Also-Rans Fill Out Line-Up for 50th Anniversary Celebration to Take Place on Saturday

If he accepts the invitation or not, Barry Bonds is the marquee name out of the players invited to the ceremony this weekend in San Francisco honoring Giants outfielders over their five decades on the left coast. The organization that turned their back on their best player now hold their figurative arms open for him, at least for one night.

No slight towards any of the other players, but without Bonds this is a questionable bunch. Among the invitees, Kevin Mitchell may have won an MVP, but his dominant days were short lived. Jack Clark was a very good player, but not much more than that. Dave Kingman? The ‘all-or-nothing’ slugger played in San Francisco his first four seasons, and then struck out at a remarkable rate for six other teams over 12 more campaigns following his sale to the Mets in 1977.

Mike Felder was a Giant for all of two seasons in the early nineties, Darryl Hamilton less than that. Jeffrey Leonard, while a journeyman throughout his career, at least played for the Giants for five full and two parts of seasons. If this is the best they could muster up, they may as well have skipped the whole thing. You mean they couldn’t convince Max Venable to come on down for the sake of nostalgia? Continue Reading »

Agent Calls it Like it is; Home Run King Offering to Play for Minimum

As the second half of the baseball season is upon us, teams that are making playoff pushes start to separate themselves from the second-division clubs. The trading deadline is still two weeks away, and general managers across the league will be adding to their cell phone bills two-fold.

There is one number that hasn’t received any calls all year, even though what waits on the other end has some attributes that fit most teams’ needs: veteran player with playoff and World Series experience; averaged 128 games the last two seasons; is a free agent and will not cost any players or prospects to acquire; will play for peanuts and…is the all-time major league baseball home run king.

With the good come the bad, and with Barry Bonds, that is no exception. Yes, anyone who signs him would be also bringing along a circus created, caused and pumped up by the media. The BALCO steroids scandal will never go away and will be magnified if Bonds ever plays again. But it is hard to argue that his bat wouldn’t be able to help at least one team out there, and since when did sports organizations put anything ahead of winning? Continue Reading »

Slugger’s Agent States No Interest League-Wide

It was more than a rumor. The Arizona Diamondbacks gave Barry Bonds some consideration as a replacement for the injured Eric Byrnes, but ultimately decided against it. Even with a slumping offense, they have chosen to let the home run king stay an unsigned free agent.

Jeff Borris, Bonds’ agent, told the USA Today that he is not in discussions with any team about his client. “I am not talking to any club about Barry Bonds because they all made it very clear to me they are not interested in him,” Borris told reporters. “Every club.” Continue Reading »

Despite Decent Power Numbers in 2007, Suspected Steroid Sluggers Remain on the Sidelines

One is waiting for his day in court, the other for the next World Baseball Classic. Both have Hall of Fame Credentials and are young enough to still be playing. If chicks still dig the long ball, then this pair could still attract a harem full. But Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa haven’t received a sniff since they both became free agents following the 2007 season. And they shouldn’t expect anything to change in the near or far future.

Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record last summer and then was run out of San Francisco, while Sosa made a nice comeback in Texas, hitting 21 home runs and driving in 92 runs in 114 games. But the Dominican slugger was not asked to return and now has said that he intends on retiring after the next WBC, which is scheduled for March of 2009. How the 39 year-old intends on staying in game shape between now and then remains to be seen, but speculation will be running rampart on Sosa going back to his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. Continue Reading »