Friday, November 16, 2007
Friday Rumors and Indictments
So the big news is the Barry Bonds indictment. If you're looking for any kind of discussion on the subject, or breathless minute-by-minute coverage of the whole affair, then I'd suggest flipping to another site, because I don't particularly care and I'm going to try my best to ignore the media circus that is sure to ensue. It just reminds me of the line from Ken Kesey's brilliant Sometimes A Great Notion, about how a bunch of loggers would stop what they were doing and go gawk when a particularly gigantic tree was about to come down. Everybody is going to have an opinion on this because, dammit, people just like to watch big things fall.
Everybody keeps saying Bonds's career is over, but imagine this scenario. Let's say that he gets put on trial, beats the rap after a long two- or three- year ordeal, and then decides to make a comeback like at age 46. Can you imagine? An old, cranky, weak-kneed Bonds coming back out of retirement for one last hurrah, a sort of huge "eff you" to all those who tried to bring him down. Now that would be a story worth following.
--According to this article, the Giants have been the most aggressive team so far at pursuing Florida's Miguel Cabrera. I'm a tad torn on whether or not the Giants should try to trade for Cabrera. Obviously the Giants need an impact bat, and Cabrera is theoretically the kind of franchise-player kind of talent they should go after. However, it's going to take either Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum, at the least, to get him, and I'm not sure if I'd be willing to part with one of those two at this point. The idea of that two-headed monster at the top of the rotation for years to come is appealing.
The positives with Cabrera are pretty obvious. He's only 24 and is already one of the best hitters in the league. He'd no doubt fit in nicely as the new face of the franchise after Bonds's departure. The negatives are that he's a horrible defensive player and, if you look at the guy, he's just a blimp. If he's fat and immobile at age 24, what does that say about his conditioning habits going into his later seasons? If the Giants do get him, they'd better sign him to a long-term deal, because they'd be giving up too much for a two-year rental, but his weight issues are a little scary.
--For your TGIF video, a badass scene from a badass movie. Have a great weekend!
Everybody keeps saying Bonds's career is over, but imagine this scenario. Let's say that he gets put on trial, beats the rap after a long two- or three- year ordeal, and then decides to make a comeback like at age 46. Can you imagine? An old, cranky, weak-kneed Bonds coming back out of retirement for one last hurrah, a sort of huge "eff you" to all those who tried to bring him down. Now that would be a story worth following.
--According to this article, the Giants have been the most aggressive team so far at pursuing Florida's Miguel Cabrera. I'm a tad torn on whether or not the Giants should try to trade for Cabrera. Obviously the Giants need an impact bat, and Cabrera is theoretically the kind of franchise-player kind of talent they should go after. However, it's going to take either Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum, at the least, to get him, and I'm not sure if I'd be willing to part with one of those two at this point. The idea of that two-headed monster at the top of the rotation for years to come is appealing.
The positives with Cabrera are pretty obvious. He's only 24 and is already one of the best hitters in the league. He'd no doubt fit in nicely as the new face of the franchise after Bonds's departure. The negatives are that he's a horrible defensive player and, if you look at the guy, he's just a blimp. If he's fat and immobile at age 24, what does that say about his conditioning habits going into his later seasons? If the Giants do get him, they'd better sign him to a long-term deal, because they'd be giving up too much for a two-year rental, but his weight issues are a little scary.
--For your TGIF video, a badass scene from a badass movie. Have a great weekend!
Labels: barry bonds, miguel cabrera
Friday, September 21, 2007
Barry Says Bye-Bye
Barry Bonds announced on his website today that the Giants have told him that they would not be bringing him back in 2008. It's not a surprise, as the Giants will be looking to rebuild, but it's still downright sad. Some quick thoughts on this, because it's Friday afternoon and I need a nap...
1) Now batting for your Los Angeles Angels...Barrrrry Bonds!!! Yeah, it's going to be totally weird seeing Barry take some hacks in another uniform next season. It'll be pretty strange starting a season without Bonds's name penciled into the starting lineup. It's like a war veteran who's had his arm blown off, then wakes up at times with the feeling that it's still attached. Um, or something like that.
2) Bonds has a 1.053 OPS this year, which is the best in the National League. Now picture the 2008 Giants lineup, most likely returning a bunch of the same sub-.700 OPS ne'er-do-wells, and picture that lineup sans Bonds. Yeah. It's uglier than a Karl Rove-Rosie O'Donnell love child.
