Let me see if I understand how this works….
Manny Ramirez quits on his team, fails to run out grounders, falls down fielding fly balls, doesn’t swing at pitches in a game that his team is down a run against their biggest rivals, assaults a club employee, rants and raves about how much the team he plays for is against him, hurting him, lying to him, and basically forces the Boston Red Sox to do something, anything, to get rid of him, and the Los Angeles Dodgers trade for him. That is, they not only declared that they wanted to have him on their team, but that they were willing to give up valuable baseball talent in order to do so.
And now, I get read all of this speculation about how a 37-year old moron, a player who has always given his best effort only when he wants to, is in line for another $100 million dollars at the end of this season.
…. “I bet he gets $15-20 million a year for three or four years, especially if he keeps his nose clean and helps the Dodgers win it,” said another executive who has worked for large, small and middle-market teams. “Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if [Dodgers owner] Frank McCourt would do that. He loves all those Boston guys.”
Meanwhile, Barry Bonds can’t find a job.
…. As one NL executive said, “If they’re looking for some justification (for going after him), now they’ve got a way to justify it.” But there is still no indication Tampa Bay has any interest — for all the obvious reasons.
“The thing they’re scared about is disrupting what they have in the clubhouse,” said one scout who has seen a lot of the Rays recently. “And really, that’s the only way he doesn’t fit in there. But I don’t blame them. Their chemistry is the best thing they have going for themselves right now. … There’s really something magical going on with that club.”
Yeah, that “magic” includes the Rays –looking for their first-ever playoff berth– having just lost their two best hitters. In the AL East, having to stave off the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Rays decision to ignore Bonds as a DH option has to be considered as part of baseball’s ownership, and quite frankly, the sports media establishment’s, effort to keep Bonds from ever playing again. That, my friends, is collusion, and Bonds ought to be going after the owners just as hard as he would any fastball.
Because, here we are, with Bonds, who never did anything except fanatically prepare himself to be the absolute best baseball player that ever lived, who never put anything ahead of winning baseball games; that man is being told that he isn’t good for your team. In this world, Bonds is the clubhouse cancer. We keep hearing that having him around wouldn’t be good for young baseball players. We are being told –by “experts”– that no team would want their young players to see a 45-year old who was in better shape than they were, who maniacally prepared himself for every at-bat, every pitch, every play; who methodically planned, analyzed and then destroyed whatever approach the opposing pitcher had for beating him.
It is explained to us that, a guy who would leave no stone unturned in his efforts to be the best would be a bad influence.
No, better that they see Manny Ramirez dogging his way out of one team, and into the jet-stream of a new $100 million dollar contract.
11 Backtalkers
I wish people who could decide to hire Bonds would read this and hire him to play for the final weeks of the season- shame on hypocritical owners, baseball writers, and other “experts” who, apparently because they don’t like Bonds or the fact that if he plays he will continue to destroy the myths that he is too old, or can’t get along with team mates, or that without the help of steroids he would not be able to play at the level he did even last year. I am so fed up with the way Bonds has been blocked from playing this year that, as a life long baseball fan for the first time in memory I have not attended any MLB games and rarely watch them on TV because the only voice I have to comment on this shameful behavior is not spending my money on baseball. I am glad to read this great post comparing Manny and Barry, and hope beyond hope if Bonds is blackballed the rest of this season that after his trial is over he still keeps in shape and returns one more season to show the world just what the greatest player of this generation is capable of.
I have to believe that the commissioner has told the owners not to employ Bonds. They wouldn’t be hard to convince, Barry in not exactly beloved. However, without that kind of directive I’m sure that someone would have signed him by now. He’s too good to be left out.
It’s been done before and it’ll be done again.
Borris told FOXSports.com. “That’s because Major League Baseball has been successful in their pursuit in blackballing Barry out of the game.”
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Well. No shit. Imagine MLB being so lowbrow. And self-destructive.
