Barry Bonds Cares Who Attends His HR Record Party

We already know about Commissioner Bud Selig's ambivalent stance on whether or not he'll be in attendance when Bonds breaks Hank Aaron's career HR record (although I'm just realizing it means he might have to attend every Giants game for weeks from the time it's tied until it's broken). Hank Aaron has come out and said he won't be in attendance if/when Bonds breaks Aaron's long-standing record.

"Uh-uh. No, no. I'm not going to be around
...
I'd probably fly to West Palm Beach to play golf. Again, it has nothing to do with anybody, other than I had enough of it. I don't want to be around that sort of thing anymore. I just want to be at peace with myself. I don't want to answer questions. It's going to be a no-win situation for me anyway. If I go, people are going to say, 'Well, he went because of this.' If I don't go, they'll say whatever. I'll just let them make their own mind up."

Well Bonds responded on Monday, saying he's more concerned about his godfather Willie Mays being present.

"If he has other plans, other things, to do, I respect that," Bonds said. "He's his own man, he can do what he wants to do. No hard feelings.
"Now if Willie (Mays) wasn't there, I'd be disappointed. Because that's my godfather. I'd be real (ticked). My dad, he'll be there too, in spirit."

Bonds also says he wants to reach 3,000 career hits for Mays, which means he'll most likely need to play in '08 to reach that mark. But you know what, I don't care what Bonds says. Barry claims that he's not adversely influenced by fans taunting and jeering. I disagree -- players tell me that they hear everything, and Bonds is no exception.

Barry may be a master at manipulating the media and making it seem as if he's not bothered, but I'm sure that somewhere, deep down inside him, he's truly hurt that the significant people in Major League Baseball won't be there when it happens. Bonds is wise enough to know that people don't want to be there because they question the legitimacy of his work.

Previously at FanHouse:
Barry's World: Will Bonds Be Unanimous HOFer?
Barry Bonds Is in the HR Column
Barry's World: A Rare Start to the Season
Giants Won't Be Hyping Barry Bonds' Chase
Barry Bonds Is a Man on a Mission

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-11-2007 @ 7:41PM

Tom Wilson said...

The Asterisk Party

We make no attempt to single out Barry Bonds. Barry just happens to be carrying the steroid banner presently. McGwire, Sosa, Bud Selig etc... all of them are guilty of drinking from the steroid trough. We do indeed protest the steroid era... and the efforts of Bud Selig. Like a good parent... we do not accept the �everybody does it� excuse... the integrity of the game is at stake. We know the asterisk will never be applied but at least we fans will have said to the future fans ... we knew what was going on and we did not stand by and ignore it.

Our asterisk is simply an acknowledgment that we the fans were not ignorant to the truth. Future baseball fans will certainly look back on this time... the steroid era... and they will wonder why no one took a stand and called foul. So this year, we stand up for the past, to show the future, that the now matters. And we will make our stand... in the stands... at the ballpark... for all to see. Our little piece of foam does not attempt to change the record book or right a wrong. That would certainly be beyond our ability and would only add to an already convoluted tangle of words and facts. This little foam asterisk simply allows the fans to demonstrate, in a peaceful simple way, that we were not blind. We were not fooled. And we did not stand by and look the other way while the integrity of the game was ground into the dirt.

The Fans
http://www.fanslovebaseball.com/

6-15-2007 @ 7:54AM

NITETRIPPER43 said...

ITS A SHAME THAT THE RECORD BOOKS WILL BE TAINTED,AND ITS A SHAME THAT MY SONS LOOK UP TO THEASE OVERPAID OVER-INFLATED EGOTISTICAL SO CALLED
STARS OF THE GAME,BUT LETS NOT GET SO BLINDED BY THE
STEROID ISSUE THAT WE FORGET SOME OF THE MORE DOCUMENTED ABUSES BY THE HEROS OF YESTERYEAR.BOTH BABE RUTH (EVERY ADULT AND KIDS HERO) AND HIS LATER TO BE TEAM MATE MICKY MANTLE HAD A PASSION FOR A DIFFEREFT DRUG ALOHOL!GRANTED THEASE WERE NOT PREFORMANCE ENHANCING SUBSTANCED BUT THEY WERE ABUSED AND THIS FACT REMAINS.NO ONE IS SQUEEKY CLEAN
WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS AND AS HUMAN BEINGS WE ARE SUBJEST TO THE TEMPTATIONS THAT CELEBRATY BRINGS.IM NOT SURE BECAUSE I WASNT THERE BUT FROM THE STORIES THAT HAD BEEN PASSED DOWN FROM MY GRANDFATHER AND MY DAD BOTH BASEBALL FANS, THAT THERE IS A VERY SMALL PRECENTAGE OF PLAYERS IN MOST SPORTS THAT PAY BIG MONEY DO IT ALL THE NEAT AND CLEAN WAY.NEVER TOOK DRUGS BE IT BEFORE ,AFTER OR DURING A GAME. CHEATED ON THEIR WIFES. LOOKED FOR SOME SMALL YET EVEN SLIGHTLY DISHONEST WAY TO GAIN AN ADVANTAGE.I BELIEVED THAT WHAT A PERSON DOES IN HIS OWN TIME WITH HIS OR HER OWN BODY AND MIND IS THEIR BUSINESS AND NOBODY ELSES.BUT WHEN YOU HAVE A WIDE EYED KID LOOKING UP TO THEASE PEOPLE AS HEROS AND WANT TO EMULATE THEM ON AND OFF THE FEILD YOU HAVE A RESONIBLITY TO THE FAN TO KEEP IT REAL. KEEP IT CLEAN.IS THAT ASKING TOO MUCH IN RETURN FOR THE KIND OF MONEY YOU GET FOR PLAYING A GAME! I DONT THINK SO.