Product Description
This digital document is an article from Baseball Digest, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2007. The length of the article is 919 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: 7th inning stretch: players with most at-bats without a HR.(Barry Bonds, Jason Tyner)
Author: Chuck Pickard
Publication: Baseball Digest (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 66Issue: 7Page: 46(2)

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No player in the history of baseball has left such an indelible mark on the game as San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. In his twenty-year career, Bonds has amassed an unprecedented seven MVP awards, eight Gold Gloves, and more than seven hundred home runs, an impressive assortment of feats that has earned him consideration as one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Equally deserved, however, is his reputation as an insufferable braggart, whose mythical home runs are rivaled only by his legendary ego. From his staggering ability and fabled pedigree (father Bobby played outfield for the Giants; cousin Reggie Jackson and godfather Willie Mays are both Hall of Famers) to his well-documented run-ins with teammates and the persistent allegations of steroid use, Bonds inspires a like amount of passion from both sides of the fence. For many, Bonds belongs beside Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron in baseball's holy trinity; for others, he embodies all that is wrong with the modern athlete: aloof; arrogant; alienated.

Customer Reviews (30)

A Superb Book About A Genuine Superstar and a Real Jerk
I'd like to start with the only part of this book I wholeheartedly disagreed with: the derisive comparision of Bonds to superstars in other sports when talking about the Giants' epic end-of-World Series failure in 2002 specifically and the notion that Bonds didn't "lift" his teammates to greater performances in general. Say what you will about Barry Bonds, but the teams he was on won a lot more with him than without him, and honestly baseball is the kind of game where you can't simply carry a team as a position player in the way that someone in basketball or football can. The only exception to that on a consistent basis has come from starting pitchers, and I'm quite certain Jeff Pearlman isn't taking Bonds to task for never trying to become one of those!
Having said that, this is simply a superb book. I didn't want to even riff through it at B&N because what I knew about Barry Bonds was either A) material that'd already come out in other outlets or B) enough to make me sure that knowing more about such a jackass would be unbearable. Yet this book is the furthest thing from a chore to read; it has smarts, good anecdotes, fairness, a sense of time and place, and it moves like lightning. You might not like Barry Bonds more at the book's end than you did at the beginning, as I didn't, but you might be able to logically comprehend WHY he is the way he is: the genuine superstar, and the real jerk. This work surges on the weight of truth, and if you are a fan of baseball and/or recent American history, it's a must-read.

Right-on Assessment
Being a 20-year season ticket holder, I have seen the Giants pre, during, and post Barry Bonds.I saw enough games to know how teammates and other players felt about him, but not to this extent.Pearlman continues to impress with his research and even-handed writing.For certain, I came away thinking that Bonds is easily the most despicable human being on the planet living today and his loneliness is no one's fault but his own.

GOOD BOOK ABOUT BAD PERSON
JEFF PEARLMAN DOES A GOOD JOB TELLING US THE LIFE AND CAREER OF BARRY BONDS. WHEN YOU READ ABOUT BARRY'S HOME LIFE AS A KID, IT HELPS TO UNDERSTAND WHY HE IS SUCH THE EGOTISTICAL, ARROGANT, SELFISH A-HOLE THAT HE IS TODAY. HIS FATHER WAS BOBBY, WHO HAD A MAJOR ALCOHOL PROBLEM AND BARRY WAS PAMPERED ALL HIS LIFE BECAUSE HE WAS SUCH A TALENTED ATHLETE. BARRY WOULD PROBABLY HAVE MADE IT IN THE HALL OF FAME BUT HE CHOSE TO KICK UP HIS GAME A BIT BY USING ROIDS BECAUSE HE WASN'T GETTING ALL THE ATTENTION HE FELT HE DESERVED. WHEN MCGWIRE HIT 70, POOR BARRY WAS A FORGOTTEN MAN, SO HE TOOK ROIDS AND HORMONES THAT TRANSFORMED HIM INTO A MUSCLE BOUND HITTING MACHINE. THIS BOOK IS FULL OF STORIES THAT MAKE BARRY LOOK VERY BAD AS A PERSON AND A FEW THAT MAKE HIM SEEM DECENT. (VERY FEW)THE BOOK IS IN DEPTH AND HELD MY INTEREST COVER TO COVER. IT HELPED ME TO HAVE LESS RESPECT FOR HIM THAN I DID BEFORE I READ IT (IF THAT IS POSSIBLE) BONDS HAS HIS RECORDS BUT I HOPE HE NEVER MAKES THE HALL OF FAME AND IS CAUGHT FOR PURGERING HIMSELF TESTIFYING ON WHETHER HE KNEW HE WAS USING ILLEGAL ENHANCERS. HE WILL PROBABLY PAY ANOTHER PRICE FOR HIS FOOLISH USE OF THIS DRUG BECAUSE OF THS SIDE EFFECTS IS HAS ON HIS BODY. I RECOMMEND THIS FOR ALL FANS BUT A WARNING TO PARENTS THAT THE BOOK HAS ALOT OF OBSCENE LANGUAGE.

