As I mentioned a few days ago, right here is one of the reasons the Pirates put together a few good seasons in the early 90s. A skinnier version of Bonds won the first two of his seven MVP awards as a member of the Pirates. After Bonds' departure from the Pirates after the 1992 season, the team went south and hasn't had a winning record since.
Judging by the camera man in blue, the photo looks to have been taken at the same game as the base release card. I'm not sure what's going on with the closeup on the reverse though. I think it's the only non-head shot in the set. Maybe Barry wouldn't let them get any closer. It's not a bad looking photo though.
Since I don't really want to talk much about Bonds, I'll just copy and paste what I said when I came across his card in the base release, it still fits.
It's a good looking card of a promising young player. A player who had the potential to be one of the very best the game has ever seen, but a player who let success get the better of him, a player who lost touch with the fans and a player who in my opinion didn't show a whole hell of a lot of respect to the great thing he accomplished. And in my opinion a player who should never be in the Hall of Fame, but I'm not a baseball writer so what I think as a fan doesn't really matter.
Barry Bonds' career statistics
4 comments:
I too believe Barry was once a great player and is now just a cheater not worthy of comparison to Henry Aaron or Babe Ruth.
My idea for what to do with him (click here).
I think you may have something there. In the next ten years the writers are really going to have to do some hard thinking about how to deal with the issue.
McGwire was a cheater, we all know that. But I think he should be in the Hall. He cheated, fine, but look at what he did for the game. Look at all the fans he helped bring back after the strike.
More than anything, it's Barry Bonds' attitude towards everyone around him that keeps him out in my book. Lashing out at the media or refusing interviews is one thing, players are people too and they get frustrated with flies buzzing around their ears just like the rest of us. But Bonds comes across as an asshole to everyone, fans included.
I'm not saying all players have to be nice, again they're people and they have bad days, a fight with the wife, sore tooth, whatever. Some days I'm a dick, some days we all are. But there's a certain level of professionalism that keeps the world running smoothly that Bonds was always lacking.
The home run title belongs to Bonds. It's as simple as that. He cheated his way to it, but it's his, he hit more than anyone else. In my mind Henry Aaron will aways be the home run king though. He may not have hit as many as Barry, but he handled himself professionally and with more class than just about any ball player ever.
I totally agree with you about Bonds. Without steroids he would have been a first ballot Hall Of Famer. Now he is simply a sad footnote in baseball history.
Yeah. Had he been able to keep the pace he set the first several years od his career he could have gone down as one of the best players in the game. He hit for power, average, had good speed and better than average fielding ability.
Bonds probably wouldn't have broken the record at that pace, but he more than likely would have hit well over 600. But, Aaron was never really a prolific home run hitter, he just performed consistently his entire career.
Like I said, McGwire belongs in the Hall just for what he did for the game. Bonds broken an amazing record, but all his accomplishments did was polarize fan opinion. I'm sure he still has fans out there who want to see him in the Hall, and they deserve their voice and Bonds deserves consideration. He wouldn't get my vote, but, again, I'm not a baseball writer.
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