Sports: 2006 MLB Spring Training

[Randy Twizzle]

WTF

it seems like the USA sucks in all sports now

ain't it MF snowing in Canada right now?

Canada is a very proud nation today

[BERIGAN]

I used to really stand up for Bonds, figuring he couldn't be using steriods, his body didn't break down like McGuire's did....well, live and learn.....

By Skip Bayless

Page 2

Barry Bonds remains the biggest, baddest bully in sports history.

He reportedly lies to a grand jury and laughs about it. He taunts Congress. He treats commissioner Bud Selig with no more respect than he seemingly gives the clubhouse lackeys.

And he ignores a new book that spills over with relentlessly damning allegations about his steroid-junkie habit.

Even now, he's probably injecting himself in the stomach with his body-building drug of choice, human growth hormone. And why not? Baseball doesn't test for HGH.

San Francisco seems more interested in Bonds' pursuit to break Babe Ruth's home-run record.

Laugh, Barry, laugh.

Puke, world, puke.

This is the most maddening question I've faced in my career: How does Barry Bonds keep getting away with it?

How can the United States attorney's office in San Francisco not pursue a perjury indictment against Bonds for his testimony to the BALCO grand jury? Are there simply too many Bonds fans and Giants season-ticket holders in that office? Are they more concerned with being at SBC Park the nights he passes Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron on the all-time home-run list?

Does Bonds keep getting away with it because he's still the biggest individual draw in sports? You might hate him, but you can't take your eyes off him. He'll still pack parks from San Francisco to New York because people want to see just how much farther and harder this chemistry experiment of a robo-slugger can hit a baseball now. The steroid revelations make him an even bigger freak-show gate attraction.

Taunt, Barry, taunt.

And I was so sure in late 2003 that the feds were hell-bent to do something I couldn't -- nail Bonds.

I love watching Bonds hit as much as anyone. But it seemed obvious that he was cheating when he skyrocketed from 49 homers in 2000 to a record 73 in 2001. He also skyrocketed from about 200 pounds to what appeared to be a muscled-up 250.

So in May 2002, I wrote a Bay Area column quoting body-building experts who said it's virtually impossible after age 35 -- when the male's testosterone supply naturally drops -- to pack on that much muscle that quickly without using the artificial testosterone that steroids provide.

You would have thought I had spray-painted profanity on the Golden Gate Bridge.

I took an e-mail beating from many Bonds lovers -- and there are many outside the media. Did I have proof? No, I did not witness Bonds injecting himself with juice -- nor could I find a single source within the organization who knew for a fact that Bonds used steroids. Many insiders had suspicions, but no firsthand proof.

And you couldn't blame Giants ownership or management for looking the other way. The owners tote the entire note on their ballpark, and Bonds has been the reason the Giants have had baseball's biggest season-ticket base. So ownership was going to expose and suspend its lone draw?

Please.

Soon, I experienced firsthand some of Bonds' infamous intimidation. He walked up behind me in the Giants' clubhouse and vice-gripped my arm. When I turned, he gave me the kind of five-second stare he gives a pitcher who has dared to brush him back.

The message, I assumed, was, "Don't you ever write about me and steroids again."

I just stared back, and without a word, Bonds walked away.

Let's take a look at a before and after photo.

After federal agents raided the BALCO office in September 2003, I began hearing about Jeff Novitzky, an agent for the IRS Criminal Investigation unit. At a gym near BALCO, Novitzky had observed Bonds lifting weights under the guidance of trainer Greg Anderson. And Novitzky -- according to several media sources -- was on a mission to expose Bonds.

In fact, word was that the Bush administration wanted to put a face on its stamp-out-steroids campaign -- Bonds' oversized head.

Eventually, Anderson and BALCO founder Victor Conte were convicted. But despite a wall of evidence even Bonds couldn't hit a ball over, he somehow got away clean after three hours with the grand jury.