interesting book about sports biggest jerk and cheat
Jeff Pearlman had written a good book which will shed light on what all baseball fans already know...Barry Bonds is the biggest jerk in sports history and everything he accomplished in his career is tainted from his obvious use of illegal, immoral supplements which enabled him to set every bogus record he set.
As a baseball fan for almost 50 years, I had almost forgotten what a bum Barry`s father Bobby was. This book helped me remember. Bobby Bonds was a marvelous talent with a despicable outlook on life. Bobby was shown to be a constant drunk which made him a lousy husband, father, man, and finally ruined his career.
Love Me, Hate Me, tells the story of how Barry Bonds head actually grew in his late thirties, sometning that can only occur two ways...have a medical problem that affects only a tiny percentage of the globe`s inhabitants (most famous victim was the late wrestler, Andre The Giant), or, by using human growth hormone. Barry does not suffer from the disease.
The book also touches on the fact, that while the entire rest of the world detested Barry Bonds, the San Fransisco Bay area absolutely loved him. The people there knew he was an insufferable pain in the rear, an ego-maniac and a blatant cheater, but, he was THEIR pain in the rear, THEIR ego-maniac and THEIR cheater and they just didn`t care how he accumulated his numbers.
As a charter member of the Bonds hater club, the book gives me something to be happy about. While this man has unfairly destroyed baseball`s record book with his steroid juiced up body, he is not stupid. He knows he has almost no friends in the world and that most people hate him, and therefore, he is shown to be a truly unhappy person with a miserable life. All I can say is...serves him right.

One of the best sports themed books out there!
The author, Jeff Pearlman, did his homework on this tour-de-force.I'm a GIANTS FAN, so I take exception to jabs thrown at my hometown's hero.But this book is sooo well written, it's hard to not begin to see Barry in a different eye.But whatever.He's hell to handle, but dude was/is/forever will be a MONSTER HITTER and the greatest of this generation, steroids or not.The 'roids don't help you make contact.. if so, all those drug using ballplayers would have smashed records previously owned by the baseball immortals.But this book shows that Bonds is a catalytic force.His physical achievements will be forever challenged and his reputation did him more harm than good. But all in all, an excellent portrayal of a Bonds I never knew existed, and I've lived in San Francisco my entire life.Great great book.

Also, quick, the seller rocks.Sent it quick and in excellent condition. ... Read more

Product Description
Examines the personal life and career of the San Francisco Giants baseball player who, in 2001, broke the record for most home runs in a season and became the first baseball player to win four MVP awards. ... Read more

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The blockbuster New York Times bestseller that caused a media firestorm and stayed in the headlines for weeks at last arrives in paperback—with a new afterword about the Barry Bonds perjury investigation.

This is the complete inside story of the BALCO steroids scandal from the award-winning reporters who broke the news nationally. In the summer of 1998, as baseball was still struggling to regain popularity lost during the contentious 1994 players’ strike that caused the World Series to be canceled, a race to break the home-run record transfixed the nation. Over the next three seasons, baseball players across the country hit home runs at unprecedented rates. Although sportswriters pointed to suspicions of "juiced" baseballs and small parks being responsible, there were whispers that illegal performance-enhancing drugs were being used. But home runs were big business, and baseball carried on with a weak performance-drug testing regime.

