Barry Bonds - a man of the people (calling people idiots)

[sir clinksalot]

Bonds is an 'idiot'

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070919/..._bonds756_ball

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds said the man who bought his 756th home run ball and announced plans to let the public decide its fate is an "idiot."

Fashion designer Marc Ecko had the winning bid Saturday in the online auction for the ball that Bonds hit last month to break Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs. The final selling price was $752,467, well above most predictions.

Ecko, 35, has set up a Web site that lets visitors vote on three options for the ball: give it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk before sending it to Cooperstown or blast it into space on a rocket ship.

The asterisk would suggest that Bonds' record is tainted by alleged steroid use. The Giants slugger has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

"All of those options don't weigh anything," Bonds told the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday night in Phoenix. "In baseball, that number (756) stands."

Bonds said Ecko could have found a better way to spend three-quarters of a million dollars.

"He's stupid. He's an idiot," Bonds said. "He spent $750,000 on the ball and that's what he's doing with it? What he's doing is stupid."

Ecko did not directly respond to Bonds' comments Wednesday, but said in a statement he would make Bonds a custom T-shirt that says, "Marc Ecko paid $752,467 for my ball, and all I got was this 'stupid' T-shirt.'"

Ecko plans to announce what he will do with No. 756 after voting ends Sept. 25.

Ben Padnos, the California entrepreneur who submitted the $186,750 winning bid on Bonds' record-tying 755th home run ball, said Tuesday he also plans to have the public vote on what to do with it.

You can vote on what the winner should do with the ball here: http://www.vote756.com/marcecko/

I vote for Asterisk.

[LuvsLilo]

I voted for the asterisk.

[KISSman]

I voted for the asterisk as well.

I mean, technically, I'd like to see it blasted into space (or blown up), but the fact that it will exist with an asterisk probably in the Hall of Fame is such a slap in the face to Barry Bonds and it will be a reminder to everyone who sees it.

I love the idea that this taints the ball of a tainted record.

[mouseinphilly]

756*

That is all.

[STODD]

Here's the problem with the asterisk:
Assuming he's juiced, that is...
Almost every pitcher in MLB juices, HGH's or partakes of any number of other performance enhancing drugs that are banned by baseball(not just roid-type drugs). The Player's Union only allows MLB to test urine only, therefor, testing is highly inaccurate as to what these athletes are taking.

I now live in the heart of Off Season Paradise. When MLB is not in season, most of the players come out here to train and get therapies of all sorts. I know, my orthopedic doctor and physical therapist work on many of the Major League Baseball players. I know many of the rumors as truth and many of the "truths" as complete malarkey. The common statement across the board is that pitchers do HGH and anabolics to maintain arm speed and recovery time after pitching 6 or 7 innings. Steroids and "supplements" are rampant in MLB(not just home run hitters).

So, if Bonds has juiced to maintain his edge to hit home runs(it has been argued that it does nothing for eye/hand coordination-the real skill of hitting 100mph fastballs), you can rest assured most, if not all, of the pitchers he has faced, are juiced up as well.

With that in mind, I say no asterisk...at least until MLB is able to police "supplements" better and more aggressively.

As far as Bonds being an AH:
Who cares?! So many athletes and celebrities, actually, are jackasses. Bonds is merely one of them.

[sir clinksalot]

The reason I say asterisk is not because the pitchers he is hitting against are juiced too, because they probably are.

The reason I say asterisk is because the people's who's records are being broken, were not juiced. And in the case of players like Babe Ruth, they were showing up to the games, drunk or hung-over. Now THAT takes talent.

[mousercise]

I voted to brand it.

[hollywood1939]

Asterisk please.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Forget the ball, can we blast Bonds into orbit?

-- PMM

[STODD]

Originally Posted by sir clinksalot

The reason I say asterisk is not because the pitchers he is hitting against are juiced too, because they probably are.

The reason I say asterisk is because the people's who's records are being broken, were not juiced. And in the case of players like Babe Ruth, they were showing up to the games, drunk or hung-over. Now THAT takes talent.

I agree with you that the talent of players in the pre roid era were of a whole different making, however, I still have to say that the competition was just as demanding, maybe even more so today. Players weren't playing for millions of dollars back then, nor were the salaries even comparable.

I say even with the roid assumptions we have of today's players, it's harder to set these records that everyone has cheapened by inferring it's easier now due to those drugs. The risk is greater, the competition is greater, the schedules are more difficult and life is just plain harder - even for a multi million dollar athlete.

And agree with you that the Babe and I'll add Ty Cobb were the most talented players of their day. It is amazing that they set the benchmarks they did in the state they were in(assuming the stories we have heard are true).

[Alchimedes]

Bonds is no different then the professional road cyclists, soccer players, etc and or any other athlete that was involved in the scandal Operation Puerto.
I agree the demands are greater in all sports.
But that doesn't mean that it's ok to continue to use performance enhancing drugs.

Interesting situation in the 1988 Tour De France. Pedro Delgado used a drug that was not on the U.C.I list, but was only on the Olympic committee's list. He went on to win.
Asterik for Bonds.

[STODD]

Originally Posted by TicTocDragon

But that doesn't mean that it's ok to continue to use performance enhancing drugs.

I agree 100 percent, however, MLB's continued casual enforcement of it's drug policies, in essence, gives permission to it's athletes to do what ever they can to get an edge. Simply put, this is the way of modern baseball and it will continue to flourish as long as MLB doesn't curb the behavior. Bonds' records are no more tarnished than any other player's records in today's game. If we aren't going to asterisk them all, Bonds should be free of the dreaded asterisk as well. Again, assuming he is a juicer...

[sir clinksalot]

I think the MLB needs to look at what the cycling world has done with Floyd Landis' and try to bring some dignity back to America's game.

[STODD]

Agreed.

[painted windows]

I wouldn't mind if they blasted it into space but voted the Asterisk. Thats how it should be.