Barry Bonds and The Sound of One Hand Clapping
There is nothing in the hallowed 131-year history of major-league baseball – and for that matter U.S. sports, period — more sacred than the all-time career home run record. And no contemporary player who is more controversial than Barry Bonds.
Mark Spitz’s seven Olympic gold medals, Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories and Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game all were extraordinary, but somehow don’t compare.
So buckle your seat belts, sports fans, because there’s going to be a godawful collision next month when Bonds is expected to break Hank Aaron’s record of 755 career home runs.
Here’s why the collision will be a perfect sports storm:
Just as Aaron was both adored and reviled when he broke Babe Ruth’s 39-year old record of 714 home runs in 1974, so will be Bonds.
Bonds, like Aaron, is black, and some of the enmity for both stars was and is racially driven. But unlike Aaron, a clean living hard hitter, Bonds has been dogged by allegations that his run for the record books has been helped by performance-enhancing drugs. The storm will be all the more intense because the major league establishment has been painfully slow to acknowledge the drug problem in its midst and maddeningly ambivalent about how to deal with it.
It hasn’t helped that Bonds has long had a problematic relationship with fans and sportswriters alike. Unlike Aaron, or for that matter Ruth, he just isn’t a particularly friendly person and has been far more focused on succeeding on the field than kissing ass off of it.
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37 Responses to “Barry Bonds and The Sound of One Hand Clapping”
What makes you think that the animosity will be race-driven, even in part? Decades have past since the last time, and this time he’s not unseating a white player, but another black one. I find it hard to imagine that virtually anyone gives a rats ass about his melanin concentration rather than the concentration of OTHER sorts of compounds in his body.
Virtually every sports writer or sports reporter in the U.S. despises Barry Bonds. Most of his teammates hate the man.
He is the textbook example of the entitlement mentality that dominates high level sports these days.
Bonds has costs himself millions of dollars because he prefers to act like a jerk in public. McGuire worked at improving his image and worked at being media friendly. Bonds has seem to go the other way and worked hard at irritating the media.
I agree with SD- its not about race, but Bonds’ antagonistic personality. McGuire used to have the same problem.
I wish that race had nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, it does.
Shaun – can you back that up in any way, or are you presenting your opinion as fact?
Shaun,
I do believe that race has something to do with it. Especially since so few African-Americans play baseball anymore or attended major league baseball games.
However, if you could point to a jerk that white Americans support as much as black American seems to support jerks like Barry Bonds, Allen Iverson, Michael Vick, you would have a better point.
????????????
Sorry Shaun, I had to jump on that too.
When Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (a dark skinned guy from the Dominican Republic) were breaking home-run records, they were both adored by a huge number of baseball fans.
Barry Bonds is a talented guy, but he is also a cheating a**hole. That’s why people don’t like him.
superdestroyer,
Allen Iverson is not a jerk
He just doesn’t want to go to practice.
Even if it’s not overt racism, Bonds draws more heat than his fellow, seemingly-juice counterparts.
Roger Clemens is every bit the jerk that Bonds is. He’s angered multiple fan bases. He’s not friendly with the media. He’s pitching well into his 40s (not something that pitchers do). And his body type has changed dramatically similar to the way Bonds’s body type has changed. He’s an always-angry hard-throwing 40 year old.
And he’s recently signed a contract with the Yankees where he’s the “toast of the town.”
Sure, proving racism here is difficult. But Bonds, jerk (and probable cheater) that he may be, seems to be getting a lot more heat than the white guys (McGuire and Giambi), Sosa, and anyone else.
The racial undertones are there, even if they are not overt. They’re still there.
AustinRoth:
Quantifying racism through “fact” is like herding cats.
I make the statement that racism is a factor with the experience of decades in and around baseball stadiums, extensive discussions with baseball fans, a thorough knowledge of the literature and most importantly, the view that America in 2007 remains deeply divided along racial lines.
Let’s turn things around, Mr. Fact:
Please show me through a factual analysis why racism is not a factor.
I await your reply.