In December of 2004, after more than a year of investigation, San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams broke the story that in a federal investigation of a nutritional supplement company called BALCO, Barry Bonds and fellow slugger Jason Giambi had admitted to taking steroids. Immediately the issue of steroids in baseball became front-page news. In Game of Shadows, Fainaru-Wada and Williams expose the secrets of BALCO, illuminating how professional athletes risked their health for a competitive edge. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (115)

UGLY, SHAMEFUL PERIOD IN BASEBALL...
This is an excellent book, top notch reporting about an ugly, shameful period in baseball's history. Everyone of those records made and/or broken because of steroid use should be declared illegitimate because that's what they are. Anybody interested in the steroid cheating dark side of baseball cannot do better than to read this book. My thanks to Amazon and its associate seller for making this book available. --PL

Name dropping,Jones, Romanowski, McGwire, but above all,Barry Bonds..
He cheated on his wife, his mistress & baseball. He was unlikeable, cheap & had anger management problems. But boy, could he hit a baseball & the San Francisco Giants couldn't throw enough $$$ at him. Game of Shadows is an indictment of organized sports. First, track then others, but most important, baseball. Once an idea hits the mainstream, usually through the media if a national story, it is impossible to undo, ever. Steroid use is now linked to baseball. The neglect & denial of this problem is to its everlasting shame. Also the notion had been planted in the minds of high school & college athletes that you have to juice to succeed in the next level. This books talks briefly about this.
Stronger, faster & bigger. Performance Enhancing Drugs promise this & it delivers. The side effects are controllable. It can also be made undectable. Probably more important, it speeds the healing of injuries & can extend the career of a slightly over the hill player. Again, Barry Bonds is the poster boy, a player at the height of his power fearing the relentless creep of age.
A little recent history. Baseball had basically s--t on its fans, with strikes that resulted in the cancellation of the 1994 World Series. That soured many of them. Then along comes Mark McGwire & Sammy Sosa, fan friendly guys that were loved by many. In the summer of '98 they doubled teamed Roger Maris' 37 year old record for 61 homers in a season. It revived baseball. But there was a dark secret behind it. Few knew what was behind it all. But Major League Baseball & the players knew. Barry Bonds knew. Like his father before him, Bonds was a racist. It angered him beyond all reason that a white boy & a Dominican were getting away with cheating. He was, of course, jealous despite the MVP trophies he had already won, of the acclaim he was not receiving. He vowed that this would not stand. The books pursues his quest. A monster had been created.
Americans are a forgiving people. Even use of PED's will be forgiven if not forgotten. Jason Giambi got in front of this oncoming freight train. He confessed his steroid use & shortly he resumed his lucrativecareer. Andy Pettite 'fessed up. He is still playing, very well by the way. No hall of fame for them but they are still makingbig bucks in the major leagues. Clemens, McGwire, Palmerio, many others & lets not forget Marion Jones, Olympic gold medalist did not fare so well.
The minute details of type of drugs & individuals involved is impressive. I tend to believe that the era of steroids is gone but we are still dealing with the aftermath. A successful & well-researched book.

A Sad Tale of a Man Who Wanted Too Much
Game of Shadows, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, tells a factual story of of how Victor Conte, the founder of BALCO, rose from being a self-proclaimed nutritionist to being the steroid supplier of choice to a large number of world-class athletes across a multitude of sports.Along with Conte himself and the cast of characters involved with BALCO, either as users, suppliers, or competitors, the story focuses on baseball player Barry Bonds.

Mr Fainaru-Wada and Mr Williams detail how Barry Bonds was apparently jealous of the attention Mark McGuire (probably a steroid user) received when hitting a record-breaking 70 home runs during the 1998 season.Mr Bonds, per the book, successfully turned to steroids to become the greatest hitter of his generation, and perhaps even of all time, at an age when virtually all baseball players are in severe decline.

The irony here is that even if Barry Bonds had prematurely retired instead of beginning to use steroids, his performance to that point would have still been good enough to merit being voted into the baseball hall of fame, probably on the first ballot.Instead, assuming he's guilty (and the book presents reams of evidence in support of that guilt), he tarnished his reputation and legacy for all time, will not receive due credit for the bulk of his career when he was clean, and may never be voted into the hall of fame.

The book also includes interesting description of how steroids help improve performance, and what some of the side effects and health problems that are likely to result from steroid use.

This is a good book and I recommend it.

