Bud Selig's New Math: Hank Aaron the true home run king

Bud Selig calls Hank Aaron true home run king as Braves honor Aaron on 40th anniversary of 715th home run (via NJ.com)

ATLANTA -- On the 40th anniversary of his 715th career home run -- the one that moved him past Babe Ruth on the all-time list -- the Braves honored Hank Aaron at Turner Field. They dotted the outfield with 715 people, each holding a placard to mark…

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Barry Bonds' friend, ARod, gets pasted on 60 Minutes

As reported on The Barry Bonds Trial blog many times, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez are good (superficial) friends.

Last night, in front of a national television audience, 60 Minutes laid out the case against ARod and left little doubt that his one year suspension from Major League Baseball is completely justified.

As a result of the show and all the information about ARod: What is the difference between these two baseball stars?

The answer begins with one friend/supplier/business-associate willing to rat a player out ...........

Barry Bonds and Ryan Braun

Comments from various sources, a day after the Ryan Braun MLB suspension.


Not even Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who were accused of being drug cheats in different forums and brought to court on different federal charges, drew suspensions from MLB. --- JSOnline

A decade ago, the players sat silent as Don Fehr refused to even think about consenting to testing and dinosaurs like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire terrorized the earth.---CBS Sports

Baseball threw the bum (Ryan Braun) out.---USA Today

Braun is one of the few prominent players in baseball to be suspended for doping. Other star players linked to doping, including Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, were never revealed to have tested positive and were never punished by Major League Baseball.---NY Times

“I am glad to have this matter behind me once and for all.” Can he be that naive to believe it? Has he not seen what a PED stain has done to Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa and so many others?---Miami Herald

A New Ryan Braun Scandal: The New Barry Bonds?

"I have nothing to hide and have never had any other relationship with Bosch. I will fully cooperate with any inquiry into this matter." 

-- Ryan Braun



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Bud Selig on Barry Bonds

"It is, what it is."

- MLB Commissioner, Bud Selig

Barry Bonds without-a-doubt belongs in the Hall

"Oh, without a doubt. There's no doubt in my mind," Barry Bonds responded when asked if he feels he belongs in baseball's Hall of Fame.

More about philosophy, voting and opinions from Barry Bonds to MLB.com:

"You have to vote on baseball the way baseball needs to be voted on. If you vote on your assumptions or what you believe or what you think might have been going on there, that's your problem. You're at fault. It has nothing to do with what your opinion is. Period. If that's the case, you better go way, way back and start thinking about your opinions. If that's how you feel life should be run, I would say then you run your Hall of Fame the way you want to run your Hall of Fame. That's what I think. That's my personal opinion. If you want to do the Hall of Fame the way the Hall of Fame is supposed to be done, then you make the right decision on that. If you don't, that's on you. To stamp something on your assumptions, it doesn't work for me."

Prosecutors continue to prosecute Barry Bonds

Before a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court this week, United States prosecutors urged the judges to uphold Barry Bonds’ obstruction of justice conviction.

U.S. prosecutors also said that U.S. District Judge Susan Illston properly instructed the jury, despite Bonds’ lawyers arguments.

Additionally:

“Contrary to Bonds’s attempts to interpret it as such, Count Five did not charge him with the act of obstructing justice through particular statements he made to the grand jury, but through intentionally evasive, false, and misleading testimony,” prosecutor Merry Jean Chan wrote.

Barry Bonds needs a job

The MLB players’ union is considering a collusion grievance on Barry Bonds’ behalf.

MLB union chief Michael Weiner says: 

"There’s a potential grievance. I’d love to see Barry work in baseball in any capacity he’d like. Barry Bonds is not just a multitalented player but a multitalented individual. It would be wonderful to see him in whatever capacity he’d like to work in."

Barry Bonds and the medical profession

Barry Bonds: 10 years ago sharing his deep concerns for doctors, the medical profession and his hopes for a cure for cancer

"Doctors ought to quit worrying about what ballplayers are taking. What players take doesn't matter. It's nobody else's business. The doctors should spend their time looking for cures for cancer. It takes more than muscles to hit homers. If all those guys were using stuff, how come they're not all hitting homers?" -- Barry Bonds, May 21, 2002, Associated Press

The HOF meaning of Barry Larkin for Barry Bonds

Barry Larkin, shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds, got the call on Monday. It was a beautiful call and the call that he was hoping for after playing a round of golf in the morning.

"I'm just incredibly, incredibly moved by this whole experience and so humbled by the experience and so excited about being the newest member of the Hall of Fame," Larkin said.


Barry Larkin will be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame this summer.

Congratulations, Barry Larkin!


The former Reds shortstop was selected on 495 of 573 ballots (86 percent) in voting announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Above the 75 percent vote necessary for induction. This was the third year Barry Larkin was on the ballot.


What is the meaning of Barry Larkin's Hall of Fame vote for the MLB all-time home run leader, Barry Bonds?


Well, we could do an apples and oranges comparison between the two Barry's: one is an infielder, one is an outfielder; one is a hitter for average, one is a slugger, etc., etc.

But that would grow tiresome quickly.


All we know is that the Baseball Writers' Association of America is being very selective these days with its votes. Very selective. Except for the ballot stuffing efforts of Jason Stark, of course.

In fact, for some players, it is not about being selective, it is about being completely ignored.

