Barry Bonds, dazed and confused

October 25th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

It’s been a long and winding road dealing with Barry Bonds this season, what with the record, and the bluster, and Marc Ecko. (Can you believe Marc Ecko got prominently involved like that? Marc Ecko!) Frankly, these past two months — in which the Giants let Bonds know he wouldn’t be returning next year — have been refreshing in just how Barry-free they’ve been. It’s been all about baseball, and Paul Byrd’s HGH Hits for Jesus, and that’s been a lot of fun.

But now … no, Barry seems to be a little confused. Can we get this man some fish oil?

Barry Bonds has apparently not given up on the idea of playing for the San Francisco Giants in 2008.

The all-time home run record holder, who was told by the Giants he would not be re-signed this offseason, said Wednesday night that there was still a chance he could return to the team, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Speaking at an event at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club on Wednesday evening, Bonds was asked about his departure from the Giants.

There’s still time,” he said. “Things might change.”

Bonds did not answer a direct question as to whether he would take a hefty pay cut to play for the Giants, but said he felt he could still do a job for the team.

“I told (Giants president) Peter Magowan that if I’m a part-time player, I’m still better than your full-time player, and it’s a wise idea to keep me,” he said.

Bonds sounded bitter about his departure from San Francisco. After hearing KGO radio host Ray Taliaferro run through a list of his achievements, he was asked: “Did you really do all of that, Barry?”

“I did, and then I got fired,” Bonds replied. “Shame on me, huh?”

“They call it McCovey Cove, but I’ve rewritten it a little bit,” he added, referring to the short right-field porch at AT&T Park, where he hit so many of his home runs.

Uh, what? Dude, they let you go. Thanks for the memories. Don’t let the door hit your big ol’ ass on the way out. That whole deal. And now you’re trying to get back in the fold?

Bonds is still a great hitter, and any team that can offer him a spot next year — even if he has to play in the outfield and not DH — would do well drop a quick $10 million for his mercenary services. But it seems Barry is less excited about leaving San Fransisco than any team might be about having him. The cynicism-free half of my brain says that’s just Barry being comfortable where he lives; the other half says that Barry seems a bit scared to leave that blindly admiring cocoon.