Let's say hypothetically that Bonds wants so bad to retire as a Giants that he'll agree to take a substantial pay cut. He'll come back for $10 million in 2008. Knowing what Bonds brings to a lineup, even at age 42, should the Giants do a 180 (or a Jason Kidd 360) and bring him back at this discounted price? Let's face it, it's likely that this team is going to be absolutely miserable to watch with no Bonds next season. Hell, they're unwatchable with Bonds! If he can put some butts in the seats, hit some home runs, help put some runs on the board, and make a big farewell tour, would it be worth it to take the senior discount?
I think Rob Neyer hit it on the head in a blog post today. As much as it sucks to see the icon of the franchise for the past 15 years just waltz off unceremoniously, it would probably just make very little sense, in the end, to re-sign him, to any dollar amount (unless we're talking like $5 million or something, but that's a little too crazy a dream). The Giants need to rebuild, and the only way they're going to do it effectively is by giving some younger guys a chance to play and prove that they can produce in the major leagues. That is not going to be accomplished by signing Bonds and playing him just for sentimental value. The Astros are killing themselves with Craig Biggio this year for just that reason.
Bonds will find himself on another team in '08 and he'll doubtless help that team score runs and win ballgames. The Giants, meanwhile, need to break the ball and chain and find a way to make this new era of suck as short as possible. Bonds will be missed, and some day he'll come back to Mays Field and be the recipient of one of the greatest ovations ever given to a baseball player.
--I had so much fun embedding that DMB video last Friday, that I think I'll make this a regular feature here on Stankeye, kind of a TGIF thing. This week's random video features the Angry Video Game Nerd. If you don't know who he is, well, he's a video game reviewer who became immensely popular on YouTube and now does work for Gametrailers. He basically only reviews crappy old Nintendo games...while drinking beer and cussing...a lot. It's one of the funniest things around nowadays.
This is a trailer for his review of a bunch of old, awful Spiderman games on the classic game consoles. Again, this is just the trailer, (the full video can be found on this page), but it's freaking hilarious. Warning: it's brimming with filthy language, so kiddies take heed. Enjoy, and have a good weekend!
1) Now batting for your Los Angeles Angels...Barrrrry Bonds!!! Yeah, it's going to be totally weird seeing Barry take some hacks in another uniform next season. It'll be pretty strange starting a season without Bonds's name penciled into the starting lineup. It's like a war veteran who's had his arm blown off, then wakes up at times with the feeling that it's still attached. Um, or something like that.
2) Bonds has a 1.053 OPS this year, which is the best in the National League. Now picture the 2008 Giants lineup, most likely returning a bunch of the same sub-.700 OPS ne'er-do-wells, and picture that lineup sans Bonds. Yeah. It's uglier than a Karl Rove-Rosie O'Donnell love child.
Let's say hypothetically that Bonds wants so bad to retire as a Giants that he'll agree to take a substantial pay cut. He'll come back for $10 million in 2008. Knowing what Bonds brings to a lineup, even at age 42, should the Giants do a 180 (or a Jason Kidd 360) and bring him back at this discounted price? Let's face it, it's likely that this team is going to be absolutely miserable to watch with no Bonds next season. Hell, they're unwatchable with Bonds! If he can put some butts in the seats, hit some home runs, help put some runs on the board, and make a big farewell tour, would it be worth it to take the senior discount?
I think Rob Neyer hit it on the head in a blog post today. As much as it sucks to see the icon of the franchise for the past 15 years just waltz off unceremoniously, it would probably just make very little sense, in the end, to re-sign him, to any dollar amount (unless we're talking like $5 million or something, but that's a little too crazy a dream). The Giants need to rebuild, and the only way they're going to do it effectively is by giving some younger guys a chance to play and prove that they can produce in the major leagues. That is not going to be accomplished by signing Bonds and playing him just for sentimental value. The Astros are killing themselves with Craig Biggio this year for just that reason.
Bonds will find himself on another team in '08 and he'll doubtless help that team score runs and win ballgames. The Giants, meanwhile, need to break the ball and chain and find a way to make this new era of suck as short as possible. Bonds will be missed, and some day he'll come back to Mays Field and be the recipient of one of the greatest ovations ever given to a baseball player.
