July 20, 2007
Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana Again?
To honor Barry Lamar as he approaches the exalted numbers 725 and 726 752 & 753, Gavin announced yesterday that City Hall will be lit up in orange until he breaks the record. There will also be a pennant hung in front of City Hall to count off each and every home run he hits on his way to 756. Quoth the Gavster: "I think I speak for all San Franciscans when I say,''Go Barry.'"
Now, you know, one of the things we hate about all this Barry hullabaloo is that it allows other people to grab a big brush and paint us Giants fans in an unflattering light. It's one more thing added to the very long "only in San Francisco..." list, as in "only in San Francisco do they root for Barry" and it's not meant as a favorable thing. More like only in San Francisco are the fans as lame, dumb, and in denial to root for such a notorious cheating jackass. If we were real baseball fans, we would never root for him. In this week's Sports Illustrated, the "Barry's pissing all over the Church of Baseball" issue, SI's columnist Rich Reilly even calls us Giants' fans "Kool-Aid chuggers."
We resent being called Kool-Aid chuggers. It's not true. We're Giants fans and we have been at best ambivalent about this whole thing. No Kool-Aid chugging on our part. We also resent it because the reality is that if Barry played anywhere else for the past fourteen years, they'd be rooting him on too, whether it be in Kansas City, Los Angeles, or, yes, even New York. As they say, people root for the laundry.
Oh, and we hate Kool-Aid.
So, anyways, thanks Gavin. Thanks for making us look like bigger idiots than we already look like.
Picture of City Hall lit up in Red from Steve Rhodes Flickr stream.
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Don't be stupid. Barry Bonds - and I don't like him OR the Giants a titch - is one of the greatest baseball players to ever live, no questions asked.
This whole campaign against Barry Bonds smacks of racism. Granted, the guy is an asshole and a megalomaniac; but I would argue that the media's impression of his assholishness and megalomania are colored by race, as well.
ESPN and ABC did a pretty reliable study of indicating that only 28% of white fans are in favor of Barry breaking the record, while 74% of black fans are. Now, that doesn't mean that every white person in America that hates Barry Bond is a racist... but it's certainly a departure point for that argument.
"Cheater"? Maybe, but that was the culture of baseball then and - if you consider amphetamine use a performance-enhancing substance - it's been like that for a long time. Even if he juiced, strength doesn't help you put the center of the bat on a baseball going 95 mph. And it wouldn't get you much more than 15 or 20 feet of distance on a drive (and I'm sorry, if you can hit a major-league curveball 400 feet, and that extra 15 or 20 made the difference? Go for it.). Anyone who thinks otherwise is ill-informed, stupid, or racist.
AND, anybody looking to point fingers might want to look at the context of all this steroid abuse. MLB was just coming off of a strike, and the fans weren't coming back. All of a sudden - with NOBODY from MLB Corporate piping up and complaining - McGuire, Sosa and Bonds all put on 30lbs of muscle and start hitting 60-70 jacks a year. And (Suprise!) the fans came back! And Selig was pleased...
Calling us "Kool-Aid chuggers" is a reference to Jim Jones and the People's Temple. It's yet another "Oh those freaks in San Francisco" type of insult that I've grown up with. And yes, I do realize that they didn't drink Kool-Aid.
i think your numbers are off. the record is 755. he's on 753. (and yeah, he's a fathead cheaterpants.)
Well, for baseball fans your statistical skills undermine your credibility. How exactly are you counting Barry's HRs?
What's in that Kool-Aid you've been drinking?
Great analysis, haplito, and it's good to remember that it wasn't just hitters who were/are juicing themselves with steroids but pitchers too, which would argue for some kind of balance.
And making City Hall glow orange is creepy. It makes the building look like Satan's Lair, which may be some sort of truth in advertising, but do we really need to be so graphically reminded?
755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755 756 755
Don't forget that while Bonds moves ever closer to his dubious record, the Giants stink majorly! All signs indicate that this team will occupy the cellar of the majors for the rest of the season.
Let's reluctantly cheer Barry Bonds as he breaks a record, and then let's let him retire or play someplace else next season. The Giants don't need a distraction next season if they want to win games.
Wow, anyone who disagrees is a racist. Who teaches these morons to type? OJ is innocent, too, huh, and it's a white plot? Didn't realize Al Sharpton read SFist.
Meanwhile, McGuire isn't in the Hall, Sosa is nearly a pariah (saved by this season with Tex), Giambi is in a lot of trouble, and Canseco is a national joke. So yeah, racist, you idiot.
