A.J. Perez of USA Today reports that Federal District Judge Susan Illotson dismissed four of the 15 counts against Barry Bonds. However, the charges Illotson dismissed were on the grounds that they were redundant. Bonds is still facing 10 charges of making false statements and one charge of obstruction of justice.
Trial is in March. If it's a short trial and he's acquitted what excuse will MLB teams have for not signing him? He might be past his point of usefulness in the OF but I'll bet he can still hit.
2 - there are plenty of reasons, rather than excuses not to sign Bonds:
1. PR nightmare - acquittal in court of law does not mean acquittal in court of public opinion, see: Simpson, OJ.
2. youth movements - they are all the rage right now.
3. salary constraints - sure, there's no salary cap, but the economy is slowing down, can't afford to pay the all time home run king an insane salary when we can't sell out games.
I think Bonds is done. And it's a shame that the home run king, and likely best player of the last half century went out like this, but the guy dug his own grave in a lot of ways.
3 My thoughts
1. Agreed that he's a PR problem but I don't equate his offenses (lying) with OJ's. Most fans will love most anyone if they perform well enough-They liked Bonds in SF.
2. There is always room for an old guy who can hit if the price is right.
3. I thought I heard that he was willing to sign a very low base contract with incentives. That might not be correct. Nobody will give him a $10 million plus guaranteed contract.
Having said all that; even if he could play the OF I wouldn't want him on my team (which probably contradicts my point #1 above) but I wouldn't want him in my division either.
4 - OJ is probably not the best example, but he was the first one that came to mind.
I think Bonds is a PR nightmare in this respect: Bonds cheated the game. A lot of fans won't get over that, can't get over that. The better example might be Clinton, they lied and arguably undermined the system in the process.
The example of OJ is bad on two counts: one, it was murder; two, it was long after he retired.
Is Barry the only one?
Why are they picking on this guy?
Bring all of the lying cheaters before the magistrate and slap them all on the wrists and let's move on - oh, forgot about the Mitchell Report there for a moment.
Seems like Federal Prosecutors and Federal Judges could be making better use of their time. Their time is our tax money. Can we convict some violent criminals and try to make the streets just a bit more safe?
5 Clinton is a good example. Yes, they lied and everyone knows it but the people that love them still love them (and those that hate them still hate them).
Micheal Vick might be an interesting case. He will probably be released soon. If he is reinstated and winds up playing well I'll bet the fans in his new hometown forgive him pretty quickly. If he's awful they will boo him right out of town.
I hate to be so cynical.
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1. PR nightmare - acquittal in court of law does not mean acquittal in court of public opinion, see: Simpson, OJ.
2. youth movements - they are all the rage right now.
3. salary constraints - sure, there's no salary cap, but the economy is slowing down, can't afford to pay the all time home run king an insane salary when we can't sell out games.
I think Bonds is done. And it's a shame that the home run king, and likely best player of the last half century went out like this, but the guy dug his own grave in a lot of ways.
1. Agreed that he's a PR problem but I don't equate his offenses (lying) with OJ's. Most fans will love most anyone if they perform well enough-They liked Bonds in SF.
2. There is always room for an old guy who can hit if the price is right.
3. I thought I heard that he was willing to sign a very low base contract with incentives. That might not be correct. Nobody will give him a $10 million plus guaranteed contract.
Having said all that; even if he could play the OF I wouldn't want him on my team (which probably contradicts my point #1 above) but I wouldn't want him in my division either.
I think Bonds is a PR nightmare in this respect: Bonds cheated the game. A lot of fans won't get over that, can't get over that. The better example might be Clinton, they lied and arguably undermined the system in the process.
The example of OJ is bad on two counts: one, it was murder; two, it was long after he retired.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-bonds-steroids&prov=ap&type=lgns
Why are they picking on this guy?
Bring all of the lying cheaters before the magistrate and slap them all on the wrists and let's move on - oh, forgot about the Mitchell Report there for a moment.
Seems like Federal Prosecutors and Federal Judges could be making better use of their time. Their time is our tax money. Can we convict some violent criminals and try to make the streets just a bit more safe?
Micheal Vick might be an interesting case. He will probably be released soon. If he is reinstated and winds up playing well I'll bet the fans in his new hometown forgive him pretty quickly. If he's awful they will boo him right out of town.
I hate to be so cynical.
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.