Shaun,
Let me defend AustinRoth by pointing you here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_proof
super – Is there a black athlete or person you admire or don’t dislike. Mark McGuire isn’t a role model either.
egrubs,
Most non-yankee fans despise Roger Clemens. I would not put him in the same class as someone like Peyton Manning as an example of a professional athlete that many whites like but that most blacks detest.
Chris,
I always thought a good example of the racial aspect of sports is how many black sports reporters and journalist along with a good portion of black America kept fawning over Mike Tyson when it was clear to most of white America that he had severe mental problems and was clearly a jerk.
Chris:
Nice try, but you struck out. I wrote much of this post based on personal experience and knowledge. No high fallutin’ theory is going to trump that.
What I would be interested in hearing are the experiences of someone as knowledgeable as I am about racial perceptions regarding sports figures in American society who claims that we’re color blind.
OMG! Chris, defending ME!
Hide the children, it MUST be the apocalypse!
But to the point. Nowhere have I seen, read or heard any criticism that because Bonds is black, white America doesn’t want him to break a record held by another Black American.
All the objections I have heard focus strictly on his obvious ‘juicing’. As for white athletes, I don’t think McGuire is beloved by America anymore, and there is no way in hell he will ever make the hall (in fact, Barry still pretty much a lock to eventually make it)
There are just those, and on this instance Shaun seems to be one, that any time any form of a controversy exists involving a minority, they insist that race MUST play a factor.
I reject that out of hand. Not that I don’t know that race often has bearing on issues in the good old US of A, but not every single fricking time.
AustinRoth:
This will be it for you and I because I get tired of coming up to your room and playing by your rules — which include making overarching statements when I was quite precise in what I said, which is to say not overarching.
Nice try, but I did not say that white Americans don’t want Bonds to break the record because he is black. I said that race is an undeniable factor.
Nice try, but I did not say that race has a bearing on everything in American society. It just happens to in this instance.
So the sound you hear is me clunking down the stairs from your room, leaving you all by yourself to play with your toys and moldy ideas.
Aaron wasn’t all that friendly, he was a quiet reserved guy that, until the chase for babe’s record, stayed largely out of the media eyes. But back in the 70′s over 77% of fans wanted, and were cheering, for Aaron to break the white Babe Ruth’s record. Anyone who wants to believe that racism is worse now go ahead. That maybe whitey is even more upset about a black man breaking a record held by a black man than one held by a “white” Icon. Forget that one o the most popular sports figures is currently a black man playing a white sport. That the Icon athletes of the 90′s were black basketball players. I’m sure racism in sports is worse now than the 70′s.
Chris,
I did not say that McGuire was a role model, I said that when he was on his run, he worked hard at improving his image. However, his testimony in front of Congress took it all back.
While watching the Spurs Jazz series that are good African-American athletes without the drama.
Who are probably the two most popular athletes of all time? Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.
Sure, there is probably some racism out there that is being directed at Barry Bonds, but I don’t think for a second that it makes up for the bulk of the flak he is facing.
Shaun – sorry you get all bent out of shape when criticized.
Unfortunately, you are in reality part of the Old Media, just now presenting you views in this forum. And Old Media does not take lightly to being questioned or challenged. We (the rapt audience) are supposed to bask in the illuminating words of wisdom and experience that only a Professional Journalist can bring us.
Bullocks.
Take your ball and go home because we won’t play by your rules. You have exposed your true conceits.
I agree with Chris. Most people dislike Barry Bonds because he’s a rude, unpleasant human being, not because he’s black.
I’m sure that there’s an element of racism in many people’s dislike of Barry Bonds, however I think the larger reason is that he seems to be an unmitigated jerk. He would be just as disliked if he had lily white skin–at least I like to think so!
It’s not just the media he’s bad with. He has no time for fans (who ultimately pay his enormous salary), his teammates appear to struggle to find something nice, or at least not negative, to say about him, and management doesn’t seem to get along very well with him either.