It's shame you're so blinded by rage against Whitey because in a general sense you're not wrong. Roids can't help eye-hand and Bond is (woulda been) the GOAT. He's also the biggest asshole since Cobb ever to play and he's getting his. Oh, and Cobb is demonized in modern lore.
More than likely, you're a white liberal guilter yourself. Well guess what, OJ did it and Bonds is cheating scum. Tax evasion, drugs, immorality.
BTW, I wonder if Reilly understand the Kool-aid irony when discussing San Francisco? Probably too busy being as smug as happy haplito here.
SF_Julio
The people who act like all of these other pro athletes are no doping are the stupid ones.
Hangs head in shame.....
There are a lot of bad writers out there, SF_Julio, but bad readers are a rare breed. Bravo!
Yeah, all the rumors - it's THE MAN just trying to keep Barry down.
All the whining cheapens the sport for me more than any allegations of doping. You don't see Floyd Landis whining about how he was framed by THE MAN ... oh, wait, nevermind.
I feel so bad for poor Barry, its the same people trying to take him down that are trying to push Ed Jew's great service over the borderline...
:.-(
Face it people, he's going to break the record, there will be fanfare, and (almost) everyone who watches will be thinking "cheater."
Its the steroid era of baseball - just like the deadball era - and this too, shall eventually pass...
Jon, listen to almost any professional baseball player today (the vast majority) and they are all on bonds' side. what he is doing, and what he has done, is incredibly hard and, plainly, amazing. anyone who has played baseball before should be able to clearly understand his accomplishments. did you WATCH him hit those homeruns yesterday?
Yes, the SF lauding of Barry is over-the-top and unique, but the real "kool-aid drinkers" are the swarms of fans (and yourself) whose knee-jerk reaction is to boo him and hate him because he has been accused of cheating. All of this is a blind, horribly typical response to one of the greatest feats we will ever see in the game of baseball.
The "real" fans, jon? Yeah, those are the ones that are viciously booing, arguably, the greatest hitter of all time. also, who cares what the hell SI thinks about san francisco??
The first comment wasn't implying that anyone who roots against is racist, just stating some numbers. All that aside. Barry was always hated. Always. He liked that. All good players get booed in other parks.
I personally think people want the HR king to be a villain. Besides people boo Bonds then applaud his homeruns. They hold up signs and then take pictures. His performance enhancing drugs did not exist in a vacuum. He was playing in his era, which is the only way to ever judge a player. Ruth never played against negro leaguers - and Ted Williams is famous for having complained that he never faced "the best" due to segregation.
I'm ambivalent about the HR chase because I would take Giant wins over HRs any day. But like was stated above (and is true in St. Louis where Bonds was recently booed-cough McGuire cough) if Bonds played for team X. Team X fans would like him, and we would feel really good about ourselves hating him (ala Alex Rodriguez - who is a great ballplayer but easy to hate). Doesn't mean Barry Lamar Bonds is not one best hitters to ever play the game. Maybe it means the haters need to remember that its just a museum in upstate New York. It only has meaning that you import to it. And come on. Its grown men playing a kids game, for too much money.
Okay. Going back over that. He did actually say that rooting against is racist. That's laughable. Furthermore it certainly adds nothing to the conversation.
This has nothing to do with race. This has everything to do with drugs. Gavin is a drug-head and Barry is too. Both are cheaters and both should be jeered and not cheered. What if you found out that Barry was using a baseball bat filled with lead at the end. Would that be ok too? NOT! He is a fraud and he should never be allowed to hold the title of "most home-runs hit" or "greatest player ever". Oh, and Gavin...he should be ashamed!
He still should have been suspended. But since he's playing, let's enjoy the home runs.
Hypocritical? Sure! But that's SF for you.
Cheating has become the new American way of life. Nixon did it, Clinton did it, Bush - eh, well he took it to a new level so why should the national past time e any different? Anyone remember "Corky" Sosa and Thick Neckbone McGuire?
Enron, MCI, Arthur Anderson and thousands of stockbrokers, corporate CEO's and dotcom charlatans...the yuppie generation has made cheating honorable and ratcheted down the penalties for getting caught so as to protect themselves from potential prosecution. The game is fixed and only the cheaters are winning. Honesty has become a suckers game.
Just ask Gavin, Cheney, Bonds, Scooter, etc, etc, etc...