Re: DAMN!!! Wow, just wow...<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Rangers study satanic versesGIL LEBRETONIn My OpinionThe Rangers could be interested in signing Barry Bonds despite the baggage the slugger carries.MCTThe Rangers could be interested in signing Barry Bonds despite the baggage the slugger carries.In the Broadway musical Damn Yankees, Joe Boyd sells his soul to the devil in exchange for the slugging home run hitter that his favorite team, the Washington Senators, so direly needs.In the Arlington soap opera known as the Texas Rangers, brace yourself - the devil is on the shopping list.That's right. We're talking about the Baseball Beelzebub, the DH of Darkness, the Sultan of Steroids, No. 666 in your program... Barry Bonds.Go ahead and boo. For now.But if the Rangers sign him to a free agent contract, you'll come around. They always do.The question came up innocently as a couple of us stood with Rangers owner Tom Hicks on the field at the ballpark Monday night. Hicks had just introduced the media to the new manager, the well-liked Ron Washington.If the new skipper is as revered as all accounts say he is, I asked the owner, would the Rangers consider signing the ultimate test of a manager's patience, the obstinate Mr. Bonds?Surprisingly, Hicks didn't run from the question. He revealed that general manager Jon Daniels is "studying" the Bonds situation. Washington, who coached across the Bay from Bonds for 11 seasons, added that he wouldn't mind managing "one of the game's great players" at all.Bonds, of course, needs no introduction. Just read the illegally leaked grand jury testimony.But also check the record book. At age 42, he will begin the 2007 season with 734 home runs, 21 behind Henry Aaron. No man, Aaron included, ever hit more home runs in the National League.His work there is done. The San Francisco Giants don't seem eager to re-sign him. Bonds' likely final season is expected to be as a designated hitter in the American League.Last season, with the dark cloud of the BALCO scandal camped over him, and still mending from less-than-textbook knee surgery, Bonds started miserably but finished strongly. His final batting average was .270, with 26 homers and 77 runs driven in. Those aren't the numbers of a seven-time MVP. But Bonds batted .292 after the All-Star break and hit .333 in August to hoist the Giants back into the pennant race.Bonds' final ledger included a .454 on-base percentage, 115 walks, and a .410 batting average with runners in scoring position. Despite his injuries and self-prescribed days off, Bonds ended up playing in 130 games.The point is, Barry Bonds is still a productive and feared major league hitter. His presence would enhance any lineup. And he is not yet done.Why not here?Why not here, where Terrell Owens catches passes just up the road? Why not here, where Rafael Palmeiro was cheered for many of his 569 home runs?Daniels runs a baseball team, not a seminary. He -- and Washington -- will be judged on how many games the Rangers win. For roughly the same price, Bonds can do what two Carlos Lees should have done.Yes, the team's first priority remains starting pitching. Nobody at Rangers Inc. is denying that.But what lineup couldn't use a Barry Bonds?Go ahead and boo. You'll get over it, just as they did in San Francisco.This isn't football, where there are timing issues and a playbook and team meetings to stay awake in. As a baseball DH, Bonds could nap between at-bats.Daniels said that he scoured the major leagues, looking for someone to tell him something negative about Ron Washington. He found no one.If the new manager thinks that he can harness Barry Bonds, let's see them try it.There are sour dispositions in a lot of big-league clubhouses. Former Rangers DH Cliff Johnson used to have his own shower head and would bully away any teammate who dared to use it. Will Clark was no Conan O'Brien, either.By all means, Daniels should investigate Bonds' surly reputation thoroughly.In the end, however, it has to be a baseball decision, not a recliner-in-the-clubhouse decision, or a booing-fans decision, or even a steroids decision. Baseball has a new, toughened drug policy. You can trust that Bonds, of all people, will be tested.The initial reaction to Bonds, upon arrival, would likely be mixed. But as Rangers fans would soon notice, Barry Bonds in the batter's box is still baseball's most riveting moment.He won't come cheaply. Bonds' last contract paid him $18 million per season. Would he sign with an American League team for $13.5 million?A healthy Bonds on a winning team surely would increase attendance. The team that signs him will also reap the benefits of Bonds' chase of Aaron.Arrogant? Bonds is, without question.A cancer in the clubhouse? Well, that's where the new manager would come in.Go ahead and boo. By home run No. 740, I'll bet the devil that you'll be cheering.</div>Screw that, he can hit a thousand home runs in a season, and I will boo him. I hate to say it, but I won't be a fan of the current Rangers club if they do this. They get this classy group of guys... Big Tex, Young, Blalock... then they think about sticking this shithead on our team. F*ck him. Seriously, I'm pretty mad about this.Edit: Oh, and mentioning TO and Palmeiro like he did in the article is not very accurate. TO isn't the same as Barry. He's a douche, but not a cheater. As for Palmeiro, I hadn't thought about him using steroids before we found that he did... and even if we had known, it was a different time then. I have no respect for what Palmeiro did or what Bonds does now. This is sickening.
Re: DAMN!!! damn, Im two-sided on this. If we had Barry Bonds in a Rangers Uniform it would be great in the sense that we could have a HOF type player on our team and be part of history maybe. But at the same time, its Barry Bonds, and he cheated, and I dont think the rangers want to be part of that right now.
Re: DAMN!!! Psh...the MLB is full of cheaters. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Rangers already had a guy who cheats on their team right now.
Re: DAMN!!! Someone edited half the damns out of my title!<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ASUFan22 @ Nov 8 2006, 06:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Psh...the MLB is full of cheaters. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Rangers already had a guy who cheats on their team right now.</div>Yeah, probably. The Rangers have had Ken Caminiti and Palmeiro on their team, which are both notable steroid abusers, along with Canseco, who of course wrote a book about steroid abuse, in which alleged that Pudge ALSO used steroids. I kinda wouldn't be surprised if Pudge did, and I'm sure that Juan Gonzalez had a part in it, as well. Still, like I said, that was a different time. I believe that today's Ranger players are probably clean, or at least most of them. Bonds undoubtedly is a steroid abuser. Also, I completely disagree with the author of this article. He said everyone ends up loving Bonds. Tell that to San Francisco... their attendance had a very sharp decline.
