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August 22 in Sports History: Baseball’s ugliest brawl


In 1965: The ugliest brawl in baseball history took place at Candlestick Park in a game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. Upset that Dodgers’ pitcher Sandy Koufax would not retaliate against Giants’ pitcher Juan Marichal for hitting two Dodgers, catcher John Roseboro took matters into his own hands. When Marichal stepped to the plate, Roseboro threw the ball back to Koufax by barely missing Marichal’s head. Marichal said something, and a 14-minute melee ensued when Marichal hit Roseboro on the head with the bat. Roseboro needed 14 stitches to close the wound. Marichal, one of the best pitchers of the sixties, was suspended eight games and fined a then-record $1750. The brawl also cost him election into the Hall of Fame on his first two ballots. Check out this story for more.

In 2000: At Coors Field, Colorado Rockies’ catcher Brett Mayne became just the third position player in history to win a game on the mound. Having already used an NL record 10 pitchers, the Rockies sent Mayne to the mound, and he worked a scoreless 11th inning. He got the win when the Rockies scored in the bottom of the inning to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6. Also, in San Diego, Derek “Operation Shutdown” Bell of the Mets mopped up on the mound in a 16-1 loss to the Padres. He didn’t fare as well, giving up three hits, three walks and four earned runs. (baseballlibrary.com)

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Bonds could get suspended

According to the Washington Post, Bud Selig is considering suspending Barry Bonds should he get indicted next week by the federal grand jury for tax evasion, money laundering and perjury charges.

Being indicted doesn’t mean you’re guilty but come on.. this is Bonds. The whole third stage of his career practically reeks of guilty. Steroids? Guilty. Tax evasion? Probably guilty. Money laundering? Probably guilty. Perjury charges? Guilty. Being an asshole? Guilty.

There’s no precedent for Bud Selig suspending Bonds for an indictment and former commissioner Fay Vincent doesn’t think any suspension would stick. However, some say this might just be a ploy by the league office to get Bonds to leave the game on his own accord. If Bonds says he won’t be back next season (and therefore not threaten Hank Aaron’s record), the talk of suspending him will just magically disappear.

They really should have called his reality show “Everybody Hates Barry”.

Links:
[MSNBC]: MLB might suspend Bonds if he’s indicted

[International Herald Tribune]: Bonds snaps back as legal case nears

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San Francisco Giants

Going to get a beer every time Bonds is at bat


CBP during Barry’s 715th homer

A few years ago, figuring out when Bonds was going to hit another 2 to 3 homers was pretty easy — just give him about a week. Well, he’s now 2 away from tying Ruth’s record and 3 from breaking it, and there’s a 3 game series at Philly over the weekend. He could do it in Philly or it could take him the rest of this month to jack up another 3. But unless he’s in the friendly confines or Willie Mays Park, there’s no telling the reaction he’ll get.

Philly is probably the last place you’d want to break the record if you were Bonds. Not only would you not get any cheers, you’d get roundly booed. Or, if some people get their way, you could hear a pin drop. Yes, some folks are saying that every time Bonds gets up to bat, the entire stadium should make a concession run. Theoretically, you’d have to start the mass exodus during Steve Finley’s at-bat. But you’re smart folks, you’ll figure it out.

If you truly think Bonds cheated and he doesn’t deserve to beat Ruth on the home run list, a deafening silence is more effective than any vitriol you can hurl Barry’s way. Hell, Barry loves being hated. If the stands were completely empty, Barry just might just curl up in a fetal position and cry. And that makes this potentially the most brilliant idea ever in protest. It would certainly make history.

Or, alternately, just start throwing feces onto the field.

Links:
[SI]:
Lidle: Bonds’ chase not ‘legitimate’
[Yahoo]: San Francisco Giants May Schedule

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San Francisco Giants

Barry will pass Ruth but not Hank Aaron



Steroids give you psychic abilities

It seems that Barry is giving Bud Selig and George Mitchell’s “independent” investigation a way to save face. In an interview with MLB.com on Sunday, Bonds said that doesn’t think he can catch Hank Aaron because of his deteriorating knees.

