Sure-Oz
06-26-2008, 01:52 PM
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/06/26/ok-im-convinced-kc-should-sign-barry/
LONG READ
OK, I’m Convinced: K.C. Should Sign Barry
Here’s why 12-game losing streaks stink: The Royals have won 10 of 11, they have made mincemeat out of the Senior Circuit, they are again showing off some of the better young pitching around, and they are STILL digging out of the wreckage. You know, if they just win three of those games — JUST THREE — they’re within one game of .500, they’re within five games of the lead, there’s some buzz about them. Instead, they’re a less impressive seven games under .500, they’re only sort of in the race, there’s more of a “You know, they’re not as bad as I thought” kind of buzz, which isn’t the same thing.
Still, there’s something pretty nice happening. The Royals have four starters who are 27 or younger (and the other starter, Gil Meche, won’t turn 30 until September), they have Mariano v.2.0 in the bullpen, and offensively they have … well, they have four starters who are 27 or younger (and the other starter, Gil Meche, won’t turn 30 until September), and they have Mariano v.2.0 in the bullpen and offensively they have … well, they have four starters …
OK, they do have SOME offensive promise too, David DeJesus is stinging the ball and playing every day, Alex Gordon will be a good player, I still have a lot of hope for Mark Teahen, Mike Aviles keeps slugging .600 and Billy Butler is hitting .337/.417/.564 in Omaha and should be back up soon enough. I realize that at this point roughly 93% of you are now saying: “Sheesh, he’s talking about Royals MINOR LEAGUERS now, man, I don’t care about the Royals, would you get to the Barry part already?”
All right. I’ve long had mixed feelings about Barry Bonds. On the one hand, as I’ve mentioned here before, Barry has treated me incredibly well through the years, about as well as any out-of-town player I can recall. I don’t chalk this up to anything but a few lucky spins of the roulette wheel, but I cannot in good conscience write anything about Barry Bonds without mentioning that the four or five times I’ve personally dealt with him in a one-on-one setting, he’s been gracious, engaging, patient, charming. I’ve always felt a little guilty about it when media friends start telling their Barry horror stories — I sort of feel like the guy who says, “Funny, every time I go into the Department of Motor Vehicles, there’s no line at all and they’re so nice to me.” Still, there’s a personal reality here. Barry Bonds has given me great interviews, and I’ve liked him a lot every time I have walked away. I’m not trying to make the guy sound like Will Rogers; but this is still part of the picture for me.
On the other hand … yeah, I know. I’ve read the two Barry books*. I’ve heard the stories of evil. I’m obviously well aware of the steroid stain, and I appreciate that it’s more or less accepted by the masses that he’s one of the game’s all-time cheats, and I’m also aware the many of his past teammates think he’s a Grade A Andujar and has been going back to his Little League days.
*1. Barry Potter and the Vial of Winstrol. 2. Barry Potter and the Half Blood Test.
So, my feeling about Barry has long been: Not worth the trouble. Sure, he could put up big numbers,* but there would be a circus around, the home fans would boo him, teammates would grumble, every home run would make a lot of us feel bad for Hank Aaron all over again. Plus, there’s a reality; even Barry Bonds has to age sometime, and who knows, maybe he would come back and be a shell. It’s not impossible. He’s going to be 44 next month. The sadness of seeing a 1975 Harmon Killebrew or a 1973 Willie Mays or a 2007 Neifi would not exactly be an uplifiting viewing or playing experience. It just ain’t worth it.
*If you plug in fairly conservative Barry numbers in the Royals lineup — say .450 and .550, which is still down from last year — the Royals lineup that was scoring 4.91 runs per game is suddenly scoring 5.34 runs. As many readers pointed out, that really is a huge, huge difference.
So that was my feeling before. But here’s what happened: Nobody has signed Barry Bonds. And nobody has signed Barry Bonds. And nobody has signed Barry Bonds. Then his agent came out and said that Barry has offered his services to all 30 teams for the minimum salary. The minimum! Then he said he does not even want the minimum; he would donate his salary so kids could watch baseball games. Kids!
And I started thinking: You know, the Royals should sign this guy. The circus? Hell, the Royals could USE a little circus. It’s been how long — Bo? — since they’ve had a good circus. The booing? You know, people in Kansas City are pretty friendly, and if Barry hit a few homers and showed up at a charity event or two and the Royals won a few more games the booing would probably lessen considerably — shoot, this town cheered Andre Rison. The teammates grumbling? Maybe not. In this clubhouse, some people would probably want Barry’s autograph. The steroid stain? Come on, there are heavy steroid users playing everywhere in baseball, and just because we don’t “know” who they are doesn’t mean anything. It’s like the old 1960s Mafia types — maybe you couldn’t convict them in court, but you sure knew they were around.
More than anything, though, I was thinking this: If Barry is REALLY willing to play for nothing, if he’s really out to prove something to himself and everyone in baseball, then you can bet he will be the good Barry for the final three months, the genial guy who I kept lucking into in interviews. He’d be on his best behavior. Three months? Anyone can do that.
