Barry, Sorry, But You Have Retired

So Barry Bonds thinks that he hasn’t retired yet, huh?

In a tribute to San Francisco Giant greats, Bonds told the crowd that he hasn’t retired yet.

I’m sorry to say it, because Lord knows I would have Barry Bonds back in uniform tomorrow if it were up to me, but Barry Bonds is done when it comes to Major League Baseball.

I have held on to hope for as long as possible, wishing and waiting that some team in pursuit of a pennant would give old Barry Lamar Bonds a call to come play baseball.

But it hasn’t happened, and it ain’t going to happen.

Owners and general managers just don’t want this guy around. Not a single one of them. Sound like a league-wide mandate to you? Well, it does to me.

Sure, there are probably several managers who don’t think that Barry Bonds can play at the age of 44. But there have to be at least twice as many managers/owners who think that he produce quite well after putting up a .480 on-base-percentage and a .565 slugging-percentage just a season ago, especially if he is playing the designated hitter position.

Yet of course I won’t deny that many owners and managers take into account the fact that Bonds is such a divisive figure who will bring a ton of baggage into the clubhouse and possibly destroy a team. But with teams like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and Houston Astros who can probably handle the extra media coverage, I’m not convinced that Bonds’ baggage is the only thing keeping him away from the field. Especially in a sport riddled with problems, from drug users and abusers, to known cheaters and gamblers.

So am I saying its possible that Commissioner Bud Selig sent out a message to everyone saying not to pick this guy up? I’m just saying is possible, and I wouldn’t put it past anyone in baseball to do just that if they thought it was the best thing for their sport.

But if that is the case, and it could be, that is a crying shame. It’s just a sad day when a multi-billion dollar franchise tries to put the faults of its organization on the shoulders of one-person. Nobody else has been forced out of baseball for using steroids. All of those people’s whose names came up on the Mitchell Report, they’re still playing ball (active players that is). Even Roger Clemens got to show up at Spring Training in the beginning.

But Bonds gets no such love.

Maybe he brought it on himself, because he was never likeable or kind.

Then again, the majority of the people who paint him that way are the members of the media who don’t get along with him either. For the most part, Bonds gets along with his teammates and tends to have a good time with them in the clubhouse. Sure, he was distant; afterall, he was a big fish in a small pond, but he was rarely belligerent, and even “nice” players get into fights with their teammates.

But let’s say that is the case. Let’s say Bonds’ attitude is what’s keeping him out. Or let’s say its his steroid use, or whatever else you want to fault him for. The fact of the matter is that every executive decision maker in baseball, either by their own will or collectively, has come to the conclusion that they don’t want Bonds to play for them this season. And with an impending trial coming up next March, it’s unlikely that they will let him play next year either.

Thus, so ends the career of the man who hit 73 homeruns in a season, 762 homeruns all time, and belted out 1996 RBIs in his career. It’s too bad he doesn’t know it it’s all over.

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