2008 Woodie Awards
'Straight up now tell me'
What were you thinking, Barry?
Matt Macaulay, Sports Editor
Issue date: 3/8/06 Section: Sports
Say hey, Barry, what do you think your godfather Willie Mays would say about that Paula Abdul getup? He must be so proud. Maybe you're just having a good time for once, showing your true self, allowing the media and fans to see the Barry we've always wanted to know. Or is it that you're looking for a little filler for that new reality show you're doing for ESPN2? Yeah, the latter sounds about right.
ESPN Original Entertainment, in collaboration with Tollin/Robbins Productions, issued a press release on Mar. 1 announcing their intent to air a "weekly half-hour series chronicling the historic 2006 season of Barry Bonds…and his extraordinary pursuit to reach the milestones set by Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, the all-time homerun leader."
Maybe Ruth, who is notorious for his heavy drinking, over-eating, and womanizing, wouldn't mind Bonds passing his 714-homerun mark dressed in a skirt, but Hammerin' Hank is a different story.
Aaron, who has teeter-tottered with his personal feelings about Bonds breaking his record during what most have admitted to be the steroid era, attained his crown as the homerun king with humility and respect. He received racially motivated hate mail, death threats, and profane verbal abuse from fans while on the field. He held his head high, he worked hard, and he tried to ignore the hype. He was a man among men on the diamond, but not our Barry.
On Feb. 28 and Mar. 1 Bonds donned a scraggly yellow wig and a black halter-top as he assumed the role of Paula Abdul during the Giants hazing version of "American Idol". Second-baseman Ray Durham took on the role of Randy Jackson, and Pitcher Jeff Fassero attempted his best British accent and sat in as Simon Cowell.
Giants players attending their first major league spring training were put up on a makeshift stage and made to sing songs for which Durham, Fassero, and Bonds then judged their performances.
"I was expecting them to be really bad, but some of them actually sounded good," wrote Bonds on his website.
ESPN Original Entertainment, in collaboration with Tollin/Robbins Productions, issued a press release on Mar. 1 announcing their intent to air a "weekly half-hour series chronicling the historic 2006 season of Barry Bonds…and his extraordinary pursuit to reach the milestones set by Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, the all-time homerun leader."
Maybe Ruth, who is notorious for his heavy drinking, over-eating, and womanizing, wouldn't mind Bonds passing his 714-homerun mark dressed in a skirt, but Hammerin' Hank is a different story.
Aaron, who has teeter-tottered with his personal feelings about Bonds breaking his record during what most have admitted to be the steroid era, attained his crown as the homerun king with humility and respect. He received racially motivated hate mail, death threats, and profane verbal abuse from fans while on the field. He held his head high, he worked hard, and he tried to ignore the hype. He was a man among men on the diamond, but not our Barry.
On Feb. 28 and Mar. 1 Bonds donned a scraggly yellow wig and a black halter-top as he assumed the role of Paula Abdul during the Giants hazing version of "American Idol". Second-baseman Ray Durham took on the role of Randy Jackson, and Pitcher Jeff Fassero attempted his best British accent and sat in as Simon Cowell.
Giants players attending their first major league spring training were put up on a makeshift stage and made to sing songs for which Durham, Fassero, and Bonds then judged their performances.
"I was expecting them to be really bad, but some of them actually sounded good," wrote Bonds on his website.