Bonds will posture that he’s chasing Aaron and not Ruth but it is clear that Ruth is his target. By passing Babe Ruth but not Hank Aaron, there won’t be as much of an uproar over Bonds’ place on the all time HR list because he won’t be at the top of it. Over the weekend, Bonds hit his first HR of the season, putting him just 6 shy of breaking the Babe’s mark. Most people have already assumed he would pass Ruth’s record at some point this season so that 715th jack will get plenty of time on Sportscenter but register a collective shrug from baseball fans. Yes, there will be plenty of boos but there won’t be the protests and petitions to put an asterisk next to Bonds’ name like there would be if he got to 756.

Perhaps Barry can’t take the abuse anymore. We wonder how he could have put up with this much. This year, he’s already had a syringe (sans needle) and a tube of Icy Hot thrown at him, not to mention the banners and signs at every game. He knows he has to get through this year so that the hecklers won’t get the satisfaction of driving him from the game but there is no real incentive to go through another off season of speculation and another season of knee pain, ridicule and scrutiny just to be on top of a list that, if he were to get to reach the pinnacle of, might very well render the list inconsequential.

Plus, getting out of baseball and disappearing from view (anyone see Mark McGwire lately?) might just get the feds off his back about that pesky perjury charge.

Links:
[MLB.com]: Bonds: Passing Aaron not likely
[SFGate]: Jeers, not cheers for man who would be king of swat
[Cincinnati Post]: Bonds pays for sins of baseball

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San Francisco Giants

Hecklers can be so clever

During the Giants-Padres game last night, someone threw a syringe at Barry Bonds as he walked off the field. He smartly didn’t include the needle. Sports fans can be retarded sometimes but it’s times like these that they make us proud. If San Diego fans can boo Bonds mercilessly and throw a syringe at him, we can’t wait to see what the east coast fans dream up.


Hey, if that’s what they want to do, embarrass themselves, then that’s on them,” Bonds said of Padres fans. “That has nothing to do with me at all. I just have to play baseball.

Uh yeah, Barry. They’re embarrassing themselves. And a syringe has nothign to do with you. Nothing at all.

We smell a potential heckler product. We’ll mass produce a bunch of these things and then they’ll be banned in every stadium that Bonds plays in.

Links:
[SF Gate.com]: Laid-back San Diegans don’t hold back on Bonds

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San Francisco Giants

"Trade Barry!" sucks

We hate when marketers ruin a perfectly good grassroots idea and make it into their own. On April Fools Day, a huge Trade Barry! billboard went up right near SBC/AT&T Park in San Francisco. This would have been pretty cool as either a joke or a message from some disgruntled Giants fan. (Albeit a very stupid Giants fan – as if anyone would take Barry in a trade.)

It turns out that the it’s just the first stages of some ad campaign. “The message will evolve in coming days, said the source, who is familiar with the campaign. In the end, it won’t even be anti-Bonds.” Not even anti-Bonds? How lame. Whatever they’re selling, I ain’t buying.

Also, since we’re talking grassroots billboards, I went to check out Onepeat.com. It was a clever idea but greed ruined that too. “Onepeat.com is now a for-profit venture. We have opened a new online store and are now selling AFCA National Championship Coaches’ Trophy gear in addition to our billboard t-shirts.” Is it just me or does this seem wrong somehow? They had a pledge drive to erect a billboard and now because of the goodwill in people linking to the story, have decided to turn into a marketing site. It’s like PBS deciding to go to premium cable. Bah.

Links:
[SFGate.com]: Bonds sign is a work in progress

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San Francisco Giants

Barry Bonds is suing Game of Shadows authors


It’s too late for Barry to salvage his reputation. By this point, you either believe he knowingly used steroids or you maintain he thought it was only flaxseed oil. But that doesn’t mean Barry isn’t trying. Bonds is asking that all profits from Game of Shadows be donated to charity because the book was based on illegally obtained grand jury reports.

Bonds also is wants a federal judge to begin contemp-of-court proceedings against the authors, the publisher, The Chronicle, and Sports Illustrated. Gotham Books takes a shot at Bonds and his lawyer in a statement:


[Gotham Books is] shocked that Barry Bonds would take such a foolish step. Any respected First Amendment lawyer in America knows that his claim is nonsense. We stand by what our authors wrote.