--I had so much fun embedding that DMB video last Friday, that I think I'll make this a regular feature here on Stankeye, kind of a TGIF thing. This week's random video features the Angry Video Game Nerd. If you don't know who he is, well, he's a video game reviewer who became immensely popular on YouTube and now does work for Gametrailers. He basically only reviews crappy old Nintendo games...while drinking beer and cussing...a lot. It's one of the funniest things around nowadays.
This is a trailer for his review of a bunch of old, awful Spiderman games on the classic game consoles. Again, this is just the trailer, (the full video can be found on this page), but it's freaking hilarious. Warning: it's brimming with filthy language, so kiddies take heed. Enjoy, and have a good weekend!
Labels: arbitrary youtube links, barry bonds
Thursday, August 09, 2007
#756...and Beyond
When Barry Bonds connected for home run number 755, the one that brought him even with Hank Aaron, was I there, cheering him on, acknowledging a great moment in baseball history?
Well, no. I wasn't watching and, in fact, I had no idea that he had actually hit it until the next morning. You know the old adage about clueless people being described as "living in a cave"? Well, that's basically where I was on Saturday (at least probably near some bear caves), as I spent the entire day in Yosemite National Park, hiking up Halfdome with some friends. I was literally awake for 24 hours, 12 of which were spent hiking up and down the mountain (just thinking about it makes my knees scream in pain). I jumped into bed once I got home and didn't even bother checking scores, and it wasn't until I opened the newspaper in the morning that I found out.
Luckily, on Tuesday I was watching when Bonds connected for his record-breaking blast off of Mike Bacsik. To be honest, going into the moment when he hit the home run, I was totally expecting to feel nothing but apathy. The way I see it, the record isn't diluted because of steroids or whathaveyou, but because in this era of heightened offensive numbers, it just seems inevitable that in less than ten years somebody else is going to break this record. Then somebody will come along and break that record...and so on. It's sort of how I felt about Bonds breaking the single season home run record in 2001: an awesome achievement, but the impact is watered down a little because people are hitting home runs all over and we had already gone through that whole thing three years before.
When Bonds hit number 756, though, it was as exciting a moment as I've ever witnessed. I was watching the game in one of my favorite restaurant/bars, and I threw my hands up in the air and yelled. I'm sure I looked like a jackass. For that moment, you could forget about all of the other junk surrounding Bonds and his record chase and just savor watching one of the greatest players ever take down perhaps the most iconic record in all of sports. Hank Aaron's tactful video tribute was icing on the cake. It was a tremendous baseball moment.
What I'm seeing a lot of now, and this isn't unexpected, obviously, is a lot of vitriol from media-types condemning Bonds for cheating his way to the home run record. I hear a lot of writers refering to the home run record as "sacred", as if Bonds is pissing on the Bible or something. All of this self-righteous rage over Bonds is insane
My take is this: it's really not important. It was an amazing moment, one I'm glad I witnessed, even if it was in a booth at Woody's chomping down mozarella sticks. I'll never forget it, and I'm sure I'll be telling my kids one day where I was when Bonds surpassed Aaron. But it's just a dumb counting stat, one geared to appeal to our basest instincts as humans ("wow, he hit that ball realllly far!").
We invest far too much emotion into the game of baseball than we should. We're all guilty of it. Hell, when the Giants lost that one-game playoff to the Cubs in 1998, I went home and cried. Seriously fucking cried. When they blew the World Series I became so devoid of emotion that I was probably frightening to be around. Soon, though, I was ready to turn the page and start anew with the next season. That's why I love the game so much. The lows are incredibly low, but the highs are oh so magnificently high (Brian Johnson, anyone?).
In the end though, it all comes down to perspective. Baseball is just a silly game, one run by greedy, bloodsucking billionaires and played by greedy millionaires with more biceps than personality. It isn't a microcosm of life or some shit like Ken Burns may have you believe; it's a piece of entertainment and should be treated as such. It's not life and death, even though it may sometimes feel that way. So whenever I read someone like Jay Mariotti or Pedro Gomez wax on about how this whole thing is a shame for our country and this great sport, I find it pathetic. I know it's a writer's job to churn up as much moral outrage as possible to get more people reading, but if you really get boiled up in a rage and start raving about the degradation of society because Bonds broke a dumb record, then you seriously need professional help.
