Dale Murphy rips Barry Bonds

670 Views | 13 Replies | Last: 18 yr ago by kb2001
Fat Bib Fortuna
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I really agree with his comments about if there was an anonymous poll of players, you'd have a lot more "Curt Schillings." I wish a few more national media types would have the guts to state an opinion on it one way or another instead of waffling along.

"This is a great teaching moment for a parent. You can explain to your kids why you're not watching [Bonds] and why it doesn't interest you.
"Even in a court of law, which this isn't, in my opinion, you can have a preponderance of circumstantial evidence to convict somebody. Now, maybe I'm wrong, but when you get enough stuff on a guy, you can make a decision. It's really a no-brainer.
"[Bonds] would have become one of the great ones, anyway. Now, he sucked the fun and the life right out of it. There is enough evidence to me to say without a doubt that he used performance-enhancing drugs. He hit 73 home runs when he was 37. Hank would have hit 855 if he had the same advantage.
"Barry's a great player, but he put an asterisk by his name on his own. He's deserved all the negative publicity that he's getting. People have been complaining that he's being treated unfairly. Life isn't usually like that. You don't just get treated unfairly. You usually get what you deserve.
"This is what Barry deserves. He's a hard guy to like. He's a hard teammate to have. He's set a terrible example for our kids.
"That's what you say to your kids. You say, 'This is what happens when you take steroids. Your dad doesn't want to watch this, because it's drug abuse.'
"It's frustrating. . . . Giants fans love it, and they are blinded by it. Most people put an asterisk by it. They have a problem with how [Bonds] has gone about his career. That's what I tell my kids.
"There are a lot of [major leaguers] who are not being totally honest with how they feel about what Barry's done . . . You take an anonymous poll of what players think and you'd have more Curt Schillings. The guy's a great talent, but when you take exceptional talent and increase it with drug abuse, that's what you get.
"It's never been legal to abuse a controlled substance . . . A lot of guys decided not to do it, even though they weren't testing. I decided not to do it. I thought it was wrong. It was illegal. I said, 'I'm not going to do that.' [Bonds] has a trainer sitting in prison because he won't testify against Bonds.
"He hasn't denied it. He said he took it, but didn't know what it was. We found out later it was steroids.
"You just have to teach your kids to make judgments in life. You're not always going to have all the facts, but you've got to make judgments. I understand in this country you're innocent until proven guilty, but this isn't a law case, this is how you feel.
"People don't think [Bonds] did it the right way. I know he [used performance-enhancers]. I don't have a problem saying I know he did. It's obvious.
"I've got to take a deep breath here.
"I've said it all before, but for some reason we love our sports so much that we sometimes are so forgiving . . . But this is a great example of how not to handle your career, and how not to treat people.
"We've got to change the culture in sports.
"I just had to get that off my chest."
Lance Uppercut
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wareagle044
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dleonard
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Was that a live interview or something online?

The Murph was in right field for my first MLB game and it broke my heart when the Braves traded him. I'm not surprised he said such things, he was always a stand-up guy.
Theo
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I used to be a big fan of his.

The real shame of the steroid era is that guys like Murphy have to try getting into the HoF with stats that have been dwarfed by drug abusers.

As it stands, he's one of only three two-time MVPs that is not in the HoF.
kb2001
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He summed it up perfectly. And it clarifies for me what kind of person I've always thought he is, when I reread it and saw how often he referred to what to tell the kids. Because that's what really matters, is to make sure your kids don't idolize the cheaters. One day they will learn specifically what the cheaters did, and you'd better make damn sure they won't repeat it. Selig and MLB may fail at getting the asterix, but I doubt anybody outside of San Fran will forget to tell their kids about it.
Aggie1205
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dr81
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Dale Murphy has always been a class act!!

Fat Bib Fortuna
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He apparently lives in Utah now and called into a talk radio show about the subject. The SLC Tribune then printed the text of his comments.
Aggie
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Matt in DFW
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Good stuff, I used to hate Dale Murphy, mainly because I just hated the Braves and my best friend was a huge Braves fans and constantly reminded me what a great player he was.

Mucho props to him.
houstontexan
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quote:
dale murphy never played ball like i did. bonds in all-natural and the record really means something!


-rocks
ColoradoMooseHerd
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Thanks for putting words in my mouth, can you show me anywhere that I posted anything that sounds like that?
W
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Murphy's comments bring out another key aspect of all this

So many current players have been / are hesistant to criticize Bonds, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why. They would be hypocrits to critize Barry for taking some of the same things that they did.

And it is very true, that the steroid era power numbers are hurting the hall of fame chances of players like Dale Murphy, Andre Dawson, etc.., Murphy is one of those players whose career tapered off at the normal age of adult men. (around age 33/34)
kb2001
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W-

I think the players won't criticize him openly because the unwritten rules say you don't do that. You won't see it happening because the confidentiality of the locker room would be broken and nobody wants that. Players don't openly criticize other players specifically, not in baseball anyways. The most you'll see is like Sandberg's HOF speech. Exceptions exist of course, and they blow up as predicted.
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