Mark McGwire, 10th on the home run list, received 19.5% of the vote this year. Rafael Palmeiro, also a 500 home run club member, received 12.6% of the vote. Ignored. Well below 75 percent.

What will this mean for Barry Bonds and his friends Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza and Sammy Sosa? Will they be ignored like Mark and Rafael? Bets are on the Ignore side for round 1 next year.


Bud Selig, enjoy the Hall of Fame induction of Barry Larkin this summer.

Barry Bonds Walks

Yes, Barry Bonds walks. Walks. Does he ever!

Walks, not to first base, this time (as usual). But (effectively) walks back to his Beverly Hills home for the holidays and for the next several months to craft his legal strategy for the appeal.

After all these years, all this money, all this time in court, all this discussion, all this lawyering, all this lying, all these women, all these drugs. Barry Bonds walks. He does, in fact, walk.

And, if you didn't know by now, that is the reason for the subheading on The Barry Bonds Trial blog:

Barry Bonds, the all-time MLB leader with 2,558 walks

This was the prediction, the bet, the forecast and the result that was baked into the process all along. Truth.

When Barry Bonds entered the courtroom today, he gave a loving wink to his mother as he headed to the defense table. Barry, his mom, his lawyers, and many others knew this would be a good day at the plate.

Barry Bonds walks.

Legal analysts expected Judge Illston to follow the probation department’s suggestions and impose a sentence less harsh than the federal guidelines calling for 15 months to 21 months in prison.

And was Judge Illston ever, so nice. Ever. It pays to have San Francisco Giants fans in the courtroom. What a home team victory. San Francisco Justice for the world to see and hear! Tony Bennett sings.

The judge sentenced Bonds to two years probation and 30 days home confinement and 250 hours of community service. Barry Lamar Bonds declined to address the judge.

Happy holidays, Barry Bonds!

The judge agreed to stay her sentence while Bonds appeals his conviction. The prosecutors object.

The U.S. Government lawyers were grandstanding all along with calls of 15 months in prison.

Prosecutor Parrella has called the probation recommendation "inadequate and almost a slap on the wrist." Home confinent in a 15,000 square foot mansion and meager fine is "laughable" for someone in Bonds' position. "I urge the court to send a message here." The court did not send a message. Instead, it sent Barry Bonds home for the holidays, a gift for Bud Selig and a message to U.S. Government lawyers.

Bottom line for Barry Bonds?

The MLB home run record.

The MLB walk record.

No prison time.

Next up for Barry Bonds?

A new reality show: "Gardening, at home (for 30 days at the most), with Barry Bonds." Yet, first, more lawyering and more courtroom.

And, the Hall of Fame vote.

Bud Selig ... not a witness

Bud Selig Defends MLB Steroid Testing; Stays Out of Bonds, Clemens Trials

  

Bud Selig, Major League Baseball commissioner, says that he does NOT expect to be called as a witness in the Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens trials.

Bud says Barry Bonds is cheap and motivated

No, not Bud Selig, de commish of Major League Baseball.

No, some sportswriter guy named Bud Poliquin who writes for a Syracuse newspaper named The Post-Standard.

Here's the article: If the subject is pro sports, why isn't Barry Bonds in the discussion?

Basically it is another one of those Barry isn't half bad, rambling articles comparing Barry to all these other guys and ends up saying that 'Barry Bonds is cheap and motivated.'

Well if that isn't good enough, than I do not know what is! Looking forward to more good stuff, Bud.

Bud to Jeff: No Barry Bonds Collusion

Commissioner Bud Selig said Tuesday: "We have not found any indication of anything other than clubs making individual decisions that this player is not appropriate for them."


SF CHRONICLE: MLB dismisses collusion charge from Bonds' agent

Selig: Barry Bonds' team should have reported concerns about the hitter's personal trainer to Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, left, and Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, are sworn in before testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Miguel Tejada, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens

Congress Aims at Tejada, Clemens, Bonds

By HOWARD FENDRICH and JOSEPH WHITE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taking on baseball's steroids problem once again, Congress kept the finger-pointing and tough questioning to a minimum. Maybe that's because the people under the most scrutiny this time — Miguel Tejada, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens — were nowhere to be seen.

Commissioner Bud Selig and union leader Donald Fehr accepted responsibility for the sport's drug boom and the author of the Mitchell Report defended his findings in the same wood-paneled House hearing room that hosted a far longer and far more contentious session in March 2005.

It didn't take long for the focus to shift to players Tuesday.

MLB looking at San Francisco Giants execs and officials

Baseball May Discipline Giants Hiding Drug Concerns

By Danielle Sessa

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Baseball is considering discipline against San Francisco Giants executives and officials from other teams who may have failed to report suspected steroid use by players, Commissioner Bud Selig said.

Barry Bonds, the movie

HBO Films is planning to turn the best selling book - "Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports" by Mark Fainaru - about Barry Bonds' alleged steroid use into a movie.

This brings up all kinds of critical questions. Who will play Barry? Bud? George? the mistress???



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HBO to turn Barry Bonds steroids book into movie

Hey Bud: "Did you know about Bonds using steroids and intentionally wait for him to break the home run record?"

That's the question that is asked by The Bleacher Report blog (to MLB commissioner Bud Selig) with their article entitled: "Barry Bonds and the Steroid Era."