If you're squarely on the side of the Barry Bonds haters, be forewarned that the following is going to make you extremely jealous. But one lucky someone has been going up to Bonds and giving him the finger for years.
Barry Bonds detests the media, and his teammates know it. So imagine their reaction last season when Paul Meyer of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strolled into the San Francisco Giants' clubhouse, walked up to Bonds and gave him the old one-finger salute. "Their jaws dropped,'' Meyer recalled. "What do they know? They're sitting there and here's some reporter flipping Barry Bonds the bird?''
The Giants probably expected Bonds to use Meyer's head as a T-ball. Instead, the future home-run king laughed and hugged the visitor. Truth is, Meyer and Bonds have been greeting each other with this gag since Bonds' days with the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's a curious bonding tradition, but one that proves that Bonds - who is visiting Dolphin Stadium this weekend with the Giants - isn't always an ogre when it comes to the press.
"When you get to know him,'' Meyer said, "Barry can, at times, be a really cool guy. He just can't be cool all the time, and he is particularly bad when you've got a large pack of media.''
Barry Bonds? Cool guy? Media? All in the same sentence? You may not have believed it. But apparently it's true ... in small doses. But more amazing than that is that some reporters, like Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com, are so close to Bonds that they can actually refer to the dreaded "s" word with him.
Commissioner Bud Selig's schedule will preclude him from being there until later in the week. In his stead, Jimmie Lee Solomon, a Major League Baseball executive vice president, is slated to be in attendance Monday and Tuesday, and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, an MLB advisor, is slated to replace him Wednesday and Thursday.
Surprise surprise, Bonds hasn't received congrats from the commish on 755 either:
Bonds shrugged when told that the Commissioner probably won't be in attendance the next few days. Bonds never heard from Selig directly after the game, although the Commissioner released a congratulatory statement. But Bonds said he did speak to Ken Griffey Jr. and had voice messages from his godfather, Willie Mays, and Alex Rodriguez, who earlier Saturday hit his 500th homer at Yankee Stadium.
There was no message from Aaron, either, Bonds said.
Sound to me like there's a pretty good chance Selig won't be there when Bonds breaks the record, and my guess is, that's fine by Bud. Let the criticism rain.
I guess this news should end the speculation that Barry Bondscould be placed on the DL. Then again, a lot can happen prior to the first pitch, so we'll have to wait things out. The man hasn't started any of the games in the series against the Cubs this week after playing the entire weekend against the Dodgers without much success. If Bonds' legs are feeling better, then that means the home run chase is back on. Speaking to his confidant Barry M. Bloom, Bonds offered the following:
"Yeah, I feel like Thursday would be the right time," Bonds said. "[Wednesday] I'm going to take batting practice, move around, get on the field and run a little bit. See how my legs feel."
"I want to come back, that's the biggest part of it," Bonds told MLB.com before the Giants played the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. "I'm not done yet. I still have things left to accomplish." ... Bonds reiterated again that achieving the 3,000-hit plateau was almost as important as passing Aaron on the home run list.
"I want that because Willie [Mays] has it," said Bonds about his godfather, who amassed 3,283 hits in his 22-year career. "But I don't think I'll come close this year."
Talk about a driven cat -- Barry certainly has his eyes set on those milestones. If there's one downside about taking all the walks he does, it's that it keeps him from getting more hits. But that's only a testament to his patience at the plate, and the fact that he won't allow himself to become a free swinger for purposes of achieving a milestone is quite impressive. That has to be respected.
Not unlike Kobe Bryant who, as Tom Ziller recently pointed out, has a circle of trust, Barry Bonds seems to have a special relationship with Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com, who is quite obviously in the circle. Bonds recently shared with Bloom the news of the tongue lashing he received from his mom while he was in a slump. To my knowledge, Bloom was the only reporter with whom Bonds shared the news.
Now, Bonds has confided with Bloom once again, letting the oh-so-critical public (thumb pointed at my chest) know that he's changed his stance on sharing with the Hall. Barry is now willing to share some of his record breaking home run gear with Cooperstown:
"All I want is the shoes, the bat, the jersey and the pants, and they can have everything else," Bonds told MLB.com about the historic blasts. "But I don't want to jump the gun about something that hasn't happened yet. It's something that will be considered. There's nothing that won't be considered. This is not a big issue. The Hall of Fame has never made it a big issue. They've always been respectful and there's no reason for them not to be now. We haven't even talked face-to-face about it yet."
I'm wondering what on Earth could have brought this up for Barry. He doesn't seem to be a man bothered by media criticism -- he's been living the past 15 years with it. So why did he change his view? Is this a new and improved Barry? A less self-centered Bonds? Did someone talk some sense into him and explain that the some of the gear belongs in the Hall? I don't know what's responsible for the change, but I sure like it. Could very well be that Bonds thought better of his previous statement and has actually backtracked. After all, donating a wrist band or shoelace doesn't hurt, does it?
If you're squarely on the side of the Barry Bonds haters, be forewarned that the following is going to make you extremely jealous. But one lucky someone has been going up to Bonds and giving him the finger for years.
The Giants have a four game series with the Nationals in San Francisco that begins tonight, and funny enough, the 
I guess this news should end the speculation that 
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