Last night, I had the privelege of watching the Diamondbacks / Giants game from a wonderful seat 4 rows up from 1st base, right behind the Giants dugout.
I was there on business, and despite the fact that there were 23,000 people there, I never had to break off a sentence or raise my voice. It was dead quiet. Yes, it was 1-0 game, but still, the crowd was really, really quiet.
Until Barry came in to pinch hit in the 9th inning. Then, the entire place let loose - booing, pointing, yelling at him. Honestly, it seemed a little ugly. Barry worked the count full, then walked to 1st base. Then the crowd REALLY let him have it. "Swing the bat, you pussy!" etc. He stood on 1st base for a few seconds waiting for the pinch runner, then walked back to the dugout. He was walking directly into a mass of people who really didn't like him - I mean, they HATED him. You could just feel the negativity, all directed at Barry Bonds.
So, me thinks that with that much antagonism directed at him game-in and game-out, no wonder he's struggling. Just the negative energy alone would make it hard. How can you approach the plate with any enthusiasm or concentration when every single person is rooting HARD for you to fail every single night?
Oh yeah, one other thing, he walks like my 80 year old grandpa. I mean seriously, I was worried he wasn't going to make it to 1st base. It's not just shin-splints folks...Just painful watching him try to move. I have another blog on this later, some serious irony is coming.
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