Barry Bonds: ambassador of baseball.
Far-fetched? A few years ago, sure; heck, even a few weeks ago. But with Bonds’ felony conviction for obstruction of justice overturned and his record clean, baseball seems more than willing to welcome its home run king back in the fold. Even commissioner Rob Manfred suggested he’d like to see Bonds engaged in the game.
But what role could Bonds realistically play? Could someone who’s been such a lightning rod for controversy, who inspires such deep-seated opinion in baseball fans (both good and bad), ever take on a larger role in the game? Can he make amends to the point where he’s even voted into the Hall of Fame?
It’s hard to see Bonds taking any kind of role on the national stage, since he’s still almost universally disliked by non-Giants fans. Fair or not, Bonds has the reputation of someone who cheated the game and fans will have trouble getting over that. Never mind that someone like Pete Rose seems to be gaining more support by the day for reinstatement; in Bonds’ case, his transgressions seemingly supersede anything that happened before in the minds of many.
But the steroid allegations aren’t the only thing that have soured fans’ perceptions of Bonds. Even before he became a home run hitting monster, Bonds had the reputation of being a surly, arrogant jerk. He was never a guy opposing fans rooted for or liked, mostly due to that perception. Add the steroid allegations later in his career, and it’s easy to see why those same fans wouldn’t be accepting of Bonds in a post-retirement role either.
So how can Bonds stay involved in the game? The obvious answer is a role with the Giants, though even that isn’t a given. While the Giants have brought him back to throw out first pitches and as a spring hitting instructor, they’ve also kept Bonds at arm’s length for some time. You’d be hard pressed to find Bonds-related memorabilia at AT&T Park, and the Giants haven’t even retired his number yet (in fairness, the team has only retired Hall of Famers numbers, but Bonds has an air-tight case for an exception to that rule).
By all accounts, Bonds was a success in his role as a hitting instructor and the Giants would be lucky to have arguably the game’s greatest living hitter giving tips to the likes of Casey McGehee. If he committed to a role as a guest hitting instructor/roving minor league instructor, it might be a good first step towards getting his foot back in baseball’s door. The Giants would be better for it, and Bonds may find that being a teacher is his new calling. It could also thaw out whatever hard feelings there still are between the Giants and Bonds.
That’s probably the route baseball is hoping Bonds takes, too. Rather than thrust him in the spotlight, having Bonds slowly work his way back there may let some of the fans’ hard feelings fall away, too. And for a game that is struggling to attract minorities, Bonds may be just the kind of figure it needs. He’s a success story, arguably one of the greatest players of all time, and baseball should take advantage of that in whatever way it can.
Will Barry Bonds ever be an ambassador of baseball? Probably not. But he can sure do a lot of good for the game if it lets him.