The media's proof now comes in a book, "Game of Shadows," written by San Francisco Chronicle reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada. These aren't a couple of Johnny-come-latelies trying to make a quick buck. These are two highly respected investigative reporters who have demonstrated in print for three years that their information on this story is accurate and credible.

I believe every last word of the lengthy excerpt in this week's Sports Illustrated. I admire and envy the job they've done. As the BALCO smoke cleared, they had the time and the skill to return to all the sources they quoted periodically in the Chronicle and build a devilishly detailed case against Bonds.

When Bonds' grand-jury testimony originally was leaked to the Chronicle, his excuse at least seemed plausible. He testified that Anderson, his buddy from high school, had told him to rub some cream onto his arm that he thought was flaxseed oil. It turned out to be a newly invented steroid.

Even I had second thoughts. Maybe Bonds was duped into using these mysterious steroids that don't require injections.

But the Williams and Fainaru-Wada reports could blow that defense all to hell. They write that Bonds left his grand-jury session "confident that he had asserted control over the government's inquiry, just as he had controlled his baseball team and, for that matter, most of the people in his life. His reputation had been preserved and his well-guarded secret had not been revealed."

Until now.

The authors go into astonishing detail about how Bonds turned himself into a human pin cushion, injecting just about every steroid known to man and beast. Yes, they even report that he tried a steroid used to beef up cattle. They also report that while Bonds found injecting human growth hormone was the most painful -- into a pinch of stomach skin -- HGH was so potent that it allowed him to keep his physique and strength through the season with minimal weight-lifting.

Bonds makes Jose Canseco look like he was on no more than fruit juice.

So why in the name of Henry Aaron wasn't Bonds called before the congressional hearing on steroids that obviously was prompted by Canseco's bombshell book? Reportedly, because Bonds was still involved in the BALCO investigation -- though his day in court had been about 16 months before last March's hearing.

Of course, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa were forced to lie or deny that day on national television. All three wound up tainting their legacies. Bonds was the elephant that was not in the room.

Yes, "Game of Shadows" reports that Bonds resorted to steroids because he was convinced McGwire was juicing when he (and Sosa) broke Roger Maris' single-season record in 1998. But should that make Bonds any less guilty or more brazen?

Incredibly, when the Giants played in Washington last season, Bonds ridiculed Congress. He said Congress has more important problems to address than steroids -- even though the point of the hearing was that steroid abuse has become an epidemic among teenagers.

How do congressional leaders let Bonds get away with this? Were they content to have box seats when Bonds was in town?

And why hasn't the IRS investigated Bonds for tax evasion? His lawyer continues to paint ex-mistress Kimberly Bell as nothing but a scorned lover. Yet she comes across as an extremely credible witness, and she has hours of secretly taped phone calls from Bonds. She alleges he gave her about $80,000 in unreported cash for the down payment on a house -- all made from signing baseballs.

Selig's lieutenants have been dropping hints to national baseball writers that the commissioner is livid over the book. Selig met with Bonds two years ago to ask if he had anything to hide, and when Bonds shrugged him off, Selig reportedly warned that Bonds had better be telling the truth.

But what's Selig going to do now, suspend Bonds? He hasn't failed a single test. The players' union would have Selig for lunch.

No, Selig will do nothing but huff and puff and hope the book fades away.

It appears that government agents and officials finally gave up and decided they could get Bonds only in the court of public opinion. So they emptied their notebooks for the Chronicle reporters, who paint a chilling picture of a steroid junkie and an O.J.-like bully who threatened Bell's life.

But so what? Most people already considered Bonds a bad guy.

So he'll continue to laugh at us and pack parks and hit home runs. And in the end, maybe, he'll get his last laugh from only one source -- the body he has abused.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...=bayless/060310

[Matthew]

Heck, now Bonds is 7-9 in spring training, couple of dingers. I don't think he'll go quietly in the night this year. I will be interesting to see if he can play in the outfield at all -- he just might wind up on firstbase.

