Bonds - Boo/Cheer?

by kidk on Jul 13, 2007 4:04 PM CDT

If he ties or breaks the record at Wrigley (and the Cubs have been part of breaking home run records), will there be cheers or boos? Or will it depend on the effect it has on the game? I for one would boo the crap out of him.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070713&content_id=2084016&vkey=news_chc&a mp;fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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i'd throw a syringe

Bring Back Matt Murton!!

by Chanman25 on Jul 13, 2007 3:58 PM CDT reply actions

he would be boo'd

unmercifully. i hope he doesn't do it at wrigley, so, for the rest of history, when people see the video clip, they see cub fans booing him and give the appearance of unclassy d-bags. especially if he, by some wierd discovery, is found to have never used -roids. (but that'll never happen)

Dinosaurs? "Didn't exist. You can't say there were dinosaurs when you never saw them." -Carl Everett

by NDcubsfan on Jul 13, 2007 4:19 PM CDT reply actions

I have

a perhaps more pertinant question (since I don't think Barry will pass Aaron on the road).

I'll be in San Francisco for the first game the Giants are back at home after their next road trip (they have 3 at home this weekend, then the road trip to Millwaukee and Chicago).

I've got tickets to the Giants/Braves game Monday 7/23. Should I boo or cheer?

Moose

Hubbs!

by moose97 on Jul 13, 2007 4:26 PM CDT reply actions

It depends...

Do you mean in general, or specifically if he hits one out? I'll assume the latter, but it might not really make a difference.

I don't like him. And I've added my voice to the chorus of boos at RFK the past two seasons and in Philly this year. That said, in San Francisco you probaby won't make too many friends among those sitting nearby if you boo, and you may find yourself getting drawn into a less-than-cordial debate. If you don't care about that, and you want to boo him, let loose. Same if you want to be able to tell your grandkids you booed him someday.

In one of the games at which I booed him (this is 2 years ago) he hit #707. Instead of cheering or booing, I decided to just listen to everyone else. The crowd reaction was a mixed bag, and I'm glad I just watched and listened (although I must admit I had a huge grin plastered across my face at the time). Just listening made the whole event more memorable. So I'd suggest something along those lines if you're conflicted. If you want to cheer, cheer; but if you don't, just don't cheer, soak it in and appreciate the moment.

by markr99 on Jul 13, 2007 4:58 PM CDT up reply actions

My problem

extends to the fact that I've got a six year old that's heard Barry Bonds name enough to think he's "cool" (she's in her second year of T-Ball so watches SportsCenter and Cubs games, etc. sometimes with me.), so she wants a Barry Bonds T-shirt as a souvineer. I'm not sure what to tell her about Bonds...

Moose

Hubbs!

by moose97 on Jul 13, 2007 5:54 PM CDT up reply actions

Here's what I recommend...

... and I have done so before. Dead silence. Turn your back on the infield and be completely silent. That would speak louder than any booing I can imagine.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jul 13, 2007 4:51 PM CDT reply actions

Amen, Al...

...Amen. The best thing that could ever happen would be for Bonds to approach the classy Hank Aaron and have no soundtrack - no fans cheering or booing, no one even paying attention.

Seriously, all Cub fans - when he's introduced, say nothing. When he steps up to the plate, say nothing. If he hits a home run, turn your back on the field and say nothing.

If he strikes out, though, clap and cheer, of course.

by Chadnudj on Jul 13, 2007 5:16 PM CDT up reply actions

perfect.

"One thing you learn as a Cubs fan: When you bought your ticket, you could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth." - Joe Garagiola

by gary varsho on Jul 13, 2007 5:17 PM CDT up reply actions

Al- where did you do this?

and for who? that is very smart, but i'd be tough to get the whole stadium to do it

Dinosaurs? "Didn't exist. You can't say there were dinosaurs when you never saw them." -Carl Everett

by NDcubsfan on Jul 13, 2007 5:26 PM CDT up reply actions

I've never actually done it...

... but I did write about it last year when Bonds and the Giants were coming to town. I'll make a note of it again on Monday.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jul 13, 2007 5:42 PM CDT up reply actions

If people did that...

