SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Barry Bonds was told by the San Francisco Giants that he won’t play for them in 2008, he said on his website Friday.
But baseball’s all-time home leader said he planned on playing somewhere next season.
In a statement, Bonds said: "This journal will be one of my last entries as a San Francisco Giant. Yesterday, I was told by the Giants that they will not be bringing me back for the 2008 season."
Giants owner Peter Magowan told Bonds of the decision in person Thursday night, said Bonds’ agent, Jeff Borris.
The Giants planned a news conference for 8 p.m. ET Friday.
The 43-year-old Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s record with his 756th home run on Aug. 7. Bonds has spent the past 15 seasons of his 22-year big league career with the Giants, and signed a C$15.8 million, one-year contract for this season.
But he hasn’t played since Sept. 15 because of a sprained right big toe, and he wasn’t in the Giants’ lineup Thursday night for the opener of what probably will be his final homestand with San Francisco, which signed him as a free agent in December 1992.
Shadowed by steroid speculation for the past few years, Bonds has hit 28 homers this season, raising his career total to 762. The seven-time NL MVP is batting .279 with 66 RBIs.
Prior to the toe injury, he had been mostly healthy, playing 125 games going into this weekend. The left-fielder had 2,935 career hits before Friday night’s game against Cincinnati.
Despite Bonds’ personal achievements, the season has been a disappointing one for the Giants, who are mired deep in last place in the NL West.
"We’ve heard for a long time that the Giants are an old team and want to get younger, so we’re not surprised," Borris said. "Barry is their oldest player, but qualitatively, he’s their best player."
"He’s still planning on playing next year, irrespective of whether it’s an AL or NL team," he said.
Bonds has long denied using performance-enhancing drugs, but fans across the country have greeted him with placards inscribed with asterisks — baseball-fan shorthand for the belief that his record is hopelessly tainted by allegations of steroid abuse.
Even the person who paid C$752,467 for Bonds’ historic 756th home run has threatened to stamp it with an asterisk.
Fashion designer Marc Ecko revealed himself this week as the winning bidder for the ball and has posted a website giving visitors a chance to vote on what he should do with the ball: donate it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.; brand the ball with an asterisk in reference to the steroid allegations against Bonds; or blast the ball into space.
Bonds ripped Ecko earlier this week, saying the designer is "stupid. He’s an idiot."
.
After parting ways with Bonds, San Francisco will be free to scrap a win-now philosophy in which general manager Brian Sabean surrounded the slugger with aging veterans every year to maximize Bonds’ chances to win his first championship. San Francisco reached the World Series in 2002, but hasn’t been back to the post-season since 2003.
In his statement, Bonds said he believes the Giants made the decision long ago not to bring him back for next season.
"Although I am disappointed, I’ve always said baseball is a business, and I respect their decision," Bonds said. "However, I am saddened and upset that I was not given an earlier opportunity to properly say goodbye to you, my fans, and celebrate with the city throughout the season as I truly believe this was not a last-minute decision by the Giants, but one that was made some time ago."
Bonds had said he wanted to finish his career in the comfort of his hometown, where his father, Bobby, played alongside his godfather, Willie Mays.
"I would have loved nothing more than to retire as a Giant in the place where I call home and have shared so many momentous moments with all of you, but there is more baseball in me and I plan on continuing my career. My quest for a World Series ring continues," he said.
San Francisco is where Bonds became entangled with federal prosecutors and with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab at the centre of the steroids scandal in professional sports.
The perjury investigation is focused on whether Bonds lied in 2003, when he told the federal grand jury investigating BALCO that he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs.
Bonds said his personal trainer told him he was taking flaxseed oil and arthritis balm.
His childhood friend and trainer, Greg Anderson, has spent nearly a year in prison for refusing to testify to the grand jury investigating Bonds’ alleged perjury.
On the field, a championship is about the only thing missing on Bonds’ resume.
He played in his 13th all-star game this summer, an event held in his home ballpark. The waterfront stadium was constantly sold out as Bonds moved closer to history, and his drawing power certainly played a role in the Giants re-signing him as a free agent in the off-season.
Bonds has reached the post-season seven times, and a World Series title barely eluded him in 2002. The Giants were just five outs from the title in Game 6 against the Anaheim Angels, but they lost that lead and also got beaten in Game 7. Bonds hit .471 in those seven games with four home runs, and the Angels walked him 13 times.
A day after last season ended, Magowan said that Bonds would no longer be the centrepiece of the organization and that the team would change its formula for winning.
Bonds then checked out the free-agent market, and a couple of teams — including St. Louis, Oakland and San Diego — showed early interest. But there seemed to be a pervasive feeling around baseball that Bonds would ultimately rejoin the Giants and he did.
The following statement was issued on his website:
September 21, 2007
Dear Fans,
This journal will be one of my last entries as a San Francisco Giant. Yesterday, I was told by the Giants that they will not be bringing me back for the 2008 season. During the conversation with Peter McGowan I was told that my play this year far exceeded any expectations the Giants had, but that the organization decided this year would be my last season in San Francisco. Although I am disappointed, I’ve always said baseball is a business — and I respect their decision. However, I am saddened and upset that I was not given an earlier opportunity to properly say goodbye to you, my fans, and celebrate with the city throughout the season as I truly believe this was not a last minute decision by the Giants, but one that was made some time ago. I don’t have nor do I want any ill feelings towards the organization, I just wish I had known sooner so we had more time to say our goodbyes and celebrate the best 15 years of my life.
I consider the City of San Francisco and you, the fans, my family. Thank you for loving me and supporting me throughout all the highs and lows. I feel a deep connection with you as I have grown up with all of you since the days my dad first became a Giant. The Bay Area has loved my family and friends for so many years and I thank you for that. It is now a time for change, as many athletes have experienced. It is comforting to know that those who have come before me — Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, to name a few — have forever remained in the hearts of the fans, as I know I will too.
During my career as a Giant, so many people made significant impressions on my life. I’d like to thank all my past and current teammates. I’ve had the opportunity to play with some amazingly talented ballplayers who have treated me with respect, supported me and rooted for me throughout the years. Mike Murphy, our devoted Equipment Manager, used to baby-sit me as a little boy at Candlestick Park. There are no words to describe the love and respect I have for him. Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper are the two best broadcasters in the business. Their professionalism, integrity and love for the game, puts them in a league of their own. I thank them for their support and I’m honored to call them friends. It is also important to thank all the men and women behind the scenes at the stadium who come to work every day and make it possible for us all to enjoy a day at the ballpark. I love walking to clubhouse hearing their “hellos” every day.
I would have loved nothing more than to retire as a Giant in the place where I call home and have shared so many momentous moments with all of you, but there is more baseball in me and I plan on continuing my career. My quest for a World Series ring continues.
Until next time,
Barry Bonds
