About last night, dear -- baseball's headline doubleheader
With an efficacy usually displayed by the NFL, Major League Baseball is managing to dominate the sports news in the offseason, albeit in ways it would prefer not to.
Twin explosions occurred yesterday with Barry Bonds being indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice and Alex Rodriguez close to an agreement with the Yankees on returning to the Bronx with a new 10-year, $275 million contract.
The Bonds development was inevitable. The A-Rod situation coming about as it did over the last few days was a bolt out of the blue.
This is what I came away with from Rodriguez: A) That we are at a point where two managing directors of Goldman Sachs were the go-betweens to bring a baseball team and a player together on a playing contract; B) That the deal will in some fashion make A-Rod a partner in revenues he will generate while in pursuit of the all-time home run record; and C) No one is to be believed when this much money is at stake (e.g., the Yankees saying they would not negotiate with Rodriguez if he opted out of his previous contract).
And one more thing: I was wrong when I said I thought that A-Rod was skipping town to get away from the intense glare of East Coast media and fan scrutiny. Obviously, there's enough in this deal that makes him willing to endure that crucible.
On Bonds, there's not much I can add other than this life lesson. If the feds ask you something, be cooperative.
For your edification, here's a link to the actual Barry Bonds indictment (PDF). What you'll see is mostly grand jury Q&A having to do with Bonds' trainer Greg Anderson.Source of the indictment: www.bizofbaseball.com
Comments
If convicted. Do you think this will keep Bonds out of the HOF?
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It will for a long time. If there's contrition down the road, the voters may rationalize ... well, even assuming the worst, he was a legitimate 550, 600 home run guy so that should be good enough.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Captain Jack | November 16, 2007 9:31 AM
Question is.. which milestone will A-Rod have a better chance of surpassing? The single season homerun record of 73.. or the historic mark of reaching 800 career homeruns?
Chasing74 or Chasing800
www.Chasing74.com
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If you're asking an opinion, I think the 70 home run seasons are finished for the obvious reason. Since '02, only five players have reached the 50s, and each did it just once. There were 16 occasions, including sometimes the same guy, when the number hit the 50s, 60s and 70s from '96 to '02. But there are number of factors contributing to career longevity. So for A-Rod, the Bonds career record or even 800 is much more likely.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Chase | November 16, 2007 12:39 PM
Bill, concerning A-Rod, the marriage between him and the Yankees is all about money and maximizing "what could be" (ala 800 HR's, 3,000 hits) in the Yankee brand.
He hitting 800 HR as a Yankee is far, far, more profitable than he hitting 800 HR as let's say an Angel. The Steinbrenner family will make oodles of money of him and it will be a stroke of their ego and for their fans to say, "hey, we had the greatest hitter of all time in our uni..."
What's good for the goose is what's good for the gander.
Concerning Bonds, he's done. Even if he walks, the court of public opinion will take care of him. No HOF, no love from the public, just infamy - ala, the life O.J. Simpson lives now.
It's always the cover-up that's worse than the crime, and his life is looking like it will end in a classic Greek tragedy.
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Anthony,
I don't want to heap more bad stuff on Bonds than he may deserve. And I'm mindful that he hasn't been convicted of perjury either, but I don't like his odds. However, his legal situation is far less grave than Simpson's so I don't want to equarte those two people in terms of the allegations. But you are right, he has a tarnished name and his reputation may never recover. You are also right-on about the cover-up end of it. Jason Giambi did okay, didn't he.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Anthony | November 16, 2007 1:20 PM
I don't get it. Steinbrenner kicks Joe out, blaming him for not advancing further in the playoffs, and then rewards AROD? I think ARods abismal performance in post season is more to blame than the manager. Yankees can reach the post season without Arod, and then Arod is nearly worthless, so just what good is he?
Posted by: K W smith | November 16, 2007 7:10 PM
I find it very interesting that a baseball player might be found guilty and go to jail for a crime that we definitively know an ex-president of the United States did while in office and did not and will not service any jail time for, in fact, he is still in the public eye as a good ex-president. Very, very interesting!
Posted by: James | November 17, 2007 6:43 PM