything near that circa 1974 when he broke the record, or even in his early playing days, then you are turning a blind eye to reality. Hank's struggles with racism and hate from many due to his skin color are widely documented.

[J.R.]

Villains (and those made out to be) attract audiences. Its all about polarized figures. See "pro" wrestling.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

enough already.

for the record, if you think this is about race, well you're probably a racist.

it's about a guy most people dislike breaking a record by 'cheating' that a guy everyone likes set honestly.

is that so hard to figure out?

[MyTurn2Raise]

[ QUOTE ]
Villains (and those made out to be) attract audiences. Its all about polarized figures. See "pro" wrestling.

[/ QUOTE ]


ESPN and sports media in general have embraced the pro wrestiling marketing concept....heroes and heels, willing to flip-flop at the most crucial time....it's the underlying theme of most shows

[RedBean]

[ QUOTE ]
enough already. for the record, if you think this is about race, well you're probably a racist.


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Did you not read my quote directly above this post that says: "Just so you know, I personally think it is more about the RECORD, than it is about RACE"

[ QUOTE ]

it's about a guy most people dislike breaking a record


[/ QUOTE ]

Again, did you read my other quote above: "It is totally, unequivocally about a guy a lot of people don't like getting close to breaking a record they don't want him to have."

Apparently, we agree, but you don't seem to realize it. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[RedBean]

[ QUOTE ]

ESPN and sports media in general have embraced the pro wrestiling marketing concept....heroes and heels, willing to flip-flop at the most crucial time....it's the underlying theme of most shows

[/ QUOTE ]

Excellent point. This could just be the setup to the great storyline many years down the road when Pujols smacks homer #776, passing Bonds on the all-time list and restoring the crown to the good guys stable.

A-Rod will have of course failed many years previously as an aging Bonds and manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan will have crippled him with a folding metal chair during the seventh inning stretch on a road trip in Boston, shortly before being chased off by "Hammerin'" Hank Aaron and Curt "Superfly" Schilling.

[prohornblower]

Yawn, yawn, yawn.

There are several reasons Bonds is hated. Is race one of them? For some people? Sure. As is the fact that he took 'roids, as is the fact that he's about to pass a legend of the game. As is the fact many people believe he himself is racist.

What does all this mean? Not much. Once Bonds retires, (unless he passes Aaron which I still think won't happen), he will be forgotten just like McGwire, Palmeiro, and $am-ME $o-$o.

"Baseball" hates Black people? Oh really? Baseball is made of black people, so this isn't possible. People love talking about Jackie Robinson, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Henry Aaron, etc. "Baseball" hates nobody. People hate people. If people hate Bonds, that is their perogotive (sp?).

Last time I checked, nobody cared about McGwire anymore...am I wrong??? One white, and two hispanics (sosa, palmeiro) have already been swept under the carpet. A black is about to join them. And the Earth keeps turning...