As of this writing, Pedro Gomez is on ESPN quoting an unnamed Giant as calling Barry Bonds “the worst teammate I’ve ever had.” For “Love Me, Hate Me” author Jeff Pearlman, quizzed today by Deadspin’s Will Leitch, the rhetoric is considerably heavier. “Now that I’m beyond the promotional, 20-second soundbite push, I feel liberated to express my conclusion of the whole experience,” says Pearlman. “Barry Bonds is evil.”
Alongside Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, he is responsible for the illegal, unethical tattering of the most important page of the baseball record book. I grew up knowing what 755 meant. Hell, my mom–who knows nothing about sports–understands 755. I hate–absolutely, positively hate–that Barry Bonds is doing this. I’m mad if my 6-year-old nephew cheats in first grade. So for Bonds to come along and cheat to surpass Aaron–it’s criminal. I read writers like Bill Rhoden and Dave Zirin–guys I respect–and I just don’t understand what the hell they’re doing. They maintain there’s no proof that Bonds used, so how can we condemn him? If we used that mode of thinking in day-to-day life, there’d be no need for juries. You either catch a person in the act of committing a crime or he’s innocent. Factually–and I mean, 100% factually–Bonds used, and the evidence is overwhelming. Game of Shadows, my book, his ties to Greg Anderson and Victor Conte, the expansion (impossible, unless he used HGH or suffers from Acromegaly) of his skull, a former teammlate like Jay Canizaro telling me how Anderson said he can design a steroid cocktail for him that would be just like Barry’s, so on and so on. Every time someone writes that there’s no “proof,” he/she is gifting the designers of masking agents. If we reward and praise the cheaters in sports, what are we saying to the kids who follow the games? What are we saying about decency and integrity?
I don’t root against Bonds because he’s a bad man. I root against him because he’s a dishonest one. For me personally, this isn’t an issue of race or class or status. It’s an issue of someone taking the game I truly love and making a mockery of the whole thing.
Regardless of where Pearlman chooses to make such remarks, I’ve got nothing but respect for his work to date and do believe he is speaking truthfully when he claims there’s no racial bias at play here. And that’s why I am eagerly looking forward to Pearlman’s extensively researched books on the careers of Mark McGwire and Roger Clemens. I can think of no writer better qualfied to tackle either subject, and I promise to do everything in my power not to skip to the end of either tome to find out how either icon measures up on Pearlman’s moral barometer.
Today was not the first time Pearlman has called Bonds “evil”. It’s not the first time I’ve suggested there are other players worthy of heavy scrutiny, either, but if a talented guy like Jeff can repeat himself, so can I.
I don’t disagree with your thoughts on McGwire and Clemens. In fact, I’ve written about both men in this context. However, the fact of the matter is that I spent two years of my life working on a biography of Barry Bonds. Not because of the steroid issue, but because he’s a sports icon who had never been profiled in a biography. Hence, Bonds is a topic I know very well. That’s why I take a strong stand—because I know whereof I speak …
Keep blogging. You do great work.
Jeff Pearlman
Jeff,
I’m certainly not denying you know your stuff where the Sultan is concerned — and in case anyone is hopping in late here, in all seriousness, I thought ‘Love Me, Hate Me’ was terrific stuff. Even for those of us who suspected that Barry might be pathologically screwy, the book was impossible to put down.
So yeah, while I’m blogging, you’re putting yr nuts on the line with honest-to-god books, and I have genuine, no-fuckin’-around respect for that.
it isn’t that I begrudge your right to pass judgement on Barry. you’re the one who has written what has to be considered the definitive Sultan bio. But my question — not necessarily for you , but for everyone reading this — is where’s the Big Bogus Mac book or Rip The Rocket A New One Reader? Your role in establishing Barry as Public Enemy Numero Uno is not a tiny one, and while I’d never claim the Sultan hasn’t buried himself time and time again, I’m uncomfortable with the way he’s demonized compared to certain other characters.
While I doubt your motivations are anything other than telling whatever story you’ve got to share, I also suspect there’s a bigger market for a negative take on Barry than there might be for Clemens.
Fair points, and I appreciate your compliments. That said, if someone were to come out with a Clemens Steroids book, I have no doubt it’d soar to the top of the best seller’s list. Also, please, please keep in mind that my book wasn’t a steroid opus, but a biography of the man. I’d be happy to write a Clemens biography—but I don’t think his life has the depth, mystery or uniqueness of Bonds’. If Bonds were just a roider with great stats, I wouldn’t have cared.
Jeff,
just to clarify, my own suspicions aside, I’d like to think a fair, well reported Clemens bio would have much more to offer besides ‘roid innuendo/allegations/proof etc. Though not nearly as polarizing as the HR King In Waiting, the Rocket is not universally beloved.
And of course, though it should go without saying, I certainly don’t wish to imply that “Love Me, Hate Me” is specifically a BALCO-Barry book. Much like some have argued Bonds’ pre-bulky achievements were worthy of HOF status, the Sultan’s personal story was meaty to the max long before anyone suggested PED’s played a part.