I would be disappointed. You don't do that when the biggest record was just broken or at any time really. It makes the fans look like jerks, IMO.

"I don't talk. I just let what I do talk for myself." -Johan Santana

by sparkles721 on Jul 13, 2007 6:34 PM CDT up reply actions

I disagree.

It is expressing a feeling about the individual breaking the record, period. If you want to cheer, go right ahead. I won't.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jul 13, 2007 7:42 PM CDT up reply actions

I will.

I don't hate Barry, I just don't like him.

"I don't talk. I just let what I do talk for myself." -Johan Santana

by sparkles721 on Jul 14, 2007 11:03 AM CDT up reply actions

I agree with part of this

Just be silent. (May as well watch the event, you paid for it.) Just shaddup. No booing. No cheering. Try to be as silent as if you were awaiting the anthem to be played.

by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jul 14, 2007 3:34 PM CDT up reply actions

I would cheer.

I still think people hate him more than they should, and I think he's not as big a jerk as he acts.

This is the greatest record in baseball if not all sports, why would I not cheer if I got to see it? Barry Bonds is one of the greatest players of all time, and since I hate this whole witch hunt(even though it's almost guaranteed he did take something) I'm going to just move on and not judge anybody by it(at least too much).

"I don't talk. I just let what I do talk for myself." -Johan Santana

by sparkles721 on Jul 13, 2007 5:28 PM CDT reply actions

I know a trainer

who was in a locker room with Barry Bonds. Mr. Bonds berated him in front of everybody for guess what, looking at him. I don't know this guy well or how reliable this story is, but there is volumes of stories like this of Barry Bonds. Just ask Joe Buck hoe he feels about Bonds. If (if not it's similar to this)I have the story right Joe Buck asked his father to introduce him to Barry Bonds, which his father did.

Jack Buck to Barry, "Barry I'd like you to meet my son."

Barry Bonds ignores.

Jack, "Barry, This is my son Joe."

Barry, "Yeah, What do I care?"

"Harlem Furniture......You'll like our style!"

by Imtrejo on Jul 14, 2007 3:37 AM CDT up reply actions

Well...

I'm pretty sure he's a jerk and those stories I've read too. Sometimes I just feel his jerkness is made bigger than it is, but I'm not sure if that's even true. I don't know Barry.

Anyway, he's still one of the greatest players and while there have been worse baseball players I don't think his jerkness is bad enough for me that I can't appreciate what he's done on the field steroids or not. I know Sammy isn't Bonds, but when he hit his 600th I didn't feel like I hated him.

I hate steroids, but I'm not going to just hate Barry Bonds for it when there are probably more people.

If need to modify my original response: if the Cubs are gettting blownout I would cheer. If they are winning I would cheer. If it's a close game I would not cheer because I don't cheer against my own team. And by cheer I mean clap and or a standing ovation.

"I don't talk. I just let what I do talk for myself." -Johan Santana

by sparkles721 on Jul 14, 2007 11:02 AM CDT up reply actions

Sparkles.

You don't need to cheer him JUST BECAUSE.
JUST BECAUSE is not a valid reason.
JUST BECAUSE he broke the "greatest record in baseball"?

If you go through illegal methods to pursue your goals, you are a scam.
Sammy Sosa. Was a scam, too. Get over it. So was Rafael Palmeiro. So was Mark Mc Gwire.

WE all need to seriously move on with our lives and put that chapter of baseball behind us.

Home runs do NOT make the game of baseball.
The home run, to me, is kind of the ugly stepchild of all baseball.
I enjoy the double switch, the shifts, the 2-2 pitch decisions, the suicide squeezes, a double stretched into a triple, etc.
The home run is akin to baseball pornography.
To me, it's the least beautiful thing in all of baseball.
So, it's a little different for me.
I'm not like those lemmings who started showing up to baseball games in 98 just coz balls were flying out of the yard. YAWN.

It's not really that big of a record for me. Never has. Never will be. Records are made to be broken. And if Bonds breaks it, who cares. Someone will break it down the line.

