Odds & Ends: Bonds, Church, Myers, Teixeira

I don't blame Ozzie for not wanting Bonds. If he had THREE outfielders with OBPs over .350, his head might explode.

Alas, that first inning has been getting Myers all year. In the majors, he's given up a horrifying 1.255 OPS (!) in the first inning this year, even with a relatively low BABIP of .286 in that inning. I don't know if he's still worried about pacing himself after being a reliever for a season, but he's got to come out of the gate focused and ready, or he'll keep getting lit up like a Christmas tree when he returns to Philly.

Bonds needs to play somewhere this year. This is getting ridiculous. As far as the White Sox go, I don't see how Barry would fit on that roster...unless Thome or one of their corner outfielders got hurt. If that were the case, then the White Sox should most definitely sign Bonds.

"It's frustrating watching a GREAT hitter get blackballed from a sport whose higher-ups don't mind if you use steroids, as long as you do it with a smile."

Wow...It's not the MLB higher-ups that are blackballing him...it's the team management and front office. This is free market capitalism at work. Most fans don't want to see the sport anymore tainted than it is, and the ownership recognize this. Or do you expect MLB to force someone to sign him? If so, then I think there are plenty of legit players out there that want their jobs back if teams are going to be forced to hire players.

Get over it. Barry needs to announce his retirement and let baseball (not MLB) recover from this.

"Wow...It's not the MLB higher-ups that are blackballing him...it's the team management and front office."

When I referred to the sport's higher-ups, I was including ownership and management. But if I wanted to bring MLB officials into it, I might point out that their singling out of Bonds has created this aura of Bonds as a PR apocalypse. Selig's unprofessional handling of the days leading up to Bonds' record-breaking homerun reinforces this idea.

Meanwhile, Giambi wriggled off the hook because he (a) did not break a hallowed record; (b) cooperated with the Grand High Inquisitor in charge of MLB witchhunts; and (c) threw $100,000 at charity:

"Jason was frank and candid with Senator Mitchell," said Commissioner Selig. "That and his impressive charitable endeavors convinced me it was unnecessary to take further action."

If your position is that baseball needs to "recover" from Bonds, then I think it follows that "baseball" should round up every player included in the Mitchell Report and conspire to blackball them to aid in this recovery. They should also round up every player with a negative public image and blackball them, as well. This way we can purge baseball of everyone sharing any of Bonds' more unsavory qualities and begin the process of rejuvenating baseball with an influx of Sean Casey clones.

Most people seem to hate Bonds, so, while he gets forced into retirement, they're O.K. with the result. But the process is hypocritical and disgusting, and it reflects more poorly on the sport than Bonds ever could.