Bloom: Bonds reflects on Aaron chase, Hall chances
From SABR member Barry Bloom at MLB.com on August 7, 2012:
It has been five years since the night at AT&T Park when Barry Bonds hit his 756th homer into the center-field bleachers off Nationals left-handed reliever Mike Bacsik.
“No one will ever take that away. No one can ever take that away,” Bonds said that night.
Bonds finished his career with 762 home runs when the Giants declined to bring him back for the 2008 season. He was tried in federal court in 2011 for perjury about his alleged performance-enhancing drug use and was found guilty on one count of obstruction of justice, which he is fighting on appeal. Bonds, 48, talked with Giants officials about coming back as an organizational hitting coach, and he’ll be on the ballot for the first time for the Hall of Fame in 2013.
The son of late Giants outfielder Bobby Bonds and godson to Hall of Famer Willie Mays, Bonds sat down to talk with MLB.com recently at AT&T Park.
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MLB.com: Anything you would have done differently?
Bonds: I got a ball and I hit it, so in that way there’s nothing I would have done differently. As far as handling the media, I would have done a lot of things differently. The character I created on the field was a different person than the way I was off the field. It was that person that made me perform. It gave me the push to perform. Whether you hated me or loved me, you came to see that person or that show. And with the media, I needed space. When the first thing that happens after you get to the clubhouse every day is questions about the chase or how you feel, I’ll admit it now that it was hard for me to deal with and I could’ve done it a lot better. That’s a lot for one individual. You’re going to snap. It’s hard when you have to do that every day for 162 days. Add Spring Training. It would be tough for anyone.
Read the full article here: http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120724&content_id=35483916&vkey=news_sf&c_id=sf
Originally published: August 7, 2012. Last Updated: August 7, 2012.