Et Tu Sutton?
Ordinarly, it ticks me off when people defend Barry Bonds by talking about Gaylord Perry, spitballs, and scuffing the ball. It's an apples and oranges comparison that doesn't quite get to the heart of the matter. At its hear, it's a dog bites man story. But as I didn't learn in the journalism classes that I didn't take, it's the man bites dog story that really catches the eye.
And that's the case with the latest nats.com notebook. Don Sutton discusses (sort of) his views of Barry Bonds and the home run chase.
A reasonable position. You may or many not agree with it, but it's not crazy talk.
I just love it though because Don Sutton was wildly believed to be, especially towards the end of his loooong career, one of the great scuffing artists of all time. (Plenty of links, if you're interested.)
There's a particularly brilliant anecdote about Sutton here, which shows off one of the qualities that make him such a terrific announcer: his ability to adapt and think quickly.
I just think that there's a certain irony in someone who defaced baseballs to get an edge talking about the purity of the game and all its traditions!
And that's the case with the latest nats.com notebook. Don Sutton discusses (sort of) his views of Barry Bonds and the home run chase.
"Being a traditionalist, I guess there is a part of me that does not want it to happen because of all of the questions surrounding Barry," Sutton said not too long ago. ...
"The traditionalist in me likes to see records like that stay put and continue to belong to the man who earns them."
A reasonable position. You may or many not agree with it, but it's not crazy talk.
I just love it though because Don Sutton was wildly believed to be, especially towards the end of his loooong career, one of the great scuffing artists of all time. (Plenty of links, if you're interested.)
There's a particularly brilliant anecdote about Sutton here, which shows off one of the qualities that make him such a terrific announcer: his ability to adapt and think quickly.
I just think that there's a certain irony in someone who defaced baseballs to get an edge talking about the purity of the game and all its traditions!
posted by Chris Needham at
9:04 PM
4 Comments:
Don Sutton's comments get closer to the heart of the matter. Barry Bonds might have belonged in the same Hall of Fame as Henry Aaron. Aaron broke the color barrier playing minor league ball in Jacksonville, FL; broke one of the great records of the game, and is among the elite to play it. Like Shoeless Joe, we will never know how good Barry Bonds could have been because he cheated. Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe, Barry Bonds, a shame.
By
Tofu Dog, at 7/21/2007 9:24 AM
We DO know how good Barry Bonds was though.
The only 'evidence' we have that he took steroids (Evidence that I believe) was from Game of Shadows. If you accept that he took them based on that, then you have to accept the timeline of when he took them, which was AFTER 1998, when McGwire and Sosa, two steroid-laden oafs, took the attention away from Bonds, a superior player.
He then had 3 or 4 of the most amazing seasons in baseball history.
But to that point, he was an all-time, inner-circle hall of famer anyway. Bonds is right up there, even if he HADN'T taken steroids.
You can debate whether his use negates some of those accomplishments for character reasons.
But you can't deny that he was a hall of famer based on his playing record through '98
By
Chris Needham, at 7/21/2007 9:27 AM
Regarding Bonds....
First - He passed every test, so there no real evidence against him.
Second - The problem is that everyone knew what was going - the league did nothing. THAT is the shameful behavior nobody seems to remember.
Third - Bonds has always be a jerk. Nobody has every really liked him. Like Bush and Cheney - he doesn't seem to care. So be it.
Sutton and all of these guys are just human, looking for an edge because in their hearts they have to wonder if they're good enough.
Bonds will break the record, we'll all chear and move on.
By
Ray Firsching, at 7/21/2007 5:06 PM
The biggest thing about Barry is that he is, in a word, a jerk. He was a jerk when he was skinny and with the Pirates, he's a jerk now that he is broad and with the Giants.
Regardless, steriods don't help you hit a baseball. Steriods may help you hit it further, but Bonds would still have gotten the record (imho).
The thing is that Aaron is a good guy and Bonds is a jerk. And for that pure, emotional reason, I am not a fan of Bonds breaking Aaron's record.
By
Anonymous, at 7/22/2007 3:06 PM
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