Congratulations to Barry!

[JayBee]

A new Home Run King was crowned last night in San Francisco and his name is Barry Bonds!

When the San Francisco Giants star hit No. 756, it was no cheap shot. Bonds, 43, sent the ball arcing high into the night, 435 feet into the right-center field seats, the deepest part of the ballpark.

A taped message of congratulations from Hammerin' Hank Aaron, the now former king, who sat upon the cherished throne for 33 years, played on the stadium's video board during a 10-minute tribute.

"It is a great accomplishment which required skill, longevity and determination," Aaron said. "Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years. I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historic achievement. My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams," he said.

Couldn't have said it better myself! Congratulations, Barry!

[swiftdave]

757 tonight!

Well done!!! Roids or not, its one hell of a feat

Have to say though that Hank is twice the man Barry is.

[nelsonone]

Originally Posted by swiftdave

Well done!!! Roids or not, its one hell of a feat

Have to say though that Hank is twice the man Barry is.

How must Hank really feel to have his 33 year record beaten by a guy who was only able to outlast him (age, games + home runs wise) due to the 'roids

just as well big barry hits so many home runs cause he is too fat + too lazy to run around the diamond.....

Is baseball or sport or a passtime to him

[Dupree00]

Why did my Asteriks get removed?*

[MrDK]

Originally Posted by Dupree00

Why did my Asteriks get removed?*

You have 3 guesses ... and if you guess right you get one more.

[swiftdave]

Originally Posted by nelsonone

How must Hank really feel to have his 33 year record beaten by a guy who was only able to outlast him (age, games + home runs wise) due to the 'roids

just as well big barry hits so many home runs cause he is too fat + too lazy to run around the diamond.....

Is baseball or sport or a passtime to him

He is fat and lazy and has a real attitude problem. But he was the first (and maybe the only one Im not sure) to hit 500 hr and have 500 stolen bases.

[marc26]

BB was a Hall of Fame player well before taking steroids but he was also a Hall of Fame asshole
I am so glad i am not from the Bay Area and have to pretend to want cheer for this guy
it must be a really contradictory feeling for Giants fans

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by marc26;

BB was a Hall of Fame player well before taking steroids but he was also a Hall of Fame asshole
I am so glad i am not from the Bay Area and have to pretend to want cheer for this guy
it must be a really contradictory feeling for Giants fans

Not contradictory at all! We Giant fans all love the guy! He is still one of the most exciting players to watch when he strides up to the plate. Without him, it wouldn't be much fun going to Giant games at all. He is Mr. Excitement at the bat.

The asshole tag is a bum rap. He's a good guy. But the media are against him, even some of the SF media. Why? Simply because he doesn't give interviews after the game. There was a time when he did, but you just got so many reporters being assholes, hassling him with questions about his motivation, his health, his private life, his marriages,his family, stuff that had nothing to do with baseball, and stupid stuff like why he didn't sprint at top speed to first on a pop up as fast as possible? They were all over him for not hustling, not running out every grounder like a rookie trying to stick in the bigs, and why does he get special treatment in the clubhouse?

The answer to the "no-hustle" accusations was that he had a bad hamstring. He knows that if he pulls it bad, then he is out for a month, and how does that help the team? If he pulls it too often, it becomes chronic, and he misses most of the season. He never pretended to be Charlie Hustle. He was just using common sense, but these know-it-all reporters want to make it a crime to not act like Charlie Hustle at all times.

It was then that he stopped talking to reporters, except on the odd occasion when he feels like it. He has been paid top dollar and is expected to produce top results. To do that he needs to really focus. He knows that he would be cheating the fans, if he lost that focus because he let reporters, trying any trick to create a story/controversy, get under his skin, and cause him to produce less because of the added stress and aggravation. There are few players under the kind of scrutiny and pressure that Bonds endures, especially this year and last with him chasing Ruth and Aaron. Can you imagine the same bullshit questions about what he thinks of Ruth and Aaron that he would be asked over and over by reporters trying to trick him into saying something which they would then take out of context and splash all over the headlines to make him look bad. It would be a nightmare and he would be a fool to subject himself to that. When I have heard him give interviews, one-on-one to local reporters, he has been a very upfront, no bullshit guy in the way he answers their questions, and explains how he sees things. Only SF fans hear those interviews, and we respect and love the guy. He has given a lot to SF and didn't jump ship and go to the Yankees like Giambi, Tejada, Kent and Schmidt to the Dodgers, and so many others. He is not a rent-a-player. He never sold out. He stayed here because he loves being a Giant, and to Giant fans, he is the best!

