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| Yes | 71% | 204 votes | Total: 287 votes | |
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Add to FavoritesBarry Bonds may have no choice but to officially retire from the game itself. What makes him fall into that category has a lot to do with recent allegations that he knowingly took steroids. Career wise, he has become the only player in baseball history to have at least 500 Home Runs and 500 Stolen Bases. Mostly known in his later years as a Home Run hitting machine and would have thought he would never get to over 700 in his career.
There is no question about him as a player when he could play but also age plays a role in how long they can play. He is in his mid-40s and it is anymore rare that a player would continue going at this age in the game of baseball. Bonds would have to understand that it will not see him receiving the big pay days that he once had when he was with the Giants.
As far as why would no one would sign him, look back at the BALCO scandal. Right now, the question is about did he know that he was using steroids in the first place? With that lingering over his head, it would be a sign that says don't sign him in the first place. Not even the New York Yankees will sign him and they pretty much just sign everyone under the sun that has been developed by other teams.
Going into the 2009 season, he has yet to be signed by anyone and it doesn't look like it will be happening anytime soon. As a matter of fact, no team has been linked as a possible destination. With his age, it would be most likely an American League team having hit as a Designated Hitter more than having him play in the outfield. He played for the Pirates and the Giants and it would be unlikely either one of those teams will actually pick him up.
Looking into his statistics, he is within striking distance of catching a few records. He all ready is the walking king along with the Home Run Record. Further examination shows that he also has the single season record though if it did broken again, you can bank on another question of did the person use steroids to achieve the record in the first place.
He could catch the runs record, become a member of the 3,000 hit club, and of course adding to his resume would be the record of extra base hits. It would not be expected to see triples but doubles most likely. There is one thing that trumps all records and it is something that Barry Bonds is unlikely to see in his future and that is a World Series ring. He could go down as one of those great players who never gets the ring in the first place. His best chance was in 2002 when the Giants and Angles played in the first ever wild card World Series seeing the Angels win it. Bonds should retire because no one is going to sign him and it would be best to make it official.
Learn more about this author, Bruce Bostwick.
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No
The greatest hitter in the history of baseball deserves to finish his career in a dignified way.
Barry Bonds is a loathed figurehead of an era that baseball purists are longing to rid themselves of. The "steroid era," as it has been dubbed by the press, fundamentally believes we should asterisk all offensive statistics produced with the following footnote: "Offensive production was spiked by performance enhancing drugs during this era."
But what the fundamentalist purists fail to realize is that Barry Lamar Bonds was hitting off of juiced pitchers during his magical run. He hit his 755th homerun off of a pitcher who had previously been banished for testing positive for performance enhancers. The Guillermo Mota rule, as it has come to be known, says that any player of any size or shape could be abusing performance enhancing drugs.
Barry Bonds is being crucified by the media for the sins of his baseball brethren. Many pundits believe he should hang it up after the 2007 season, essentially enacting a suspension that none of the writers could order themselves. However, when healthy, Bonds is still one of the best players in baseball.
Assuming he goes to the American League, he would not have to run around in the outfield on a bum knee. He could be the designated hitter for a struggling offensive team, somewhere like Texas or Kansas City.
One skill that never dies of old age on a baseball player is his ability to see pitches. While Barry may be declining power-wise, his on-base percentage is still one of the tops in the sport. He is great at drawing walks and laying off bad pitches.
Barry has the offensive ability to be a great designated hitter in the AL. His character has been brought into question, but there are far more cancerous players out there than Barry (Gary Sheffield, for one).
Finally, Barry Bonds didn't kill the Giants this year. He wasn't even the most troublesome Barry on the team (that honor belongs to Zito). Barry has no place on an old team, but he could provide a much needed spark to a young lineup in the American League in 2007.
Barry Bonds should not retire.
Learn more about this author, Matthew Galloway.
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