Master manipulator or just the biggest jerk of all-time? But enough about Donald Trump, Barry Bonds’ ESPN reality series premiered last night and Newsday’s Neil Best risked his eyeballs and brain cells in the process of checking it out.
Bonds’ nausea-inducing persecution complex popped up repeatedly. “They needed a villain, so I became a villain all the time,” he said.
Later, sitting by the grave of his father, Bobby, he said: “I tell him the game has changed a lot. They’re more out to discredit anything you do than to appreciate anything that you do.”
He said he can get so frustrated, he wants to kill someone, then added, “I wish killing was legal, but I’d probably be the first one shot.”
His most disturbing comment: “It’s like a Hank Aaron story, but just a different subject.”
Sorry, Barry, but while there is no defense for the racist element in the hate mail you receive, comparing most of your negative feedback to that received by Aaron in the 1970s is absurd.
Aaron did nothing wrong other than be black and surpass Babe Ruth. Bonds is the most visible member of the most notorious group of alleged cheaters since the Black Sox.
Bonds seemed most human when offering insight into his relationship with his father and his tough-love coaching, saying, “If my dad told me I couldn’t fly, I guarantee you I’d fly.”
There also were segments on the 2002 World Series and his knee problems of last season. Mostly, though, the affect was unsettling. And it keeps getting weirder.
Toward the end of the show, fans commented on a huge orange billboard that read “Trade Barry.” They assumed it was a statement against Bonds. Yesterday, Topps revealed it was part of a promotion in partnership with Bonds for Bonds trading cards.
The only surprising thing about the hate mail segment was how only a few of the postcards were signed “Lt. Dangle.”
Trade Barry, that’s right. How U like our viral marketing now, Donruss?
Bonds’s little show opened with the syringe incident.
The Padres CEO said it may have actually been a cooking baster and not a medical device.
Hmmm…the syringe/not syringe gets thrown a day before his show debuts…the fan isn’t arrested…Bonds played it cool…
*sniff sniff*…hmmm…is that “publicity stunt” I smell?