Barry Bonds has an open invitation to play in the independent Atlantic League, which found big-league jobs for Jose Canseco, Rickey Henderson, Jose Lima and Ruben Sierra. Bonds could get in baseball shape and be ready if a team like the Mariners or Tigers come calling for a DH.
The money? Lima once complained his cell phone bill was more than his paycheck ($3,000 a month).
Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris, has complained to the players union that Bonds may be a victim of collusion. If there's a memo floating out there from commissioner Bud Selig to the owners suggesting it wouldn't be a good idea to sign Bonds at this point in his life, no one has found it yet.
Let's see, the benefits of Bonds as an employee: He can still hit. The drawbacks: Pending perjury trial, clubhouse cancer, still wants at least $10 million in salary, can't run, disliked by nearly every player in baseball, won't play if he doesn't feel right, craves special privledges and will not offer his services for team promotions.
Collusion or one gigantic headache?
The Oakland A's amazing start would be even more satisfying for owner Lew Wolff if the team didn't rank 28th out of 30 in attendance.
Wolff blames the anti-baseball atmosphere of Network Associates Coliseum. He might be right.
Can you imagine how Pittsburgh fans would react to their club being 10 games over .500. The Pirates' ballpark is new and dreamy, but it's rarely filled because the team is usually dull and dreary.
The A's have their loyal core of fans who appreciate good baseball. There just isn't enough of them.
And it's great that Dan Smith, Dana Eveland, Kurt Suzuki and Emil Brown are playing so well. That also equates to zero star power.
Brawling Richie Sexson of the Mariners was suspended six days for charging Texas pitcher Kason Gabbard and throwing his helmet at him.
Sexson is batting .209. While the Rangers and M's were engaged in a mild bean-ball skirmish, the pitch that so irritated Sexson was high and over the plate. The umpire stood a better chance of getting hit by the pitch than Sexson.
Time for a trip to the optometrist?
There's an HBO show currently running about Mickey Mantle that defies the "no crying in baseball," League of Their Own quote.
The old footage is top notch, especially of a young Mantle who could run like a deer and hit rocket home runs.
The sad part were the demons of growing up with an unappreciative father and Mantle's alcoholism that proved an odd connecting device with his four sons, all of whom had substance-abuse problems and two of whom have already died. Mantle attained success but almost regretted it. He finally stopped drinking and vowed to become a better person after his son Billy died at age 36.
Mantle was a shy Oklahoman who was overwhelmed by celebrity in New York City and drank to be social.
The legendary line Mantle borrowed from Bobby Layne was "If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken a lot better care of myself."
After a liver transplant, two months before he died, Mantle said in a hospital news conference: "This is a role model, don't be like me."
My only regret is Julio Franco didn't retire after Aug. 23, his 50th birthday. Franco, who announced his retirement late last week at age 48, played for the Phillies, Indians, Rangers, White Sox, Brewers, Rays, Braves, Mets, Escogido Lions of the Dominican League, Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan, Samsung Lions in Korea and Angelopolis Tigers and Quintara Roo Tigers of the Mexican League. Franco's final big-league numbers are very good: 2,586 hits, 1,285 runs, 407 doubles, 54 triples, 173 home runs, 1,194 RBIs and a .298 average for 23 seasons.
Of course the baseball season is long and many teams with the best current records probably won't hold up through September.
Still, of the 10 teams with the lowest payrolls, six had winning records heading into the weekend. Four of them even led their divisions -- Minnesota, Oakland, Arizona and Florida.
Teams with small payrolls are usually young. And young players have trouble sustaining success for a full season.
You can reach Staff Writer Rich Rupprecht at 521-5275 or
rich.rupprecht@pressdemocrat.com.
