...that we've discussed recently.
1) This is what I never got about Bonds: he had immunity from prosecutors for everything except perjury. So why the hell did he perjure himself? Now there's an investigation, and this whole situation's just going to get worse. Just think about how better things would be right now had he told the truth a couple years ago. Yes, the imaginary asterisk would be put on his HR record, but that was bound to happen anyway. But by this point he could have been through the whole vilification and redemption Giambi experienced, and maybe by now some people would actually be excited about him chasing Ruth. And of course, he wouldn't be in trouble with the law. More importantly, baseball would've had to deal with the steroid issues earlier, and avoided the embarrassment of Game of Shadows and this ridiculous investigation. It's all just so stupid, and all the fault of one guy who was so egotistical he thought he could lie under oath and get away with it. I'm pretty disgusted.
2) On a less serious note, I hope this guy languishes in the minor leagues until he's 40.
I'll start with Jeffrey Maier - it might be more fun and he got the majors and somehow ended up facing Armando Benitez, who threw the pitch to Jeter. I imagine a fastball up and very in.
ReplyDeleteBut back to Bonds. I agree with a lot of what you say. The problem is that you and I (and to a certain extent, Giambi) think like rational humans. But Bonds is one of those polarizing individuals and he ALWAYS thinks everyone is trying to discredit what he has done, that he is smarter than everyone else, that he will never be caught, and the rules don't apply to him. And for most of his life (and to a certain extent still) it is true.
So that is why he perjured himself. Frankly, he probably will get away with it.
I do have to disagree that he or baseball would have been better had he told the truth. He definitely would NOT have experienced the whole "redemption" thing that Giambi did. for starters people never liked him before, he is not a sympathitic character. If he gave a Giambi "I'm sorry, but I can't say what for" press conference, he would be crucified. It would have been much more Rose and gambling than Jason and Steroids. Bonds does not have the NY media machine going for him - and frankly he didn't until he started hitting in June. And that is because NY'ers and tons of the national media love the Yankees. No one in SF really cares about baseball.
And to say baseball would not have had to deal with the steroid problem is giving a bit too much credit to Bonds for the whole situation. whatever he did (or did not) say, they still had the Canseco book on top of the leaked testimony. I think they still would have had the hearings and all the other nonsense.
And lastly, for whatever it is worth, there is something about the Ruth and Aaron records that people just don't want a cheater to have. If it were giambi (and we could somehow silence the NY factor) at 708, I think the outcry would be just as loud.
And funny how you bring up Jeffrey Maier the same day I did - just in a totally different light.
I probably overstated it a bit. But I think it's fair to say that things wouldn't be worse for Barry now, and probably would've been better legally, had he just told the truth before. I agree that it wouldn't affect Juiced or the Congressional hearings, but this most recent stuff (with GoS) could've been avoided.
ReplyDeleteYeah, fair enough. The gov't screwed the pooch in the way they handled it. Two years ago, they had Conte, he was willing to talk, and the basically did nothing. Let him off w/ a slap on the wrist.
ReplyDeleteThe perjury case is going to be really difficult to prove. And as we know, CA does not particularly do well in prosecuting celebreties.
The one that is more likely to be damaging is the tax evasion. That will not be a he said, she said. There will likely be a trail. And I'm not sure his immunity would have extended to that.
I guess one question is: what were the statements with which he's accused of perjuring himself? If it was just about doing roids, it seems that'd be hard to prove and get an indictment. If it's about his relationship with BALCO, or Conte, etc., he might be in trouble. Prosecutors hate being lied to.
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