Hard times for the man everything seemed to come easy to
The most interesting thing about Barry Bonds' diatribe Tuesday was the emotion. Bonds is the Silent Assassin. He never shows emotion. Not publicly, at least.
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| Barry Bonds arrived at spring training hoping to be ready for opening day. (Getty Images) |
Or not -- despite his plaintive woe-is-me cry.
The more likely explanation, I think, is the one given by teammate Moises Alou. That maybe Barry simply was having "one of those rehab days where you just caught him on one of the bad days."
Look, Bonds hasn't been working out like a madman over the past few seasons to extend his career into his 40s and smash every record in sight ... only to pull up to 703 home runs -- only 52 short of tying Hank Aaron's all-time record -- and put on the brakes.
Maybe, but highly unlikely.
Yes, things have changed dramatically in recent days in regard to the knee. And suddenly, it is no longer even remotely easy for the man who has made things look incredibly easy over his past four MVP seasons.
But while making it look so easy on the field, he also complained through much of the past two seasons, addressing the tactic of opposing pitchers intentionally walking him so often with the oddly twisted reasoning that his legs have been way too tired because he's on his feet so much.
Yes, he's 40 and yes, it must have been frustrating and tiring to be walking that much, but let's get real here. How about the single mother waitress who spends eight-hour shifts on her feet for $6 an hour and still has difficulty paying the bills? We'll listen to her complain about being on her feet all day -- not to Bonds.
Barry Bonds' favorite subject is Barry Bonds. Always has been. As great as he is on the field, that's how exasperating he can be off of it. It's Barry's world, and everybody else is simply existing in it. One of the most entertaining parts of the leaked BALCO grand jury testimony of his ex-girlfriend, Bell, was when she said that during their time together Barry really liked to talk about himself. Oh, really?
The guy has had two surgeries on the knee in less than two months. He was working hard to get back on the field by opening day when new tears were discovered in his knee last week. Opening day is less than two weeks off. The guy -- any guy, Superman or mere mortal -- has to be bummed out.
Maybe Bonds' Gloomy Tuesday prediction will turn out to be accurate -- maybe he really won't be back until 2006. But as one of his former managers, Dusty Baker, says, Bonds is a fast healer. And we know how determined he is.
Chances are, as he complained in the past about his legs being tired, he just needed time and an audience to vent regarding his latest frustrations. Interesting that he would say he's giving up ("You wanted me to jump off a bridge, I finally did."). Far more interesting if he actually does.