A Must Read for Sports Fans
Hard to express my thoughts in a few words. What there's no Santa Claus? No tooth fairy? Welcome to the real world. This book blows the cover off of competitive sports. It's not that comfortable seeing what has been hiding in the shadows. Pretty muchall sports are now suspect. No positive drug test is no longer enough to prove one's innocence. No strong denials of having ever used performance enhancing drugs can be believed. Who knows what labs are cooking up these days that are as of yet undetectable. The book chronicles very well the extent, expense, and risks people will take to cheat and lie to cover up. It is well written and a good read. Perhaps I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but better late than never. I could never watch baseball or any other sporting event with the same eyes again.

Perhaps it's inevitable that another era in baseball came along. Advances in technology and even rule changes have led to different eras in baseball. You really cannot compare records from different eras. Now we have the "steroid" era. I think the Rx next to the players' name is the best suggestion ever. Not necessarily that they cheated but that was the era they played in. So record books could have players listed from each era as being record holders. Though the book doesn't out any pitchers, the fact that steroids improves recovery would make pitchers very, very suspect. Recovery is the name of the game in pitching as in most sports. Read the book - there is no Santa Claus you know.

Awesome read for any baseball fan
If anyone wants to know more about Barry Bonds and his steroid use read this book.It gives you incite to a situation that has always been cloudy with he said she said statements. ... Read more

Product Description
This completely revised and updated biography follows baseball's most controversial slugger from his early years to his achievement of the most revered record in sports--the career home run record. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Greatest Baseball Player Ever
the Yankees are my Team,but Barry Bonds is the Greatest Baseball Player that I have Ever seen.two things I always keep up with during baseball season: first how my Yankees did&then how Barry Bonds is doing.this is another cool Book about the Baddest Player in the game.a easy read but also on Point about the Greatest.

another excellent JEFF SAVAGE book
Prospective buyers should know that F. J McCormack, a friend of a rival sportwriter, is pushing misinformation. Jeff Savage and not that other fellow (who engages in enough self promotion that he shouldn't need to resort to having friends step all over Savage's work) is the author of this book.

Let's repeat: Jeff Savage, and no one else, is the author of this book.

As he has established a reputation for doing, Jeff Savage has put together a well-written, easily-readable and always interesting book about a star athlete. Readers young and old will enjoy this book - which was written by JEFF SAVAGE and no one else.

The Best of Barry Bonds
This insightful, well-written book is a must-read for the sports fan interested in a personal, inside view of the multi-faceted personality of the immensely talented Barry Bonds.

Bonds has provided few people with the access and insight he provided Steve Travers, the author.History will prove it to be the definitive work on one of baseball's greatest players.

Frank McCormack
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Product Description
A biography of the San Francisco Giants outfielder who is a three-time winner of baseball's Most Valuable Player award. ... Read more

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Barry Bonds is arguably the greatest baseball player of all time. He holds the record for most home runs in a season and is baseball's only four-time MVP. This book explores Bonds' early influences, his struggle to get along with teammates, and the impact he has had on the game. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not enough facts

Barry Bonds Stars of Sports by: Raymond Miller when he was two he broke a window hitting a woffle ball.When he was a little kid his favorite baseball player was his dad Bobby Bonds, he also put on a jersey and ran out on the field not during the game.
His memorable moments were his homerun record. . 328 batting average and a career high 137 RBI's.And he almost has one of the most homeruns and it was 500 homers.
When Barry was in college he Played baseball for Arizona State University and only had 45 homeruns, 711 at bat, 183 runs, 247 hits, 175 runs batted in, 57 stolen bases and.347 batting average.
His father also played for the same team that Barry does now, Barry is one of the best baseball players of all time.
One of Barr's famous quotes "To never give up and always do your best"
One thing I didn't like about the book is it stopped at 2003 and didn't give any info about 2004 and 2005 it should have had all of that info but it didn't and they should have had about him when he used steroids and why he used them he made a stupid choose. He used to be my favorite baseball players but when I found out he used steroids he disappointed me andI thought he was better than that, at least he started over and finally made the right choose and he's one of my favorite players again.

The review of Barry Bonds
I read Barry Bonds stars of sport
I thought it was cool because berry bonds played for the Pittsburgh Pirates
And the San Francisco Giants and those are my favorite teams.
I think people who play baseball will really like this book!
I recommend this book because this book is a great informational book about
Baseball ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I ENJOYED THIS BOOK
I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to others.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"(...)

