what the locals are saying

[west coast orange and black]

Well, that takes care of the theory that the best way to ameliorate an ongoing image problem is cross-dressing.

It was bound to go this way, you know. The good times for him don't last long, and that'll be the standard Bonds line in the wake of this particularly damning release. The cries for his retirement, or even banishment, from the game will resume.

There will be no final accounting, no resolution. Just more roping about doping.

It'll be business as usual, for all the usual suspects.
-ray ratto, sf chronicle sports writer, wednesday, 8 march 2006

ratto's story

[Astro]

I agree with Steve Finley... the authors chose to release this at the sametime as the WBC...

The WBC should be the big news, but instead negative perception of baseball will reign supreme

[west coast orange and black]

i think that lots of players will take the time, go out of their way a bit, to downplay the bonds story.
also, they will point out that the book's release occurs just one week prior to opening day 2006.

[TonyK]

Would the SF Giants even consider releasing Bonds? I know it's not a good business move, but it may benefit them more in the long run. Let another team put up with the fallout.

[Astro]

Would the SF Giants even consider releasing Bonds? I know it's not a good business move, but it may benefit them more in the long run. Let another team put up with the fallout.

Without Bonds they have 0 chance to make the playoffs... with Bonds they have about a 50% chance

If I were a Giants fan, and they released him, I'd be very angry.... that team is extremly old and built to win now...

[Elvis]

Would the SF Giants even consider releasing Bonds? I know it's not a good business move, but it may benefit them more in the long run. Let another team put up with the fallout.

I'd bet they're considering it as we speak, but it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't proposition, so they likely wont.

However, if they do release him, his career is over. No other club would touch him - he's poison.

[johnny]

Well, that takes care of the theory that the best way to ameliorate an ongoing image problem is cross-dressing.

It was bound to go this way, you know. The good times for him don't last long, and that'll be the standard Bonds line in the wake of this particularly damning release. The cries for his retirement, or even banishment, from the game will resume.

There will be no final accounting, no resolution. Just more roping about doping.

It'll be business as usual, for all the usual suspects.
-ray ratto, sf chronicle sports writer, wednesday, 8 march 2006

ratto's story

from the article
"While the Bonds defenders wrap themselves around that one, the anti-Bonds morality squad has its own decision to make, the same decision it apparently has chosen not to make over the last several years -- namely, how best to advance the case that Bonds should be shunned as he closes in on Babe Ruth. Because so far, the case for banning Bonds has been shouted down by the rush of cash."

The last time MLB ignored long term good for short term cash we got that whole roids 'chicks dig the long ball era' and ended up defiling one of its most cherished records (Marris) and threatening another (Hank's).
Crap, I have little hope that Selig will go Judge Landis in the matter. Instead, MLB is just gonna hurt the integrity of the game.
Is anyone gonna feel good when Barry passes Hank? Anyone?

[TonyK]

from the article
"While the Bonds defenders wrap themselves around that one, the anti-Bonds morality squad has its own decision to make, the same decision it apparently has chosen not to make over the last several years -- namely, how best to advance the case that Bonds should be shunned as he closes in on Babe Ruth. Because so far, the case for banning Bonds has been shouted down by the rush of cash."

The last time MLB ignored long term good for short term cash we got that whole roids 'chicks dig the long ball era' and ended up defiling one of its most cherished records (Marris) and threatening another (Hank's).
Crap, I have little hope that Selig will go Judge Landis in the matter. Instead, MLB is just gonna hurt the integrity of the game.
Is anyone gonna feel good when Barry passes Hank? Anyone?

Maybe Al Downing might? ;-)

[johnny]

Maybe Al Downing might? ;-)

very good.

[DTF955]

I agree with Steve Finley... the authors chose to release this at the sametime as the WBC...

The WBC should be the big news, but instead negative perception of baseball will reign supreme

Well, the book's release date wouldn't have been any better. And, the problem is, *that* date it close to season's start. So, they were going to raise a stink no matter what, because if I'm not mistaken, the publisher is the one that picks a release date that is likely to make the most money. A late March date means the whole baseball season, 6 months when people are thinking baseball. Rather than, day, December, when nobody is thinking it.

Then there's the "attack journalism" angle. Now, i'm *not* saying this was a problem here - to me, this is becoming like Watergate, something that deserves to be told. (BTW, one piece of good news in all this. Unlike many scandals in the last 30 years, *nobody* has been dumb enough to put "-gate" in the scandal's name. People finally get the fact that Watergate was the name of the hotel, it was not the Water Hotel with some smarty thinking "-gate" was Latin for scandal." :-) I think if someone ever said "BALCO-gate" I would scream. :-)

What I am saying is that journalists are too often taught to *be* the news, not to simply report the news. And, in releasing this now, these men may have fallen prey to that. However, I think any book's release date is going to cause problems because of the above. (Then again, I could be wrong on when these are released, maybe the ahtor has some say.)

[KHenry14]

Would the SF Giants even consider releasing Bonds? I know it's not a good business move, but it may benefit them more in the long run. Let another team put up with the fallout.

There is zero chance of this happening. The entire team is built around one last year with Barry, we saw last year how they did without him. Frankly, no matter what people may think here, Barry's not hated in the clubhouse, he's not a cancer, and the team wins with him in the lineup. So why would the team get rid of him? If your only answer is for some type of morality play, uh, this is pro-sports, morality goes out the window in the face of winning. And with Barry, the Giants win.

KH14

[mojorisin71]

Would the SF Giants even consider releasing Bonds? I know it's not a good business move, but it may benefit them more in the long run. Let another team put up with the fallout.

As much as I'd like to see it happen (speaking as a Dodger fan), it ain't going to. Bonds is the reason why the Giants draw fans in the Bay Area, and like KHenry said, morality seldom gets in the way of winning in sports.

[Ursa Major]

Originally Posted by TonyK
Would the SF Giants even consider releasing Bonds? I know it's not a good business move, but it may benefit them more in the long run. Let another team put up with the fallout.

KHenry replied: There is zero chance of this happening.

That's absolutely correct. That's not even discussed locally. Bonds' agent is spinning this as "old allegations", and indeed the Chronicle reported the gist of this when it got the grand jury testimony last year. So, in the local's eyes, the issue isn't whether he 'roided, but how much, and how soon did he realize it was really the evil stuff. The person who would have to make the initial move on this is Felipe Alou, and he's made it clear that he's not even going to discuss it. And Giants' management would have set the stage to make some kind of move long ago if they were planning on dumping him.

As far as being a distraction, all of 2005 was spent with the distraction of the grand jury testimony and the condition of Barry's knee, which kept him out until the last couple of weeks of the season. There's really no new distraction with this. The Giants aren't really worried about the "fallout". If anything, it's the majors' embarassment at being so slow to institute drug testing (and it should be the Players' Association's embarassment at resisting drug testing, but their officials' cluelessness is beyond the pale).

It'll all fade. When's the last time you heard real news (i.e., not jokes) about the occasion of the first U.S. Vice-President since Aaron Burr to shoot another human being? Weeks, huh? It'll be gone in 20 days, re-emerge briefly as he reaches 714, and lie quietly until he approaches 755.

[johnny]

If you google KNBR SF you will get the Giants Sports station. You can stream. They have two stations and the 680 is the one with more of a local angle. I have been streaming them off and on for the past day or so and it is interesting.

[ElCaminoSS]

Honestly I can't think of anything I like about the guy. He's cancer in the clubhouse, everyone seems pretty sure he's a juicer, he's said some pretty racist things (I dont sign for white people), and although I obviously dont know him personally he seems like a major jerk.