Bonds has had personality issues all the way back to his high school days if anyone cares to look back that far. He’s always had an ego bigger than most anyone playing the game today, although I agree that Clemons is pretty obnoxious also. I dislike Clemons almost (not quite) as much as I like Bonds.
Hank Aaron may have been quiet, but he also didn’t go out of his way to be rude to just about anyone that encountered him.
As a Philadelphia fan I have to say we hate Barry not because he is black, but because he is an a**. There was a sign up when he visited last year that said, “Babe Ruth did it on hot dogs and beer. Hank Aaron did it with class. How did you do it?”
You say on your website that Giambi isnt villified? Do you talk to baseball fans? The only people I know who speak well of him are Yankee fans, just as the only people who speak well of Bonds are Giants fans… gotta defend your own, right? But to say Giambi isnt hated is absurd. Sure he doesnt get the same press, but he isnt breaking home run records…. that is where the difference comes in, not thier race!! Bonds has been after one record or another for the past few years now, and this will place him in the center of media attention. If Giambi were doing the same he would be under just as much scrutiny as well.
Bonds was a very good player for a very long time, however the current animosity shown towards him is not race based, but steroid based.
Bones_708:
Is racism in sports and toward sports figures worse now? At the risk of being jumped on by the folks who can’t leave home without a briefcase full of facts, I think that it is not worse.
I say that as someone who grew up in a home where civil rights activism was a big part of our lives, who has covered civil rights issues as a journo and hung around a lot of ball parks where the virtually all white crowds (except for the wives’ section) are now much more integrated.
I think that things are a lot better, but racism, (or in the case of Bonds racism veiled by the cheating thing for some people) remains alive and well.
I would like to add one more thing given that the comments thread has been skewed toward a discussion of racism:
I don’t know how often or how many years Bonds has played juiced, but hitting so many home runs over so many years is an extraordinary accomplishment period because of the consistency and focus it requires and all of the great pitchers that he has faced who try as they might, couldn’t get him out. The man has walked or been intentionally walked over 1,500 times.
Besides which, we’re both left handers, altho I bat right.
Race has nothing to do with it! Why do some leftists imagine conspiracies where they do not exist? Is it so they can more strongly believe their delusions? Arrgh.
The argument that race is a factor is not the same as the argument that all people who dislike Bonds are racist.
He is a jerk. Class 1. And he probably cheated (though he cheated our morals, not baseball’s rules). Still, baseball has a tradition of cheaters, and some of them made the Hall of Fame because they were so good at it.
When you look at the perception of Bonds vs. the perception of McGwire vs. the percetion of Clemens vs. the perception of Sosa (oh how the mighty have fallen for him) vs. the perception of Giambi, there are many more mitigating factors besides race. And they are probably the more important factors.
But at the end of the day, it seems Bonds gets it just a little bit worse, and the biggest difference there is skin color.
Personally, I think Bonds, Rose, and McGwire should be in the Hall of Fame. Baseball should acknowledge that which makes it great alongside the ugly face of baseball (which is definitely a part of what makes it great).
Egrubs:
A grand slam!
Shawn,
If racism plays a part in the Barry Bonds story, it is because he seems to fit the “surly black man” steortype with his public persona. That would seem to affect how some whites view him versus some blacks.
America as a WHOLE supports jerk behavior in sports if the sports figure is good on the court, on the field, in the rink, in the water, etc. Don’t pin THAT exclusively on black America superdestroyer. You have a one track mind SD. Your more focused on black than I am and I’m black. :p
Allen Iverson became a supposed jerk when he talked about practice (one of the single funniest moments in sports). But was the only member of the 2004 USA Basketball team that carried the flag like it should… PROUDLY. He said it was an honor to win any medal and it was always a dream of his. He was cordial, polite, and respectful. Leave Iverson out of the jerkfest. Cornrolls, tattoos, and anti-practice talk hardly makes you a jerk.
Let’s take the perceptions thingie out a little further . . .
While I was covering the criminal trial of an non-surly black man by the name of Orenthal James Simpson, who in advertising parlance was about the most race neutral African-American in America until that bit of messiness with his wife and Ron Goldman, I did a story based on the following scenario.