And with that, I guess we can ponder who is an iconic, divisive figure and who is merely a ‘roider with gaudy numbers. I guess I can live with the notion McGwire falls into the latter category.
As for Clemens, though I don’t disagree with you that Bonds’ life story is probably more compelling subject matter, at least some of that presumption is based on a book you’ve written.
White America embraces Aaron, but only vis a vis Bonds. For thirty years, White America rejected Aaron vis a vis Ruth. The reason Bonds’s guard is up is because it should be.
He’s evil evil EVIL. He took steroids (when they were legal) in order to be a better ballplayer and is also not very nice to the wonderful media which treats him with such respect, such as Mr. Pearlman.
The record should belong to a non-uppity black man such as Mr. Aaron or a white man. Or at the very least someone willing to kiss the media’s (primarily) white ass. Right Jeff?
while I’m usually quick to agree there’s a racial component to much of the anti-Sultan hysteria, you might actually wanna crack open a copy of Jeff’s book, Chris. Not only did he attempt (and fail) to engage Barry in a dialogue with an approach that seemed downright respectful, but there’s no shortage of creepy things Bonds is accused of doing. The steroids, in and of themselves, might not even be the biggest deal.
It’s not too awesome on this Wednesday afternoon to consider after everything Hank Aaron went thru he can be dismssed as a non-uppity black man. Even in this context.
I think the media are gonna have a problem with arrogant jerks regardless of race. Which isn’t to say a black guy being primarily covered by white guys isn’t gonna have it worse.
Chris, don’t take this the wrong way, but posts like the one you dropped here make writers/people who cover the games not wanna interact. In other words, I come here in peace, thrilled to shoot the shit. But why attack me like that, without knowing what the hell you’re talking about?
First off, steroids were NOT legal. While baseball had no specific guideline on the matter, the United States Government has a little something called the Banned Substance Act, which includes bylaws making it illegal to possess steroids or HGH without proper medical prescriptions (ones from Balco/Balco associates wouldn’t count here)
Secondly, I don’t give a damn if Bonds kisses my ass or not. I certainly don’t care about his race, backrgound, religion, etc—and to imply such shows you don’t know (or, I’m assuming, care to know) my background. What I do care about is that he’s blatantly cheated to break baseball’s greatest record, set by a man who deserves much better.
I truly don’t understand the thinking of some people. If my kid cheats in school, I’m livid. If someone passes me in the checkout line, I’m pissed. If I learn that the government is doing something illgal, I’m incensed. But Bonds can take illegal, performance-enhancing drugs to surpass Hank Aaron and I’m supposed to cheer and give him a pass?
Baseball is the game I covered for many years at SI; a game I love with a deep passion. I am equally mad at McGwire, Sosa, Giambi, etc, as I am at Bonds. They have done their best to ruin this sport, almost in the same way the Tour De France is now a joke …
No hard feelings. But if you’re gonna call me out, I don’t know why it can’t at least be politely done.
Jeff
Point taken Jeff and I’m sorry I came off so grouchy…I’m just getting really tired of the constant Bash Bonds Bandwagon, and throwing around the term “evil” at a baseball player who hasn’t done anything worse than cheat on his wife, taxes, and at a child’s game seems pretty ridiculous to me and reeks of self-promotion. He isn’t murdering people, or dogs, or carrying guns, much less sending off thousands of people to their death in a foreign country everyday.
“If my kid cheats in school, I’m livid. If someone passes me in the checkout line, I’m pissed. If I learn that the government is doing something illgal, I’m incensed. But Bonds can take illegal, performance-enhancing drugs to surpass Hank Aaron and I’m supposed to cheer and give him a pass?”
My problem here, as with all the negative Bonds press, is the moralizing. Do you get furious if someone passes you going 66 MPH or a child jaywalks? It’s incredible to me that people get so incensed over someone who takes something that allowed him to train harder so as to get better…at a GAME. It’s a game. A child’s game. There is no reason to get incensed. All the personal attacks to me go beyond this frustration into something else. Sometimes it’s racism (I’m not accusing you of that). Most journalists just seem pretty confused and to go along with what others say. Maybe it’s some kind of Jungian transference type thing…I don’t know. But that so many people are “outraged” and berate the guy every chance they get, from journalists to your average fan, tells me that there is something else going on here. Either that or people are WAY too self-righteous for their own good, because, you know, no one else ever cheats at anything in life.
One last thing, some examples, just from the last week or so:
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/dispatch/content/sports/stories/2007/07/27/arace27.ART_ART_07-27-07_C1_SM7D1M2.html
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/canepa/20070727-9999-1s27canepa.html
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20070726_Bill_Conlin___Taking_Bonds_down_to_size.html
http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/imrem.asp?id=331757
‘Cause, you know, NONE of these guys have ever been rude to people, or tempted to cheat on their wife, or tempted to cheat at anything. They are all perfect, upstanding, and perfectly pure and good people.
That’s not really GC, is it? Unmask yourself, imposter!
If you’re wondering, you fraud, it was posting a Deadspin link without a gratuitous Will Leitch swipe that gave you away.