Barry Bonds is a scam. Nothing more. Nothing less. He won't hear anything from me. I, like Al, will turn my back.

I watched the Cubs/Rangers game on DVR, and when Sammy hit 600 I sped RIGHT THOUGH IT. I had no problem with it.

"You're fired." - Dallas Green to Billy Connors while Billy was staying in the hospital.

by jdoolsiu on Jul 16, 2007 12:31 AM CDT up reply actions

Who Cares?

A-Rod will surpass him in 6-7 years anyways.

by eamuscatuli1881 on Jul 13, 2007 5:28 PM CDT reply actions

Everybody keeps saying that...

and now it's starting to make me nervous. Nothing is guaranteed. He could slow down. He is a human. A very special human, but you just never know.

I know you know that, but everyone saying that is freaking me out. Hopefully everyone isn't jinxing him and he has a career ending injury or just loses his power. All it takes is a wrist injury. Just ask D-Lee.

"I don't talk. I just let what I do talk for myself." -Johan Santana

by sparkles721 on Jul 13, 2007 6:36 PM CDT up reply actions

Insincere Egomaniac

I just can't make myself like Barry Bonds and this stems all the way back to the Pittsburgh Pirate days. Every sound bite, every interview, or article makes me dislike the guy more and more.

I want to celebrate the HR king but I can't. If he were half the man that Willie Mays was (or insert any MLB player past or present that truly gave a damn about giving back to the game) I MIGHT be able to celebrate this tremendous feat.

Of course, I would have to suspend my own beliefs on what truly happened between 1999-present with his career...

There's always next year.

by BJ Simpson on Jul 13, 2007 10:45 PM CDT reply actions

Uh, personally...

...it depends on the situation. If the Cubs are leading by a comfortable amount I'd just try and get the attention of the beer vendor while everyone else is occupied. If one of our bullpen lefties gives up the homer, I'd probably boo them. Otherwise, it's a game-time decison.

Not that I'll be there. But I really don't want the series to turn into the Barry Bonds Show. I'm absurdly on the fence when it comes to steroids, and I know that the history of baseball is littered with people worse than Barry who hold some big records, so I'm not worried about that. I'd just rather focus on the Cubs current penant race than on Barry - who's a great ballplayer, but on a club that's nowhere near contention.

FREE CARMEN PIGNATIELLO!

by cwyers on Jul 13, 2007 10:58 PM CDT reply actions

BOOOO his ass, the guys a cheater

doesnt deserve anything hes done in his career, all steriod and performance enhancing drugs aided, comes out of nowhere to somehow hit 73 homeruns, try telling me he did that legitimately with a straight face

Bring back the damn cowbell!

by CubsBall2202 on Jul 14, 2007 1:12 AM CDT reply actions

How will I celebrate?

Start the official countdown until A-rod breaks Bonds' record.

756*

GO CUBS GO! Hey Chicago whatdya say the Cubs are going to win today!

by Galvan316 on Jul 14, 2007 9:58 AM CDT reply actions

while i think silence

is the best response, i would add that if you cheered when sammy hit 600, you've gotta cheer whn bonds hits 756, because they both spring from the same well.

"One thing you learn as a Cubs fan: When you bought your ticket, you could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth." - Joe Garagiola

by gary varsho on Jul 14, 2007 11:50 AM CDT reply actions

Does Bonds spike his bats

with cork too?

by JFCubFan on Jul 14, 2007 1:20 PM CDT up reply actions

that's just another reason

why no one should have cheered sammy's 600th. even that considered, there's no way somone can cheer sosa and boo bonds.

"One thing you learn as a Cubs fan: When you bought your ticket, you could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth." - Joe Garagiola

by gary varsho on Jul 14, 2007 1:47 PM CDT up reply actions

Not to belabor the point...

...but there is much more evidence that Bonds juiced than evidence that Sammy did the same.

At some point, this becomes a real witch hunt. I'm not trying to tell anyone what to believe, and I'm certainly not going to be the person that tries to make a case that either of these guys was absolutely clean. But the case against Sammy is mostly circumstantial; Game of Shadows is nothing if not meticulous and thorough, and nothing similar exists for Sosa.