[Soulstation1]

i saw kenny williams GM of the white sox at the barbershop

i asked him how the big hurt was feeling!!!!!!!!!

i was gonna ask him if he wanted to join the ncaa pool, but took a pass

[Soulstation1]

the USA sucks

[Soulstation1]

soriano is a MF fool

the manager tells you to play centerfield, you take your ass to center or just go home

[paul secor]

Bronson Arroyo resigns with the Red Sox for less $ than he could have gotten elsewhere because he wanted to play in Boston, and the Sox turn around and trade him to the Reds. Looks like Damon did the right thing. Get your $ while you can, because teams (and their fans) don't give a damn about you. Players are property, and the smart ones realize that.

[Dan Gould]

Bronson Arroyo resigns with the Red Sox for less $ than he could have gotten elsewhere because he wanted to play in Boston, and the Sox turn around and trade him to the Reds. Looks like Damon did the right thing. Get your $ while you can, because teams (and their fans) don't give a damn about you. Players are property, and the smart ones realize that.

First of all, you're just learning now that players should maximize their salaries (if that's the single most important thing to them) and that teams should maximize their roster?

Secondly, Arroyo absolutely did not accept less money than he "could have gotten elsewhere."

The facts are these:

1) Arroyo has three more seasons to go before he will have the service time to become a free agent. There was NO money to be gotten "elsewhere" because the Red Sox controlled him. The only way any team could have "bid" for his services would have been if the Sox had released him.

2) With a strong performance, he may, MAY have earned more money by going to arbitration three straight years. On the other hand, if he had spent this season in the Sox bullpen, his value both in arbitration and as a trading chip would have gone down.

3) He recognized, correctly, that locking in $11.5 million over the next three years isn't a bad deal for a guy who was put on waivers in 2003 and was nearly out of the game.

The Red Sox took an opportunity to spin someone who, while valuable, was going to be a sixth starter/long reliever, for Wily Mo Pena who, if he were in Triple A where he belongs, would be an untouchable monster of a prospect. Instead, largely because the Yankees signed him to a major league contract when he was 17, he's had to develop his skills in the major leagues. He has tremendous upside potential, and the Red Sox control him through 2008, giving them ample time to see how he develops before commiting huge dollars to him. I expect that in a couple of years, Yankee fans will be bemoaning the fact that they had Pena and traded him for Drew Henson.

Personally, I feel bad for Arroyo because he really loved playing in Boston and accepted a lower salary than he might have earned in three years of arbitration to stay and now is off to Cincinnati. But the Sox took advantage of a moment in time where his value is high (because he isn't coming off a year spent as a reliever/spot starter and before the league had a chance to continue to catch up with him (while he led the team in quality starts and won 14 games last year, his peripheral stats declined markedly, particularly his strikeout rate and especially the way lefthanders lit him up)).

The Sox made the right move at the right time, and its what front offices are supposed to do.

Arroyo took a calculated risk but the upside is that he will be a starting pitcher, in a league with weaker hitters, and is guaranteed 11.5 million before he becomes a free agent in three years. Life could be a helluva lot worse.

[paul secor]

Figured that post would bring you back to the baseball thread, Dan.

I know that players should maximize their salaries - no question there.

All I was saying was that Bronson Arroyo had a loyalty to the Sox and the Boston area, and that loyalty wasn't reciprocated. Incidentally, that same loyalty is what you expected Johnny Damon to have had.

Damon obviously did what was right for him, regardless of what you, other Sox fans, or the Boston media thought, said, or wrote.

I don't have anything else to say or read about this. Obviously loyalty is a word that only means something to you when it benefits the Red Sox.

[BERIGAN]

soriano is a MF fool

the manager tells you to play centerfield, you take your ass to center or just go home

Yep! I always wondered why the Yankees, and Rangers were so quick to trade this young player who hit so many homers, and drove in so many runs...Make him your catcher Frank!

