Barry Bonds has reported to the Giants spring camp!
Barry Bonds in Giants camp as instructor
The all-time home run king has reported to Giants camp as a hitting instructor.
Ezra Shaw
Even though he probably could still hit a few homers into the Cove, he isn’t there to do it himself, but he is there to teach others how. Bonds, now 49 years old, has been bombarded with questions from the media upon his arrival to Scottsdale, Ariz., where the Giants are preparing for their season opener on the 31st.
Bonds was asked if he’d like to manage someday, to which he responded, “Let me get through these seven days first.”
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Predictably, most of the questions he’s been asked have been about his duplicitous playing career during which he became one of the most incredible players ever to take the field ... and one of the most hated athletes in the game’s history.
Bonds said he "belongs" in the Hall of Fame, according to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, but he also said he won't offer any advice to Hall voters on his candidacy, calling them "adults." In response to CSN's Andrew Baggarly, Bonds said he respects Alex Rodriguez as an athlete, and that he believes someone -- not specifically A-Rod -- will break his home run record.
Bonds’ return from a seven-year absence from the game is bound to resonate poorly with some of the “adults” that left him off of their Hall of Fame ballots this winter, but Bonds still has supporters in the majors -- including another former slugger who could end up in a coaching position sometime soon.
In an interview with USA TODAY’s Gabe Lacques, Jason Giambi put his support behind Bonds.
”Barry’s got too much to give. I don’t care what anybody says. He’s one of the greatest players to ever play this game. I don’t really care. “I think he’s got a lot of teaching in him.”
Reds first baseman Joey Votto is also interviewed in Lacques' piece, saying he would welcome Bonds presence in Cincinnati.
“I wish he worked here. He’s the best hitter I’ve ever seen in my life. No matter what kinds of things people accused him of or what he has admitted — I’m not really sure the story — he played in an era when there was a chance that may have been common, what he did or didn’t do.He was still the best. And it wasn’t close.”
Diamondbacks third baseman Eric Chavez also made a solid point about how Bonds, and the other players suspected of PED use, made the game much more popular than it was before the steroids era, and that current players can't help but benefit from the things Bonds and others did in the 90s and 2000s.
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