FREE CARMEN PIGNATIELLO!

by cwyers on Jul 14, 2007 2:48 PM CDT up reply actions

except

for his stats, which are the most damming evidence of all. bonds was a great player who became suddenly greater. sammy was a marginal player who became suddenly great. then, there's the whole cork episode. if he's willing to cork a bat, he's willing to cheat in other ways.

"One thing you learn as a Cubs fan: When you bought your ticket, you could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth." - Joe Garagiola

by gary varsho on Jul 14, 2007 2:51 PM CDT up reply actions

What to do with the ball?

Now what if you caught the record-tying or breaking home runs? Would you keep it, throw it back, or do as Al does?

by kidk on Jul 14, 2007 4:01 PM CDT reply actions

I would destroy it like the Bartman ball

.. and then flush the remains after irrigating them in the Wrigley bleacher's men's urinal ..

That's what I would do.

Well, Next Year is here .. and Jack's century's gotta end some time .. GO CUBBIES!

by cubnational on Jul 14, 2007 6:13 PM CDT up reply actions

HR ball

I would honestly try to write "cheater" or a giant asterisk on it, then throw it back. With any luck it would go to the hall of fame with an appropriate discription of the person that hit it. Hank Aaron is the homerun king, and will be the homerun king til Arod passes him up. Sooner or later the roids/HGH will catch up with Barroid, and he'll get what he deserves.

by pmenadue on Jul 14, 2007 8:11 PM CDT up reply actions

Hmmm

... interesting idea. Food for thought.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jul 14, 2007 8:20 PM CDT up reply actions

You'd throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars

out of some misguided sense of principality on this?

This is the kind of thing that makes me think a lot of baseball fans lack perspective on this issue.

by Wreckard on Jul 15, 2007 10:27 AM CDT up reply actions

Barry is not going to tie/break the record...

anywhere on the road. IF he gets to #754 anywhere away from AT&T Park, he will be pulled to ensure that the record is broken in San Francisco.

The only reason Barry isn't a DH in the American League right now is because the Giants wanted to keep him around to sell tickets. (Screw winning, I guess.)

by WartburgCub on Jul 15, 2007 12:29 AM CDT reply actions

Bud Selig has...

...already said that he'll penalize the Giants if they do that.

Now, he didn't come out and say the same thing with regards to the Astros and Biggio. I guess the reasoning is that it's okay to tank a whole season in order to achieve a statistical milestone in front of your fans, but heaven forfend you tank a three-game series.

FREE CARMEN PIGNATIELLO!

by cwyers on Jul 15, 2007 1:17 AM CDT up reply actions

I'm guessing...

... that if he gets close during the Giants road trip that begins at Wrigley Field on Monday, they'll invent a knee injury that'll keep him out long enough to return home.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jul 15, 2007 4:01 AM CDT up reply actions

Here ya go

like it or not, Oz is dead on the money.

LOHO's Bonds thread (Beautifully written by Ozgreeder)

Faith Plus One - Contributing Editor -http://www.inaleagueofherown.com

by Faith plus 1 on Jul 15, 2007 2:35 AM CDT reply actions

bonds

since he does,nt wear a cub uniform i really have no interest.

by NOMAR on Jul 15, 2007 10:29 AM CDT reply actions

same here

The recipe for success needs a little Marmol-ade.

by sue369 on Jul 15, 2007 4:31 PM CDT up reply actions

Not to worry

Bonds will not even attempt the record breaking or even the tying HR at Wrigley. He will desire a positive spin on his "achievement" rather than the certain negative reaction at Wrigley. You can be be sure that the event will be take place in San Francisco although the historic record would be better served by the more appropriate public reaction on the road.

by Cajuncub on Jul 15, 2007 9:27 PM CDT reply actions

Given that...

... Bonds is in an 0-for-20 slump, and has homered only twice in his last 13 games, even if he played all 7 games on the Giants' current road trip (and he probably won't), the record won't fall till they get back home.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jul 16, 2007 3:53 AM CDT up reply actions