We Didn't Want You, Anyhow...

   Engorged on Ricotta Ravioli- http://thesuntavern.com/ - I settle down to get High Above Courtside.

   I'm watching Boston/SF through a reflection in my office mirror- they hit the ball, and run to third. You get used to it in about 3 innings. It's worth it to see Barry Bonds get intentionally walked 3 times.

   Barry Bonds- who has had ample time in Octobers past to make his way to New England to catch the foliage- will probably not be coming here this year unless someone breaks an Urse-Cay. Barry did an interview in today's Boston Globe that basically said that Boston is too racist for him. 

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/06/18/18bonds/

    Barry is a legend. He can look at Mark McGwire and say, "That boy hit almost as many homers as I did." He gets walked a lot. He has stated that he wants to pass Babe Ruth's home run record, but not Hammerin' Hank's. He also claims that as far as great hitters go, it's "Me, then Babe Ruth." He can make a sound argument- he has batting stats that few can match. Depending on how you define "great", BB may be one of the best.

   "Great" is a word with many faces. To a historian, this term is used for those who have had a profound influence on the world. Jesus, Columbus, Confucius, and people of that ilk. This includes enough wiggle room so that the despicable Hitler can be considered "great." Barry isn't this kind of great. Babe Ruth was, and this irks Mr. "Word is" Bonds.

   There is also aesthetic greatness, like when some guy gets a monster cut at a fastball that blows by him for a strike. Good-looking men with awful swings are also "great" in HDTV. I'm no technician, but Barry seems solid enough with the bat, and few men not named Jim Palmer look good in those silly pants baseball players wear. When Jim talks to Bonds, Barry Bonds, I'm sure he subconsciously makes a point to have the Ring Hand on the table.

   WIth the exception of starting a major religion, Barry has passed the Greatness test. When it comes time for the Greatest test, he can go get some Clam Chowdah in the North End- he always seems to have time in October. Babe Ruth used his bat to win multiple World Series. In Octobers past, Barry hasn't got the job done. Race doesn't enter into it. I'd use the same argument on Ted Williams, and I'm a white Bostonian. Note that Jim Palmer has passed this test, btw...

   Gretzky has skated with the Stanley Cup (I'm always disgusted when I read about the players taking that Cup to parties- you'll read about a guy drinking wine out of it, not a paragraph after you have read about a guy defecating in it). Jordan and Russell have more rings than J Lo. Bart Starr, Jerry Rice, and any other serious contenders have Gone To Disneyland.

   Barry had a 73 homer season that stands out in his stats like a Black Sabbath concert in Vatican City. He is the reason I know what BALCO is. He whines about the lack of statues dedicated to black athletes, while half of his steroid-powered homers land in McCovey Cove. I'm sure Ted Williams- an avid fisherman- would trade his Tunnel in Boston for his own Cove. Sadly, we may be able to awaken him from his cryogenic chamber and ask him.  

   Barry- who seems a little stocky- doesn't look like he has missed many meals worrying about the lack of Mike Tyson statues in New York. He has had 20 Octobers with which to use part of his 18 million dollar salary to have Dr. J's visage carved into the side of the Rocky Mountains. His interview in the Globe was arrogant, hateful and condescending.

   I hope Pedro drills him this weekend.