After arguing with her estranged husband at an ice cream parlor earlier in the evening, Nicole Brown Simpson returned home and put her children to bed. She then drew a bath, lit candles and put soft music on the stereo.
How these acts were perceived had bearing because the predominately black jury also was predominately female.
What I found after interviewing a bunch of people, including academics, was that perceptions of Nicole’s actions broke down into roughly two camps:
* Women generally saw the actions as those of a tired woman who had had a rough day managing her young children and feckless former husband and wanted to spend some quality time for herself.
* Men generally saw the actions as those of a woman who was prettying herself and her condo up for the arrival of her lover.
The only time I’ve seen race involved in the Bonds debate has been offered up by defenders of Barry.
The tired old “they hate him because he’s black” narrative.
Speaking from Detroit let me add two “white assh***es” to the list. One is in the Hall of Fame the other was on MSNBC talking about baseball yesterday. Ty Cobb is one of the biggest AH in the early history of baseball. Yesterday, Denny McClain appeared on MSNBC. IMO McClain makes Bonds look like Roberto Clemente.
T-steel,
Iverson has a long history of bad behavoir. Just look up his bio on Wikipedia to include spousal assault.
Jerks are common in sports. However, when the jerk is in the media limelight, it become a different story. In football, baseball, and basketball, race is always going to be an issue. Look at how Chris above almost demand that whites have to be fans of black players. But, most blacks are not fans of any white players, denegrate white players on a regular basis, and will avoid any sport that is not played by blacks. Just look at the audience for the upcoming college world series and the total lack of black faces.
Just look at how blacks of stopped playing baseball or how fewer female athletes there are outside of basketball. If you look at the NCAA scholarhsip numbers, there are few black athletes outside of football and basketball and black females are underrepresent in sports versus there percentage of college undergraduates.
The racial problems that may exist in baseball probably have more to do with the animosity between Latinos and blacks.
And when did I say that whites have to be fans of black players?
They hate him because he’s a cheating, unfriendly jerk.
They hate him more than they hate other cheating, unfriendly jerks because he’s black.
“They hate him because he’s a cheating, unfriendly jerk.
They hate him more than they hate other cheating, unfriendly jerks because he’s black.”
Or they hate him more than others because he’s the only one currently close to the home run record. That puts you in a bigger spotlight. Yea there may be other a**holes who are cheating, but they arent closing in on the biggest record in the game! That’s the difference.
Griffey was one of the biggest could have, would have players in baseball. He was amazing, and quite frankly now I wish even more than I did before that he did not endure the injuries he did just so we could be putting this debate to rest. Griffey was… still is… an amazing pure hitter. He was on pace to easily break Aaron’s record and I believe that he would have been widely cheered on.
No I guess we have to hope Ryan Howard can get out of his current funk and go back to belting 50 HR a year and see if he can’t get close a lil bit down the line.
And if racism is such a big issue, I dont know why people are putting the latino players, especially the darker skinned ones like Sosa, in a seperate category from black players. To people who would be racists there isnt much of a difference.
To be fair, Sosa’s closer to Bonds than McGwire.
Chicago turned on him ruthlessly. He went from one of the post-strike heros to pariahs. (Personally, I like him least of those three. At least McGwire and Bonds had shown extraordinary talent long before their alleged juicing.)
See, that’s one of the big misconceptions here. It’s not such a big issue. It’s complimentary to the situation.
It’s almost a testament to the fact that things are better than they were when Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record. Those that hated Aaron and wanted him to fail were hard-pressed to base it on his personality. He just wasn’t that bad of a guy.
With Bonds, you’re speaking in percentages and degrees. I doubt that many people want Bonds not to break Aaron’s record (and the already too-late ghost of Babe Ruth that still mattered when Bonds hit 715) because he’s black.
They think he’s a cheating jerk who doesn’t deserve it. The argument that follows, however, is that if it were McGwire instead of Bonds, they might want him not to break the record a little bit less.
Again, a matter of degrees and percentages.