Logoria, Crawford out. Baldelli as fragile as ever. Gomes flailing away in Triple A. The Red Sox and Yankees in hot pursuit. The chance to qualify for the playoffs -FIRST TIME EVER- and Code Blue this corpse of a franchise, in the process. The most pitiful organization in the history of MLB, perhaps trailing only the Cleveland Spiders and St. Louis Browns for true pathos, is in contention in the middle of August with the ides of September just around the corner, and they have no interest in Bonds? How blatant is the collusion? Not “almost made a deal”. Not “discussions proved unfruitful”. Not “we were miles apart on contract terms”. Not even the courtesy of returning a text message. Not even a simple “No thanks”. No. Nothing. Nada. Nein.
And that skunk fuck Selig is pathological enough to state in public repeatedly; “categorically I can state there is no collusion” And the Bonds hating meda who fill their flaccid cheek faces with the team provided press box spreads and travel around the country on team charters sucking up food and beverages paid for by somebody else, cover it all up. After all. Bonds is a surly Black man. Surly Black Americans who don’t jive to the organ grinder of E-SPIN, Costas, Lupica and the rest of the self-righteous pin dicks, are not to be trusted, nor given the benefit of any doubt, anytime, anywhere for any reason. Ever. Even if they are the greatest player of the modern era and still one of the top 5 offensive players in MLB. If after all of this, there is anybody left in America who believes in the integrity of one Alan Hubert Selig, please immediately remove yourself to the polar icecap before you infect the rest of the country’s gene pool. Selig sold his soul for an employment contract, and this is now how he earns his living.
And so Manny is given a pass. Of course he is. It makes sense in Bud Selig’s world. Manny grins. Manny smiles. Manny amuses. Manny entertains. Manny clowns. Manny captivates. Manny being Manny. Frat boys love Manny. Frat boys love beach balls, the wave, brawls, Cowboy Up, “whatever-Nation”, organ grinder monkeys, lawn jockeys, and any other media driven fad that the fantasy-leaguer frat boys at E-SPIN promote to juice their ratings. Its part and parcel of the corruption and collusion that is MLB/MSM. Not dissimilar to the cynicism that permeated MSM and MLB in the days of Charlie Comisky, Arnold Rothstein, and other greedy owners who treated players like chattel. The bribing of the 1877 Louisville Grays, the attempted bribing of umpire Bill Klem prior to the 1908 playoff between the Cubs and Giants. Suspicions of thrown games in the 1914, 1917, 1918 and finally leading up to the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Gambling and corruption was everywhere and open. All with the collusion of ownership and the mainstream media of the time.
Chemistry, to the decendents of these creeps, means getting along and entertaining MSM and the nonthinking droolers who take their utterances as the gospel according to St. Swimsuitissue. It means endearing yourself to fans with your non-baseball antics. It means being a fucking jackass. The whole problem with the Manny Ramirez thing is while the frat boys are laughing at him, not with him, he is doing the same thing back when he quits, when he makes up his own rules, when he shoves a company employee around. He is laughing at the mainstream media and E-Spinners, and E-Spinee’s with his anti-establishment behavior. Manny and the jerks in Boston got mutually fed up so now he is in the land of eternal facelifts, rhinoplasties, boobjobs, and botux. A mutual admiration society worthy of Dante.
But; back to ball. Nowhere does Ramirez carry Bonds jockstrap. Bonds was a 5 tool player. Hitting for OBP, Slugging, Baserunning, Fielding, almost telpathic defensive positioning, with a superquick exchange/release and deadly accurate arm. Ramirez hits for average and for power. He is a clown in the outfield and dresses accordingly. And so that is where Ramirez ranks, around 40% of Bonds in terms of performance. And MSM fawns all over Manny. Until he ceases to amuse. And than it will be off to the gulags:
“Fans and teammates are tired of his act. He is detrimental to team chemistry. He is a cancer. The organization needs to move on. We appreciate Manny’s contributions from the past. But we have to turn the page. He is this. He is that. blah blah blah.”
