Eight years ago, Barry Bonds set a record that will likely never be matched when he hit his 762nd career home run, and then walked away from the sport. Well, not exactly walked away. Bonds declared his free agency after the conclusion of the 2007 season when the San Francisco Giants announced they would not be re-signing him. Bonds’ manager, Jeff Borris, said of Bonds’ free agency, “I’m anticipating widespread interest from every Major League team,” and that “the only teams I’m going to talk to are teams that have a chance of winning.”
But Bonds did not receive widespread interest from every team. Instead, no team showed interest and he wasn’t able to sign with any team. Borris reportedly called every major league team requesting them to consider his client. At the time, it was even reported that Bonds was willing to sign for $400,000, the league minimum. Still, no one was interested.
The main reason no team showed interest in Bonds was likely due to the fact that, in 2007, the left fielder was facing felony charges for four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice relating to the government’s investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative. Many general managers would likely not want to be involved in the unwanted publicity and infamy surrounding Bonds at the time, not to mention the possibility of losing him mid-season due to trial or even prison sentencing.
Additionally, Bonds was never considered to be one of the most popular clubhouse figures. While researching for his book Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero, author Jeff Pearlman interviewed 524 people, ranging from Bonds’ childhood friends to his high school, college, and professional teammates in order to paint a better picture of Bonds. But the stories he heard about him were truly hideous:
“Barry the arrogant kid. Barry being voted off of Arizona State’s roster for his stubborn refusal to treat people with base decency. Barry declining to advise teammates, should they one day turn into opponents. Barry cursing out some baseball employees asking his help in raising money for accident victims. Barry berating his son and cheating on his wife.”
And then there was the truly vile quote from Pete Diana, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ former team photographer. “Personally, I hope Barry dies…I mean it, I want Barry to die. He’s that horrible.”
And after all of that, the Miami Marlins want to sign Bonds as their hitting coach.
Not that the Marlins couldn’t use the help. The team finished 71-91 last year and they haven’t had a winning season since 2009, despite having some pretty big talent on their team. The Marlins need the help, but the thought of hiring Bonds has to be eyebrow-raising. If the man can’t even be a teammate, how can he be a coach?
Bonds is one of the greatest hitters of all time, and the Marlins have to believe that will translate into on-field success for them. Or, perhaps they’re impressed with his extensive experience in his seven day stint as a roving Spring Training Instructor for the Giants back in 2014.
But more than likely, the Marlins are considering hiring Bonds as a public relations stunt. There’s no question that fans would flock to the ballpark to get a chance to once again see Bonds. And the Marlins definitely need people coming to their ballpark. In 2015, the Marlins had a total attendance of 1,752,235, the third worst in baseball.
From Bonds’ perspective, a job as a hitting instructor may boost his public image. If he can put in his time as a decent hitting instructor and a positive role model to the players, he may improve his chances of being elected into the Hall of Fame. But the question still remains if Bonds wants to be a hitting coach. I don’t mean whether or not Bonds wants to take the job, but whether or not he truly wants to be a mentor.
If Bonds hasn’t done any maturing in his time away from baseball, it’s hard to see him as a successful hitting coach, and it’s hard to see this as anything but a PR stunt from the Marlins.
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