Why do people dislike Barry Bonds? A Rick Reilly/Jeff Kent conspiracy!

twoback, scroll up and read Trey's post.

There were other jerks on that team, including Smiley and Bonilla, but I doubt there was a bigger one than Bonds. I say that as someone who was a fan of his when he played for the Pirates. I was pissed off that the team didn't do more to keep him, but but his reputation as a jerk was and is well-earned.

And to get us back on topic, it was earned and it was out there well before Bonds even played with Jeff Kent.

 

Interesting thread topic. I agree with Bayless on this quite a bit.

Barry is self-centered and he built a wall around himself early, which was only natural (and probably smart) for someone who spent his adolescence watching his father (who obviously had his own issues) get traded six times in about a five-year span despite being one of the better players in the game. It taught him to be wary of everyone around him.

And, by the way, Andy Van Slyke was just the Pittsburgh version of Jeff Kent with slightly better one-liners. Both were the best white guys on the team and, not surprisingly, players with whom the mostly white media developed a much better comfort level. Barry obviously contributed to that by choosing not to play ball with the media.

Interesting that Pittsburgh stupidly chose to keep Van Slyke rather than Bonds and Bonilla, who was also a better player and who remains a terrific guy. If Van Slyke could play like he could talk, it would have been a great move.

Now, I've seen Barry treat other people in ways I wouldn't treat them but, conversely, I've seen him go way out of his way to help people and I've seen the conscientious side of him, too. I've never considered him a bad or evil person.

Bayless is also right about the way an asshole like Reilly used to have the power to establish a national label on a guy. People pick up on that. Local writers, fans and out-of-town media who know little, if anything, begin to make uninformed judgments based on those writings.

Hell, we can just watch as this thread gets filled with more uninformed judgments about Bonds.

 

I'm reading Jeff Pearlman's Bonds tome... he's been an ass since childhood. Way before that Reilly column.

 

And I should respect someone who uses the word "tome" in his second post? Please. Pearlman doesn't like Barry for the same reasons a majority of other media folks don't like Barry -- because Barry's neither nice nor cooperative with them. Still doesn't make him a bad person.

 

Have you read the Pearlman book? (I don't have 7500 posts, so I'll refrain from using $3 words like "tome")

 

I wouldn't read Pearlman's book if you paid me to read it. It's just another very late jump onto the trash Barry bandwagon as far as I'm concerned.

 

Well, I think we have established the parameters (am I allowed to use a word that big?) for a productive and insightful conversation about Barry Bonds, a misunderstood Mother Teresa for the new century.

 

As opposed to uninformed judgments about Jeff Pearlman?

Maybe you should read it instead of switching into your customary athlete shill mode.

We get it. Every athlete you dealt with is good, because you, O Mighty Arbiter of Athlete Good and Evil, say so, and every media member who dares impugn them is just an attention-seeking asshole. Thanks for clearing that up. As usual.

Am I going to get dinged for using the word Arbiter?

 

I don't need to read it nor do I feel compelled to read it. Pearlman's a talented guy but I also think he's more than a bit of a whiny hack. Unlike yourself, for example, I've got an informed opinion.

 

Saying you have an informed opinion and then refusing to read a book which may alter that opinion is more than a bit contradictory.

 

Thank you for a response in which you said nothing. You want us to believe Bonds isn't as bad as he seems? Convince us. Give us some anecdotal evidence. Putting out generalizations means bubkes. If your opinion is so informed, let's hear it.

 

I don't respect the author, nor do I need that particular book to enlighten me about Barry Bonds.