That lazy tag is baloney. He works out harder than all but a very few players. The proof is look at Sosa and Pudge Rodriguez, and other known steroid users; when they got off steroids, those big muscles shrunk way down and they are much smaller. Bonds is still every bit as big, and still hitting the monster shots. 756 was a 435 foot shot to right center, which would have been out of any park anywhere, any time. The man is 43, not taking steroids, and still hitting the tape measure shots. His current 23 HRs will probably match any player today in either league on a HR per at-bat basis.

The national media doesn't know or care to know the real Barry Bonds, because they can make their money trying to take him down.

[mars]

A great feat and well worth a cheer

My base ball expertise goes down to one visit to watch the O'Jays but if I cross the Atlantic again in the season I'd try to make another match.

[Pinot]

He may be a cheater but he's our cheater.

My next door neighbor was sitting 4 rows from where the homerun landed. He had a camera on and filmed it. He sold the clip for $500 after he posted it on Youtube. It goes black for awhile because he was trying to pull his 11 year old son out of the scrum. This is great:
YouTube - Barry Bonds #756

[slinggalin]

Congrats to Barry

I remember when he was with the Pirates. Must say I'm not keen on steroids either, but it sure put my interest back into the sport when mcGuire and Sousa were dueling it out a few years back. and sure that was due to "roids" as well.

what the hey...

[nelsonone]

see they are saying on some news outlets that THAT ball is worth $2m and that the guy who caught it has gone to Australia to get away from the press etc.....

saw he needed a police escort outta the ground as the other fans were beating on him tryingf to get the ball.....sad sport has sucumbed to this big business mentality IMHO

[Pinot]

Originally Posted by Bono

Excitement and baseball, just 2 words that dont go together zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz got to be the most boring sport ever, I rather wanna watch ladys open in bagpipe.

And 100% agree with Poul on his view on BB

It's tough to match the pure excitement of Denmark sports.

[Dojoden]

Barry can eat my shorts. Everytime you look in the books there will be a * next to his name. Sad for baseball really.

[Pinot]

I'm not a Giants fan. Barry is an assohle but, I've always stopped to watch Bonds bat. He sells out stadiums.

I could care less if anyone else ever took steroids. Catch me if you can. Its entertainment.

[Dojoden]

Originally Posted by Pinot

I'm not a Giants fan. Barry is an assohle but, I've always stopped to watch Bonds bat. He sells out stadiums.

I could care less if anyone else ever took steroids. Catch me if you can. Its entertainment.

Here is a quotation from some guy that had viewed the youtube vid:

There's no question Barry Bonds was a great hitter before he took steroids, but do you actually think he would still be hitting homeruns at this pace if he wasn't on steroids. He was hitting on average 30-35 homeruns a year, then suddenly he starts hitting homeruns in the 50s, 60s, 70s range starting in his mid-thirties, which is way past a ballplayer's prime. I don't question his work ethic, I question the drugs he used to improve his work ethic.

I could not agree more... The guys a cheat plain and simple. It does not help thats hes a reall arssehole too.

[MrDK]

Originally Posted by Bono

Excitement and baseball, just 2 words that dont go together zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz got to be the most boring sport ever, I rather wanna watch ladys open in bagpipe.

I have been to 3 baseball games in the 24 years I have been in the US.
The first time I was invited as a company event and about 2/3 way through I asked if it was OK that I paid the company the cost of admission so that I in good conscience could go home.
The second time I was on a date and was asked by other spectators to go home because I was talking the whole time and distracting others.
The third time I had fun, but only because my friends team was loosing and I was teasing him all the way.

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by Dojoden001;

Barry can eat my shorts. Every time you look in the books there will be a * next to his name. Sad for baseball really.

There absolutely, positively will be no asterisk for this record, because:

1) Baseball had no rule against using steroids at the time even skinny utility infielders were hitting 20 HRs per year, which is when Bonds is accused of taking steroids. He broke no rules.

2) It has never been proven that Bonds took steroids. If they could prove it, they would lock him up for lying to a grand jury. They tried to prove it for years, but could not. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by Dojoden001;

There's no question Barry Bonds was a great hitter before he took steroids, but do you actually think he would still be hitting homeruns at this pace if he wasn't on steroids.

He doesn't take steroids and anyone who says he does is crazy. They test for steroids now, do not allow them, and he would be SO screwed if he used them now.