[BERIGAN]

soriano is a MF fool

the manager tells you to play centerfield, you take your ass to center or just go home

Yep! I always wondered why the Yankees, and Rangers were so quick to trade this young player who hit so many homers, and drove in so many runs...Make him your catcher Frank!

Well, I see he finally gave in.....for his money, I'd play all 9 positions!

[Quincy]

soriano is a MF fool

the manager tells you to play centerfield, you take your ass to center or just go home

Yep! I always wondered why the Yankees, and Rangers were so quick to trade this young player who hit so many homers, and drove in so many runs...Make him your catcher Frank!

Well, I see he finally gave in.....for his money, I'd play all 9 positions!

With your bad back you better lay off catching. You should listen to me, I was once premed!

While I agree that it looks bad when players do this from what I've heard Soriano is helpless in the OF. It sounds like a 3rd grader with a glove that's not even broken in might fare better. He might turn RFK into a hitter's park when he's playing the field.

[Dan Gould]

Figured that post would bring you back to the baseball thread, Dan.

I know that players should maximize their salaries - no question there.

All I was saying was that Bronson Arroyo had a loyalty to the Sox and the Boston area, and that loyalty wasn't reciprocated. Incidentally, that same loyalty is what you expected Johnny Damon to have had.

Damon obviously did what was right for him, regardless of what you, other Sox fans, or the Boston media thought, said, or wrote.

I don't have anything else to say or read about this. Obviously loyalty is a word that only means something to you when it benefits the Red Sox.

Number one, Arroyo knew that he had no guarantee of "loyalty" being reciprocated, because he didn't receive a no-trade clause. He knew precisely what he was getting himself into - his own agent told him so - and even he acknowledges that there was no handshake agreement or guarantees about not being traded.

The fact is the Red Sox made a perfectly reasonable offer to Damon - the same they offered to Renteria and Varitek. Damon calls it "flat out disrespectful" because the Yanks trumped it? Who cares? Why should anyone expect loyalty to exist in today's baseball environment with free agency and a powerful, essentially undefeated player's union? The fact is that players were only loyal before because of the reserve clause.

Now, loyalty is defined by players like Damon as "pay me as much as the highest bidder" to prove that you love me. If he had a sense of loyalty, instead of a vision of dollar signs, he'd have accepted the ten million a year for four years. He'd have said, "well, the Yanks offered more money, but money isn't everything. The Red Sox offered more than enough to keep me and my family happy and of course I love the city and the fans. So I'm staying put. George can keep his money."

This whole loyalty discussion is a load of crap.

[Quincy]

He'd have said, "well, the Yanks offered more money, but money isn't everything. The Red Sox offered more than enough to keep me and my family happy and of course I love the city and the fans.

In a recent Sports Illustrated article Damon made a point of mentioning that the extra money that the Yankees gave him paid for his mansion in a gated community in Florida. Owning a mansion free & clear was a big source of comfort & satisfaction to him. To his credit he didn't quote Latrell Sprewell.

[paul secor]

Figured that post would bring you back to the baseball thread, Dan.

I know that players should maximize their salaries - no question there.

All I was saying was that Bronson Arroyo had a loyalty to the Sox and the Boston area, and that loyalty wasn't reciprocated. Incidentally, that same loyalty is what you expected Johnny Damon to have had.

Damon obviously did what was right for him, regardless of what you, other Sox fans, or the Boston media thought, said, or wrote.

I don't have anything else to say or read about this. Obviously loyalty is a word that only means something to you when it benefits the Red Sox.

Number one, Arroyo knew that he had no guarantee of "loyalty" being reciprocated, because he didn't receive a no-trade clause. He knew precisely what he was getting himself into - his own agent told him so - and even he acknowledges that there was no handshake agreement or guarantees about not being traded.