Barry Bond's Career
Barry Bonds Record Breaker is a great book to tell you a lot about Barry's career in baseball.The book also tells you about Barry's homeruns, like when he beat Mark McGwire's record with 73 homeruns.Also, he got 4 Most Valuable Player Awards, (WOW!), 8 Golden Glove Awards, and is the only player to have over 400 homeruns and stolen bases.I enjoyed learning about Barry's career in baseball. ... Read more

Product Description
As Barry Bonds closes in on Hank Aaron’s record 755 career home runs this season, attention will no doubt be drawn to the long and colorful history of the "long ball" and its role in the development of major league baseball. Long thought to have "saved" baseball from mediocrity, Babe Ruth’s 60-home-run year in 1927 proved that baseball had come along way since 1876, when the most number of home runs by a single player was four in 70 games played. Ruth’s record stood for 34 years, when Roger Maris bested him by one and established a new season record that many thought to be beyond reach. But as year-round training became more the norm and extended players’ careers well into their 30s, the home runs began to pile up, leading to a period in the late 90s and early 00s that saw an explosion of home run records, from Mark McGwire’s astounding 70 blasts in 1998 to Bonds’ current record of 73, set in 2001.

In It’s Outta Here veteran sports writer Bill Gutman not only chronicles the evolution of the home run, but also describes what constitutes a "hitter’s" ball park, how the baseball itself has evolved over the years (addressing the issue of whether or not it has been "juiced" to travel farther), and finally, takes on the controversial allegation that sluggers in recent years have been using performance enhancing drugs to achieve the records that they have. If Bonds does break Aaron’s record, then it will surely trigger questions as to its legitimacy; Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa has already declined one journalist’s invitation to be tested for steroids. Beyond these issues, though, Gutman colorfully dramatizes record-breaking performances and provides team and individual records from baseball’s rich history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good But Flawed
If you're interested in the history of the home run this is the book to read. Mr. Gutman does a fine job of outlining the ebb and flow of home runs through the various baseball eras. He discusses the players, the changing dimensions of the stadiums, the tinkering with the baseball itself, famous home runs, and of course the steroid problem.

My only complaint is there are a fair number of typos in the book and at least one factual error. Gil Hodges was not "just the second player since 1901 to hit four home runs in a game".
Chuck Klein hit four out in one game for the Phillies in 1936, and Pat Seerey hit four out in one game for the White Sox in 1948. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Book on the Greatest
nobody is touching Barry Bonds and the Greatness of his Baseball Genius. this Book explores his great 2001 season and also touches on his hard work deidication and all around greatness as a player. who cares if endorsers pass on him or so called journalist don't like him..etc.. what he does on the field is all the talking and understanding we need. nobody has ever played the game better than him ever. i've always been a fan and always will be. He is the Baddest Cat to ever play Major League Baseball. 5 tool and beyond one of a kind SuperStar. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Baseball Digest, published by Century Publishing on March 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1038 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Controversy to hover over Barry Bonds' pursuit of home run record.(Warm Up Tosses)(baseball records)
Author: John Kuenster
Publication: Baseball Digest (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2005
Publisher: Century Publishing
Volume: 64Issue: 2Page: 19(3)

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from National Catholic Reporter, published by Thomson Gale on August 31, 2007. The length of the article is 591 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Barry Bonds is just like the rest of us.(COLUMNS)
Author: Colman McCarthy
Publication: National Catholic Reporter (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 31, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 43Issue: 35Page: 18(1)

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This digital document is an article from Notable Sports Figures, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 3330 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Takes a close look at the people in sports who have captured attention because of success on the playing field, or controversy off the playing field. This work features biographies on more than 600 people from around the world and throughout history who have had an impact not only on their sport, but also on the society and culture of their times. It also includes not only the record-breakers that dominated and changed their sport, but also the controversial figures that made headlines even apart from athletic events. ... Read more

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This biography of the 1993 National League Most Valuable Player chronicles the life and career of the San Francisco Giant outfielder and includes statistics, highlights, and photographs. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from St. Louis Journalism Review, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2007. The length of the article is 714 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Barry Bonds--hero or villian.(off the record)
Author: John McGuire
Publication: St. Louis Journalism Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 37Issue: 299Page: 6(1)

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