And so the propagandists who feed their faces on MLBs dime and juice their ratings while cycling through different fads will move onto the next mind numbing opiate for their viewers-readers.
In the meantime ballplayers become even more antagonistic, more cynical, fans become more alienated, and dehumanize players even further; their only real emotional connection to players is their worth in some ESPIN fantasy baseball league. All while owners get richer, politicians gain more influence, and the institution of baseball loses as a whole.
+ Mia,
What handle do you go by on McCovey Cronicles? Are you EEEEEEE?
Great post +mia. I’ve been posting all year about the lack of nads the Gigantes organization have…and the total disrespect showed Bonds. We all know the gig. Pretty f–ing obvious that this is a black balling…no pun intended. I’ve given up the tickets…and will not spend one dime on the Gigantes. Except they make a little money off my MLB Extra season pass. I at least can vote with my dollars. Everyone should boycott the Gigantes if you’re a true Bonds fan. Even though one player should not be greater than the whole…Bonds did….at least with the Gigantes. We were all lucky enough to witness his greatness…and as Bonds fans…should hold the Gigantes organization accountable for the way Bonds was cast out.
Selig is scraping below bottom in all human traits. I cannot put in print what Selig truly is. But…America’s pastime…the grand old game of baseball…is run by greed…as is most business. It has never been a level playing field…never will be. The fans have allowed themselves to become irrational buyers. Normal economic rules do not apply to the sporting world. Just the way is. Even if the Rays and Yanks…who both desperately need Bonds…do not sign him. Why wouldn’t the Gigantes bring him back for a curtain call…and an audition to the baseball world for 09. They owe him that much. A chance for an nadless organization to save a face….at least for a short while.
The Pirates have never learned to win without Bonds….and now it’s the Gigantes turn. This organiztion deserves whatever is coming.
John, +mia, you guys covered it. Not much to add. John Brattain at The Hardball Times has written some thoughtful Bonds-related pieces. Check out his Aug 16 piece Press-ure tactics.
This is why I’m losing interest in baseball… I just don’t respect the league any longer – I didn’t have a problem with the steroids, just the way they’ve reacted to it. Bring on football season…
The Bonds situation has killed my 38 year old enthusiasm for baseball since I first loved Mays, McCovey, and Bonds. The past several years I had spent an average of $3000/year on baseball. This year nary a penny.
One reason I loved baseball is because it was essentially a meritocracy where the number of runs determines the winner and the best players play. But no more. When the man who is obviously the best hitter (and the most fun to watch) can’t even pay to play, it’s pure politics. I won’t be a part ot that anymore than I would be if the umpires were consistently and blatantly biased for one team so that the game wasn’t fair.
I don’t need writers, none of whom are nearly as good at their job as Barry Bonds was at his, telling me what to think.
I haven’t even worn a major league cap this year. To hell with the owners. I hope the IRS calls all of them all before grand juries and charges them with perjury for testimony subject to interpretation and charges them with obstruction of justice for any question they don’t answer directly. Would be well deserved. We all know every single owner earned his money completely above board and based on his personal merit. Just like the freaking president.
Enjoy this great deadspin article on the Bonds effect.
http://deadspin.com/5041081/barry-bonds-cannot-stop-destroying-sports-all-over-the-world
Good comments so far as well.
mia nailed it – Manny is a clown, Bonds isn’t. Manny is the minstrel show, Bonds is a proud black man. It’s all entertainment, folks.
Anyway, it’s nice that the Dodgers have, what, 16 outfielders now. Wonder what Jeff Kent thinks of Manny? I don’t think another bat was their problem.
Some time ago, I needed to buy a good house for my business but I didn’t have enough money and couldn’t purchase anything. Thank heaven my father suggested to get the credit loans from trustworthy creditors. Therefore, I acted that and used to be happy with my short term loan.