As far as the debate over how much Bonds's achievement really is tainted, I just don't know. There is so little information about how much steroids and whatnot really aid an athlete that it's hard to make any true condemnations. And, again, I don't think it's important enough to get my panties in a bunch over the issue either way. There are so many well-thought-out pieces about the subject floating through the internet that I'm not going to bother even putting up links. Just do a few Google searches and see the thousands of hits that come up.
Congrats, Barry. In 40 years you'll be the recipient of a well-deserved, teary tribute to your greatness, a la Ted Williams in 1999.
Well, no. I wasn't watching and, in fact, I had no idea that he had actually hit it until the next morning. You know the old adage about clueless people being described as "living in a cave"? Well, that's basically where I was on Saturday (at least probably near some bear caves), as I spent the entire day in Yosemite National Park, hiking up Halfdome with some friends. I was literally awake for 24 hours, 12 of which were spent hiking up and down the mountain (just thinking about it makes my knees scream in pain). I jumped into bed once I got home and didn't even bother checking scores, and it wasn't until I opened the newspaper in the morning that I found out.
Luckily, on Tuesday I was watching when Bonds connected for his record-breaking blast off of Mike Bacsik. To be honest, going into the moment when he hit the home run, I was totally expecting to feel nothing but apathy. The way I see it, the record isn't diluted because of steroids or whathaveyou, but because in this era of heightened offensive numbers, it just seems inevitable that in less than ten years somebody else is going to break this record. Then somebody will come along and break that record...and so on. It's sort of how I felt about Bonds breaking the single season home run record in 2001: an awesome achievement, but the impact is watered down a little because people are hitting home runs all over and we had already gone through that whole thing three years before.
When Bonds hit number 756, though, it was as exciting a moment as I've ever witnessed. I was watching the game in one of my favorite restaurant/bars, and I threw my hands up in the air and yelled. I'm sure I looked like a jackass. For that moment, you could forget about all of the other junk surrounding Bonds and his record chase and just savor watching one of the greatest players ever take down perhaps the most iconic record in all of sports. Hank Aaron's tactful video tribute was icing on the cake. It was a tremendous baseball moment.
What I'm seeing a lot of now, and this isn't unexpected, obviously, is a lot of vitriol from media-types condemning Bonds for cheating his way to the home run record. I hear a lot of writers refering to the home run record as "sacred", as if Bonds is pissing on the Bible or something. All of this self-righteous rage over Bonds is insane
My take is this: it's really not important. It was an amazing moment, one I'm glad I witnessed, even if it was in a booth at Woody's chomping down mozarella sticks. I'll never forget it, and I'm sure I'll be telling my kids one day where I was when Bonds surpassed Aaron. But it's just a dumb counting stat, one geared to appeal to our basest instincts as humans ("wow, he hit that ball realllly far!").
We invest far too much emotion into the game of baseball than we should. We're all guilty of it. Hell, when the Giants lost that one-game playoff to the Cubs in 1998, I went home and cried. Seriously fucking cried. When they blew the World Series I became so devoid of emotion that I was probably frightening to be around. Soon, though, I was ready to turn the page and start anew with the next season. That's why I love the game so much. The lows are incredibly low, but the highs are oh so magnificently high (Brian Johnson, anyone?).
In the end though, it all comes down to perspective. Baseball is just a silly game, one run by greedy, bloodsucking billionaires and played by greedy millionaires with more biceps than personality. It isn't a microcosm of life or some shit like Ken Burns may have you believe; it's a piece of entertainment and should be treated as such. It's not life and death, even though it may sometimes feel that way. So whenever I read someone like Jay Mariotti or Pedro Gomez wax on about how this whole thing is a shame for our country and this great sport, I find it pathetic. I know it's a writer's job to churn up as much moral outrage as possible to get more people reading, but if you really get boiled up in a rage and start raving about the degradation of society because Bonds broke a dumb record, then you seriously need professional help.
As far as the debate over how much Bonds's achievement really is tainted, I just don't know. There is so little information about how much steroids and whatnot really aid an athlete that it's hard to make any true condemnations. And, again, I don't think it's important enough to get my panties in a bunch over the issue either way. There are so many well-thought-out pieces about the subject floating through the internet that I'm not going to bother even putting up links. Just do a few Google searches and see the thousands of hits that come up.
Congrats, Barry. In 40 years you'll be the recipient of a well-deserved, teary tribute to your greatness, a la Ted Williams in 1999.
Labels: barry bonds, home run record
