- Mar 13, 2002
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Every time you want to like Barry Bonds, he opens his mouth and gives you another reason that makes it hard to. His ramblings at the All-Star Game provided more evidence of his inability to generate any goodwill for himself or his sport. There was his ode to the Negro League Museum in Kansas City, Mo. in which he alluded to "segregation" in baseball because that institution is separate from the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. -- the same Negro League Museum Bonds blew off a couple of years ago when he ignored their invitation to be presented with one of their Legacy Awards. And then there was his promise to "wipe out" Babe Ruth from the record book and baseball history.
Hank Aaron can have his home run record and Willie Mays' 660 home runs give him pause, Bonds said, but Ruth? Bonds figuratively spit on his grave, ignorant of the unparalleled contributions Ruth made to the game. Until Bonds is a two-time 20-game winner and a career .342 hitter and feels any inkling of responsibility to the game beyond increasing his own worth, he should worship Babe Ruth for helping to make baseball both the sport and the national treasure that has allowed him to become so enriched.
There are reasons Bonds was booed at the All-Star Game. There are reasons major league players, in a July 7, 2003 Sports Illustrated survey, voted Bonds as the best player in the game, but declared that they would rather play with Alex Rodriguez. There are reasons companies don't want to be associated with Bonds as they do Rodriguez, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and, back in the day, yes, Babe Ruth. Those reasons come straight from Bonds himself.
Hank Aaron can have his home run record and Willie Mays' 660 home runs give him pause, Bonds said, but Ruth? Bonds figuratively spit on his grave, ignorant of the unparalleled contributions Ruth made to the game. Until Bonds is a two-time 20-game winner and a career .342 hitter and feels any inkling of responsibility to the game beyond increasing his own worth, he should worship Babe Ruth for helping to make baseball both the sport and the national treasure that has allowed him to become so enriched.
There are reasons Bonds was booed at the All-Star Game. There are reasons major league players, in a July 7, 2003 Sports Illustrated survey, voted Bonds as the best player in the game, but declared that they would rather play with Alex Rodriguez. There are reasons companies don't want to be associated with Bonds as they do Rodriguez, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and, back in the day, yes, Babe Ruth. Those reasons come straight from Bonds himself.