Notice that Bonds isn’t suing for libel. You know why? Because even Bonds can’t say with a straight face that Game of Shadows isn’t true.

Related Links:
[SFGate]: Lawyers for Bonds plan to sue over steroids book
‘Game of Shadow

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San Francisco Giants

A note to the Barry Bonds apologists


I don’t think there is a soul left who thinks Barry Bonds didn’t take steroids, except possibly MC Hammer. However, the Bonds apologists will say that even though Barry took steroids, it wasn’t against the rules until last year so he didn’t really cheat and his records should stand.

Well, you’re wrong, and a June 7 1991 memo from MLB proves that. Just because the league didn’t test for steroids doesn’t mean it wasn’t banned.


The possession, sale or use of any illegal drug or controlled substance by Major League players or personnel is strictly prohibited. Major League players or personnel involved in the possession, sale or use of any illegal drug or controlled substance are subject to discipline by the Commissioner and risk permanent expulsion from the game.

This prohibition applies to all illegal drugs and controlled substances, including steroids

So what’s your excuse now, Bonds fans? Are you going back to the argument that he didn’t know they were steroids?

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San Francisco Giants

MC Hammer weighs in on Bonds


I didn’t even know MC Hammer had a blog but he’s giving his 2 cents on the Barry Bonds situation. In an open letter to Bonds, Hammer basically calls everyone a hater and tells Bonds to not to walk away from the game before breaking Hank Aaron’s record.

They want to discourage, pressure you and stress you out, literally. Barry don’t let them fool you. You are loved by many. I love you. You have brought me so much joy in your mastery of the game of baseball. Don’t let the bloodhounds win. Finish the mission. Do it for San Francisco, do it for baseball, do it for your kid’s, do it for your Dad (R.I.P.), and do it for yourself.

Do it for the kid’s? The kid’s what? Someone give MC Hammer a grammar lesson. Then someone tell MC Hammer to shut the hell up. I’m not sure who the millions of fans who are rooting for Barry that Hammer talks about are. Every poll I’ve seen has a majority not wanting Bonds to break the home run record. Wait, why am I even talking about what MC Hammer has to say. This is the guy who went gangsta after his career was failing and made a song called Pumps and a Bump.

Well, Hammer, Bonds might not get a chance. According to this LA Times article, Selig could use his “best interest of the game” powers to suspend Bonds. I don’t think he has the stones but it would be the right thing to do.

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San Francisco Giants

More on Bonds: Playing the race card



Who is this guy?

Well, it certainly didn’t take long for someone to play the race card, although it was from an unlikely source. My money would’ve been on Stephen A Smith (who only surfaces in baseball land to play race cards) or Scoop Jackson, but it was Hall of Famer Willie McCovey who cried foul.


Knowing what I have gone through in sports, there are always those little, you know, racial overtones. I don’t think it would be this big a deal if McGwire was still playing and was in the same shoes chasing that record. I don’t think they would be spending all this time to dig all this dirt up on him.

Perhaps people aren’t so much out to get Barry because he’s black but rather because he’s a world class asshole. Ironic that Barry originally started taking steroids because he was angry that a white guy would be considered a better hitter than he was.

Meanwhile, David Wells has to open his big fat mouth and say that he doesn’t want Barry to break Babe Ruth’s record. First of all, why is David Wells talking so much lately, shouldn’t he be stuffing his face with Krispy Kremes while stealing paychecks from the Red Sox?

Second, I know Wells has a obsession with Babe Ruth but you know someone is already finishing up a column on why we don’t want Bonds to break Babe Ruth’s mark because he’s white. (Nevermind that Hank Aaron owns the record and he’s black.)
I realize the race card is easy to play if you want to avoid actually writing something with substance but can we get off of it already?

If you still insist on maintaining that Bonds didn’t do steroids, check out this photo gallery of Bonds throughout his career.

[Reuters]: Hall member sees racist tinge in Bonds allegation
[MSNBC]: Wells doesn’t want Bonds to pass Ruth