What can Barry do to win you over?

Hammerin Hank deserves more credit for dealing with the racial and social issues during his time and when Barry Bonds passes him on the Home Run list he will have ruined what was a unbelievable record only fit for a man of great character and morals. This country would do well to follow the path that players like Aaron had set. I am not an emotional man but I will cry inside and out when that egotistical manic passes, one of the greatest Men of our current times.

 

Not even if he offered to nuzzle my perineum.

 

All-Star voting among fans is a popularity contest. So do you think the vote suggests fans like Barry more than most of the media would have you believe, or do you think the fans are begrudgingly voting him in because they know he's that good?

 

Barry can take off the freaking body armor and stop being a dick. I'm not all that concerned with him using 'roids, as I happen to believe that most players used or are currently using PEDs. But there's not reason for him to be such a massive dick, and he shouldn't be leaning so far into the plate either. It bugs me.

 

Let's see that, too! It would be the first time he'd ever look happy doing something.

 

You're kidding yourself. Chase Utley leads among second basemen. Ken Griffey is fourth among outfielders.

 

I voted for Ken Griffey. FU cranberry

 

Three players, including Bonds, are ahead of him. That's all. Who's got better name recognition in baseball than Griffey? Maybe Jeter. Fans are actually relatively knowledgeable and informed these days, thanks in parts to cable TV, baseball package, fantasy and the Internet. Ortiz is first because he's a great player in a huge baseball-rabid market. Morneau just plays in a small market, but I'm not sure I wouldn't vote for Ortiz over him, anyway. He was placed on the ballot at first because there's no DH this year. Fans still want to see him play.

 

Paint my house.

I know a college baseball coach who knew Bonds at ASU. Said he was the world's biggest jerk back then.

This may no tbe true, but this coach, who knew coach Brock at ASU, said Brock had told him that once Bonds' teammates voted unanimously to boot him off the team after he was suspended for something. However, Brock's one vote trumped the rest of the team's and he was reinstated.

Point is, he apparently was a jerk back then, long before he became nationally famous.

 

Did someone ask you who you voted for? Does someone care? Should someone care?

I like Junior. If I cared enough to vote, I'd probably vote for him, too. OK?

 

Nothing.
He doesn't have to win me over. I don't care about him and he doesn't care about me.
So he used steroids, big fucking deal. He wasn't the first and he won't be the last.
So he's a self-center egomaniac cocksucker who treats people like shit. He's not the first and won't be the last.
I'll never understand why people spend any amount time directing so much energy and hate at a guy like Barry Bonds. Worry about something important.

Sorry, my rant is now over.

 

Griffey was No. 1 in name recognition in 1997, sure. I don't know about casual fans in 2007. Maybe he is; I hope so. I love the guy. Plus, he's having a helluva year.

Your question was: Are they voting Bonds in because they like him, or because they think he's that good? Well, I think it's a little of both, combined with the fact that he's one of the first players anyone would think of when you're talking about baseball.

But I don't think they're voting him in because he's more popular, per se, because obviously a lot of fans can't stand the guy. And I don't think they're voting him in necessarily because his play warrants it this year, although you could make a case for him. It's not that simple.

I don't know that fans are more knowledgeable than they ever were. Andruw Jones is fifth among NL outfielders, about 600 votes fewer than Griffey. He's having a horrendous year. And I don't know that he's ever been that popular among casual fans (or even knowledgeable fans). I just think that's a guy whose reputation precedes him, and whom fans think of as "an All-Star," regardless of how he's playing. So they vote for him, just like they vote for any good player they recognize and/or like when there's no clear-cut favorite at the position.