The fact is the Red Sox made a perfectly reasonable offer to Damon - the same they offered to Renteria and Varitek. Damon calls it "flat out disrespectful" because the Yanks trumped it? Who cares? Why should anyone expect loyalty to exist in today's baseball environment with free agency and a powerful, essentially undefeated player's union? The fact is that players were only loyal before because of the reserve clause.

Now, loyalty is defined by players like Damon as "pay me as much as the highest bidder" to prove that you love me. If he had a sense of loyalty, instead of a vision of dollar signs, he'd have accepted the ten million a year for four years. He'd have said, "well, the Yanks offered more money, but money isn't everything. The Red Sox offered more than enough to keep me and my family happy and of course I love the city and the fans. So I'm staying put. George can keep his money."

This whole loyalty discussion is a load of crap.

At least you're consistent, Dan - never use reason or logic when bluster and b.s. are available. You'd make a fine politician.

You were the one who was pissed because Damon wasn't loyal to the Sox and took a better offer from the Yanks.

Bottom line: loyalty is a "load of crap" for you, except when it benefits the Red Sox.

If you want to talk logically, that's one thing. Don't try to throw out a bunch of b.s. about loyalty being "crap". You were all for it when it came to Damon. When it came to the Red Sox and Arroyo, it's "crap". I don't have anything else to say about this. I know where I stand, and I know where you stand.

[Dan Gould]

Whatever. And speaking of bluster and bs, nice of you to acknowledge that your statement that "Bronson Arroyo resigns with the Red Sox for less $ than he could have gotten elsewhere" was completely factually inaccurate.

I imagine you're a big fan of loyalty because Steinbrenner has the money to buy as much of it as he desires.

[Chalupa]

Posted on Mon, Mar. 27, 2006

Phillies Notes | Howard nearly pushed into fight

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The tale of the tape looks like this:

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is 6-foot-4, 252 pounds.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett is 6-5, 222.

For a moment yesterday at Bright House Networks Field it looked as if they might come to blows. Howard flied out to deep center field in the sixth inning off Beckett. Howard paused when he hit the ball, which made it look as if he was posing for a home run.

Beckett didn't like that, and told Howard as much as he returned to the dugout.

"I'm running back to the dugout, and he starts popping off," Howard said. "Starts telling me, 'Pimp it.' " - a slang term for showing someone up.

"Then he threw in a couple words. So I said some stuff back. For me it was over."

"It's not like I wanted to fight," Beckett said. "I just wanted to make the point that you look like a jackass when you do that and you're out. I think I used the word idiot, I don't know. ... He didn't do that last year when he was rookie of the year and hit a bunch of home runs. I guess you get one year in the big leagues, and you change."

Howard took his spot at first base in the top of the seventh, and Beckett started talking again from the Red Sox dugout. Beckett made his way up the dugout steps, so Howard walked toward him and dropped his glove.

"He started walking toward the stairs, so I wasn't going to be a punk about it," Howard said. "If he was going to come up there and if he was to going do it, he was going to do it."

Said Beckett: "That was my fault. It was the heat of the battle. I should have let it die."

The Phillies cleared their bench, and the bullpens emptied. The Sox remained in their dugout, and no punches were thrown.

"If I had got it, if I was going to pimp it or whatever, he would have known," Howard said of the fly out. "But I was looking up to try to see where the ball was and I started running. ... The dude is a good pitcher. He had good stuff. His stuff was working nice. But that's just uncalled for. Let it go."

Phillies righthander Cory Lidle was irritated that Beckett made such a big deal about it.

"Everyone I've ever talked to who has played with Josh Beckett says no one likes him," Lidle said. "And that's why. There's no reason for him to say anything. He chooses to, and people don't like him for it."

[Randy Twizzle]

This has nothing to do with spring training 2006, but yesterday while taking a long walk I found this baseball card lying on the sidewalk

It's a 1967 Ted Davidson card, probably part of some guy's childhood collection recently thrown in the trash. I had never heard of Davidson, so when I got home I looked up him and found that on March 11, 1967 he had one of the worst spring training days in history.