No, it wouldn’t be easy — there would be a whole bunch of “If the Royals sign Barry Bonds, I’m done with them forever” fans. And if you’re being honest, sure, you’d have to concede the thing could turn into an out-and-out disaster, a Heaven’s Gate type disaster, with people getting fired, and fans fleeing the stadiums and mass hysteria. No doubt.
But let me say two things. One, as far as I know, Barry Bonds didn’t kill anybody. He didn’t assault anybody. He didn’t throw any games. He didn’t bet on any games. He didn’t get caught drinking and driving. He didn’t have any false gods, didn’t make any idols, didn’t covet any neighbors d0nkeys, didn’t steal, didn’t do much of anything that more or less half the other ballplayers in the game are doing. No team OWES Barry Bonds a shot, but I also think of America as a place that takes chances on people. I certainly do not see why a team couldn’t GIVE Barry Bonds a shot.
Second, and this is selfish, I think there’s a shot that Barry Bonds could make the Royals contenders in the A.L. Central this year. The division is wide open, nobody’s any good (although the Tigers sure are coming on) and the Royals have all that young pitching, and they have a WIDE OPEN spot in the No. 3 hole. Barry could play a little outfield (Teahen moves to first), he could play a little DH (the Royals really don’t have one), heck, Barry might even be able to play a little first himself. And sure, I’ve talked about the potential disaster, but how about this: If Barry Bonds came to freaking Kansas City, played for the minimum, and at age 44 acted like a good guy and signed a few autographs and mussed the hair of a couple of bat boys and banged a few homers and led the Royals into a real live pennant race … holy cow, that’s The Natural come to life. The Royals might even carve lightning bolts into their bats. I’d have my next book!
You know what? I think they should do it Why not? They tried to trade for Milton Bradley last year. They signed Jose Guillen in the offseason. They’ve shown they’re not afraid to take on a little attitude. Take away the emotions and steroid talk, and Barry Bonds is one of the three or four best players in the history of the game, he’s on Mount Rushmoreno. I’m not saying he really WOULD come to Kansas City for the minimum (and give the money to kids for tickets!). I suspect that if it is Kansas City making the offer, he may suddenly have a lot of excuses (“Oh, I’d love to, but there’s the spider web in the corner of my garage, and I’ve just GOT to get rid of that thing”).
But if he’s serious, I’d do it. Absolutely. Yes, the commissioner’s office would howl behind the scenes (I suspect there is no way that Royals owner David Glass would ever do this … he’s close with Bud Selig). Other teams would grumble about the collusion that is really, really not happening. But I wouldn’t care. Baseball has kicked the Royals in the teeth for about 20 years now. I would sign Barry Bonds. I would kick back.
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 7:09 am.
LONG READ
OK, I’m Convinced: K.C. Should Sign Barry
Here’s why 12-game losing streaks stink: The Royals have won 10 of 11, they have made mincemeat out of the Senior Circuit, they are again showing off some of the better young pitching around, and they are STILL digging out of the wreckage. You know, if they just win three of those games — JUST THREE — they’re within one game of .500, they’re within five games of the lead, there’s some buzz about them. Instead, they’re a less impressive seven games under .500, they’re only sort of in the race, there’s more of a “You know, they’re not as bad as I thought” kind of buzz, which isn’t the same thing.
Still, there’s something pretty nice happening. The Royals have four starters who are 27 or younger (and the other starter, Gil Meche, won’t turn 30 until September), they have Mariano v.2.0 in the bullpen, and offensively they have … well, they have four starters who are 27 or younger (and the other starter, Gil Meche, won’t turn 30 until September), and they have Mariano v.2.0 in the bullpen and offensively they have … well, they have four starters …
OK, they do have SOME offensive promise too, David DeJesus is stinging the ball and playing every day, Alex Gordon will be a good player, I still have a lot of hope for Mark Teahen, Mike Aviles keeps slugging .600 and Billy Butler is hitting .337/.417/.564 in Omaha and should be back up soon enough. I realize that at this point roughly 93% of you are now saying: “Sheesh, he’s talking about Royals MINOR LEAGUERS now, man, I don’t care about the Royals, would you get to the Barry part already?”
All right. I’ve long had mixed feelings about Barry Bonds. On the one hand, as I’ve mentioned here before, Barry has treated me incredibly well through the years, about as well as any out-of-town player I can recall. I don’t chalk this up to anything but a few lucky spins of the roulette wheel, but I cannot in good conscience write anything about Barry Bonds without mentioning that the four or five times I’ve personally dealt with him in a one-on-one setting, he’s been gracious, engaging, patient, charming. I’ve always felt a little guilty about it when media friends start telling their Barry horror stories — I sort of feel like the guy who says, “Funny, every time I go into the Department of Motor Vehicles, there’s no line at all and they’re so nice to me.” Still, there’s a personal reality here. Barry Bonds has given me great interviews, and I’ve liked him a lot every time I have walked away. I’m not trying to make the guy sound like Will Rogers; but this is still part of the picture for me.
On the other hand … yeah, I know. I’ve read the two Barry books*. I’ve heard the stories of evil. I’m obviously well aware of the steroid stain, and I appreciate that it’s more or less accepted by the masses that he’s one of the game’s all-time cheats, and I’m also aware the many of his past teammates think he’s a Grade A Andujar and has been going back to his Little League days.
