Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 19, 2008
Tango on Bonds

I'm sure Tom Tango is going to catch a little heat for this post, but I understand his point:

Why are MLB teams treating Bonds like the US Women's soccer team treated its star player? Has the totality of the personal experience of Barry Bonds crossed over the murderer, rapist, wife-beater line? Really? I mean, really? That's my argument here: really?

Tom is confusing players with management. If some team plopped Barry Bonds down on the field right now, none of his new teammates would have a problem with that. The problem is that GMs and owners aren't quite as committed to the W as the players. They need to make money, put fans in the seats, and try to win at the same time. Since Barry Bonds spent most of the last two years getting booed in every park except in San Francisco, those GMs might think that paying a high price for a player the fans don't like isn't a good deal. Maybe if Bonds were willing to pay for a low salary, some team would take a flier on him.


Posted by David Pinto at 12:11 PM | Players | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Yes, but he was booed loudly at all those stadiums, because even on the road, he fills the seats.

Posted by: Nor at March 19, 2008 01:06 PM

Run the regression of road attendance for SF games against other teams, excluding the places that always sell out, controlling for day of the week (i.e., don't compare a Wednesday night game to a Sunday afternoon one).

I'll give odds that he was worth several thousand seats, even after he hit 756.

Posted by: Ken Houghton at March 19, 2008 01:37 PM

I agree, people will show up to boo a villain. America loves a car wreck. And, if a team is winning with Bonds, fans simply are not going to stop coming.

Posted by: Jacob Knabb at March 19, 2008 01:56 PM

My theory is simple. No one wants to deal with the sideshow throughout the entirety of spring training. All he needs is some ABs somewhere as he won't play the field again. He'll play somewhere in the American League, by May at the latest.

Posted by: The Zoner at March 19, 2008 05:29 PM

Fans may boo on and off at the beginning of the year. But when Bonds is putting up Bonds caliber numbers and the team is winning, I can't see anyone truly being that distraught. Winning cures all.

Posted by: Brandon Heikoop at March 20, 2008 08:14 AM
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