How many 43 year old left-fielders have ever played the game? Did steroids enable him to play left-field at the age of 43? It is a well-known fact that most heavy steroid users careers were shortened by injuries which are attributed to their steroid use. He is still able to play left field at his age simply because he is an extraordinary athlete

Originally Posted by Dojoden001;

He was hitting on average 30-35 homeruns a year, then suddenly he starts hitting homeruns in the 50s, 60s, 70s range starting in his mid-thirties, which is way past a ballplayer's prime. .

That statement is simply untrue. He only hit 50 HRs or more in a season once and that was the year he hit 73. Back in '93, long before the part of his career when he is accused of having used steroids, he hit 46 HRs. The most HRs he ever hit in a year(besides the 73 HR year) is 49. His third best year for HRs was the year he hit 46.

Where are these supposed years of hitting 50s, 60s, and 70s HRs? There was only one such year, 2001.

As for having his best years way past his prime, he was 37 in his best year for HRs. Hank Aaron was also 37 years old in the year when he had his best HR total. Does that mean Aaron was on steroids, too? Of course not. It is not uncommon for guys to put on weight and lose speed, but gain power as they age.

Another example of this is Muhammad Ali, a brilliant boxer, who virtually danced around the ring in his youth, but did not have a big punch, and wouldn't stand toe-to-toe with an opponent and trade punches. At the age of 36, when he won the heavyweight championship for the third time, he was a heavier, powerfully built, muscular man, but no longer was light on his feet, and would trade punches with opponents and rely on his power, rather than his speed.

[Mav]

Will he be riding in next years Tour de France ?

[Pinot]

Ya, but he's still our cheater and arsehole.

Dojoden
Do they test for steroids in the NHB/full contact fighting? If not they should be taking them. It's perfect for that. The thing about steroids is that they increase recovery time. You can train like a maniac, then train more. You get bigger and better, you win more, you make more money, screw better women, drive fasterer cars. I'd be surprised if the fighters weren't taking the juice or anything else that would give a fighter an edge.

We're talking about BB here, I don't care if he juiced. He didn't get caught!!! He probably lied to the grand jury but I don't care about that. He hits HRs. The most EVER. We salute Barry. Now retire and go way.

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by Pinot;

Ya, but he's still our cheater and arsehole.

Dojoden
Do they test for steroids in the NHB/full contact fighting? If not they should be taking them. It's perfect for that. The thing about steroids is that they increase recovery time. You can train like a maniac, then train more. You get bigger and better, you win more, you make more money, screw better women, drive fasterer cars. I'd be surprised if the fighters weren't taking the juice or anything else that would give a fighter an edge.

We're talking about BB here, I don't care if he juiced. He didn't get caught!!! He probably lied to the grand jury but I don't care about that. He hits HRs. The most EVER. We salute Barry. Now retire and go way.

Better living through chemistry.

[Dojoden]

Originally Posted by Pinot

Ya, but he's still our cheater and arsehole.

Dojoden
Do they test for steroids in the NHB/full contact fighting? If not they should be taking them. It's perfect for that. The thing about steroids is that they increase recovery time. You can train like a maniac, then train more. You get bigger and better, you win more, you make more money, screw better women, drive fasterer cars. I'd be surprised if the fighters weren't taking the juice or anything else that would give a fighter an edge.

We're talking about BB here, I don't care if he juiced. He didn't get caught!!! He probably lied to the grand jury but I don't care about that. He hits HRs. The most EVER. We salute Barry. Now retire and go way.

Never taking them and never will. The rules are different in MMA concerning enhancments. I know of several off hand that do take them tho. Met a fighter in the philippines that was talking so high about them. Funny thing was he was12 years younger and could not keep up with me for my morning run after all night on the piss. He was a huge guy tho

JB if you dont think the guy has been on roids then you need to rethink. No way no how. Im not saying he a great hitter but that guy needed a little bit of a boost to get where he is at. Not saying he doing it now, but b4 all the testing craze hit Im sure of it. So is the rest of the world.

Pinot no worries you can have him. He does attract a crowd. Reminds me of the "worm" years ago. Yes he did not get caught but like I said there will always be an ** next to his name. See dictioanry means= cheater

[Pinot]

Yea rules. Geneva convention use to be our rules. Times change.

2012 Baseball rules change to allow steroids. Bonds becomes a saint. I think the years will be kind to Bonds. Hall of fame. No asteriks.

I could be wrong. I usually am.