BASEBALL!

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Kobi

I never got to see Bonds play even on tv, but what you describe sounds very much like what we went thru here in Boston with Manny Ramirez. The press used to call it "Manny being Manny". First it seemed like a personality thing but then when he was fluffing in the outfield and on the bases and claiming he was hurt but refusing tests, it got very distracting in the clubhouse and brought down the morale of the team.

The players showed themselves to be a class act when they refused to address the problem publicly. But there was a very noticeable change on the field once he was traded to the Dodgers.

And then Manny tested positive for banned substances in LA and was suspended for much of the season. He was never the same player again. He was good in his day but was it talent or substances? Is there a way to distinguish between the two?

Seems a lot of old timers are having problems this year i.e. Dunne, Guerrero, Abreu, Posada.....is it age?

I love watching these new guys...Jemile Weeks of the Athletics is on my radar for my fantasy team. Very fast, good base stealing stats.

You are right on. The "talent v. substances" question will always cloud any achievement players like Bonds have. Really sad when you think about all the players, old and new that are so good at playing and really work hard to play their best.

I so agree about some of the new guys out there. Weeks is going to be a good one I think, too. He not only has speed, he has hands! Seems comfortable out there and yes, he might be one of the greats in progress. I like it that he and one of my other favorite rookies, Crawford are both with Bay Area teams. I'll be able to watch them a lot.

Although, I'm a die-hard Giants fan, I miss Tony La Russa as the A's manager here. He is just a good human being. His support for his daughter and standing up about date rape a few years ago, plus his work for shelter animals puts him in my way good guy column.

The giant organization this season during Pride Month has also backed the Glenn Burke story of being a gay player (as well as POC). http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...rke/index.html. Kudos to the organization!

Hey- who are some of the other rookie year players that interest us? It would be fun to see who other posters are watching.