*1. Barry Potter and the Vial of Winstrol. 2. Barry Potter and the Half Blood Test.
So, my feeling about Barry has long been: Not worth the trouble. Sure, he could put up big numbers,* but there would be a circus around, the home fans would boo him, teammates would grumble, every home run would make a lot of us feel bad for Hank Aaron all over again. Plus, there’s a reality; even Barry Bonds has to age sometime, and who knows, maybe he would come back and be a shell. It’s not impossible. He’s going to be 44 next month. The sadness of seeing a 1975 Harmon Killebrew or a 1973 Willie Mays or a 2007 Neifi would not exactly be an uplifiting viewing or playing experience. It just ain’t worth it.
*If you plug in fairly conservative Barry numbers in the Royals lineup — say .450 and .550, which is still down from last year — the Royals lineup that was scoring 4.91 runs per game is suddenly scoring 5.34 runs. As many readers pointed out, that really is a huge, huge difference.
So that was my feeling before. But here’s what happened: Nobody has signed Barry Bonds. And nobody has signed Barry Bonds. And nobody has signed Barry Bonds. Then his agent came out and said that Barry has offered his services to all 30 teams for the minimum salary. The minimum! Then he said he does not even want the minimum; he would donate his salary so kids could watch baseball games. Kids!
And I started thinking: You know, the Royals should sign this guy. The circus? Hell, the Royals could USE a little circus. It’s been how long — Bo? — since they’ve had a good circus. The booing? You know, people in Kansas City are pretty friendly, and if Barry hit a few homers and showed up at a charity event or two and the Royals won a few more games the booing would probably lessen considerably — shoot, this town cheered Andre Rison. The teammates grumbling? Maybe not. In this clubhouse, some people would probably want Barry’s autograph. The steroid stain? Come on, there are heavy steroid users playing everywhere in baseball, and just because we don’t “know” who they are doesn’t mean anything. It’s like the old 1960s Mafia types — maybe you couldn’t convict them in court, but you sure knew they were around.
More than anything, though, I was thinking this: If Barry is REALLY willing to play for nothing, if he’s really out to prove something to himself and everyone in baseball, then you can bet he will be the good Barry for the final three months, the genial guy who I kept lucking into in interviews. He’d be on his best behavior. Three months? Anyone can do that.
No, it wouldn’t be easy — there would be a whole bunch of “If the Royals sign Barry Bonds, I’m done with them forever” fans. And if you’re being honest, sure, you’d have to concede the thing could turn into an out-and-out disaster, a Heaven’s Gate type disaster, with people getting fired, and fans fleeing the stadiums and mass hysteria. No doubt.
But let me say two things. One, as far as I know, Barry Bonds didn’t kill anybody. He didn’t assault anybody. He didn’t throw any games. He didn’t bet on any games. He didn’t get caught drinking and driving. He didn’t have any false gods, didn’t make any idols, didn’t covet any neighbors d0nkeys, didn’t steal, didn’t do much of anything that more or less half the other ballplayers in the game are doing. No team OWES Barry Bonds a shot, but I also think of America as a place that takes chances on people. I certainly do not see why a team couldn’t GIVE Barry Bonds a shot.
Second, and this is selfish, I think there’s a shot that Barry Bonds could make the Royals contenders in the A.L. Central this year. The division is wide open, nobody’s any good (although the Tigers sure are coming on) and the Royals have all that young pitching, and they have a WIDE OPEN spot in the No. 3 hole. Barry could play a little outfield (Teahen moves to first), he could play a little DH (the Royals really don’t have one), heck, Barry might even be able to play a little first himself. And sure, I’ve talked about the potential disaster, but how about this: If Barry Bonds came to freaking Kansas City, played for the minimum, and at age 44 acted like a good guy and signed a few autographs and mussed the hair of a couple of bat boys and banged a few homers and led the Royals into a real live pennant race … holy cow, that’s The Natural come to life. The Royals might even carve lightning bolts into their bats. I’d have my next book!
You know what? I think they should do it Why not? They tried to trade for Milton Bradley last year. They signed Jose Guillen in the offseason. They’ve shown they’re not afraid to take on a little attitude. Take away the emotions and steroid talk, and Barry Bonds is one of the three or four best players in the history of the game, he’s on Mount Rushmoreno. I’m not saying he really WOULD come to Kansas City for the minimum (and give the money to kids for tickets!). I suspect that if it is Kansas City making the offer, he may suddenly have a lot of excuses (“Oh, I’d love to, but there’s the spider web in the corner of my garage, and I’ve just GOT to get rid of that thing”).
But if he’s serious, I’d do it. Absolutely. Yes, the commissioner’s office would howl behind the scenes (I suspect there is no way that Royals owner David Glass would ever do this … he’s close with Bud Selig). Other teams would grumble about the collusion that is really, really not happening. But I wouldn’t care. Baseball has kicked the Royals in the teeth for about 20 years now. I would sign Barry Bonds. I would kick back.
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 7:09 am.