When the heck is Barry Bonds doing a signing?

[Bigdaddy]

Barry's actually been in the news lately as the former Marlins President David Samson has dished on his tenure with the club.

A couple of quotes from the article:

• "He was ineffective, completely. He would sleep in the clubhouse. He would not pay attention during games. He did not work hard. It was a complete disaster."
• “It was the worst interview I’ve ever been a part of,” said Samson. “Bonds was an absolute pain in the ass about pay because he knew he had the job.”
• "It was all about Barry. We had to do so many special things for him in terms of how we traveled, the hotel and the suite and the food, the money. It was just an absolute nightmare,”

I'm guessing we won't see Barry sitting behind a table greeting fans any time soon.

[tazdmb]

When he was with Marlins, they had a mandatory signing session at Spring Training. Ticket prices (free to season ticket holders) were insane and he was actually giving his nice autograph on whatever piece you brought. That is the last public signing that I know of. I know he did (at least) one public appearance with GTSM after he retired.

[Joecoco]

I've long since reconciled myself to high ticket prices. I remember paying 30 dollars to see Mickey Mantle in 1990 at Sturbridge Massachusetts. Ticket prices were $30, and that was a huge deal! Yeesh, that makes me sound old....

[Joecoco]

I've long since reconciled myself to high ticket prices. I remember paying 30 dollars to see Mickey Mantle in 1990 at Sturbridge Massachusetts. Ticket prices were $30, and that was a huge deal! Yeesh, that makes me sound old....

[mr2686]

Originally Posted by Joecoco

I've long since reconciled myself to high ticket prices. I remember paying 30 dollars to see Mickey Mantle in 1990 at Sturbridge Massachusetts. Ticket prices were $30, and that was a huge deal! Yeesh, that makes me sound old....

Well, $30 was a big deal when everyone else was 12-15. I remember it wasn't long after that Mantle went to $40. Still, glad to pay it to get him on the things I needed...wish I would have got more.

[theshleps]

My son batboyed for team South Africa at the WBC a few years back. Barry came into the dugout (maybe to see Lee Smith) and Noah got him to pose. It took along time to get it signed. Noah worked at times in Scottdale clubhouse and new another guy who did got it signed for him. Signed God bless, Barry Bonds with the God bless going through the Barry Bonds. Typically he would personalize with the recipients name going through the sig as people often remove personalizations and then sell. I only have the picture on my computer before it was signed. We actually had good luck with Barry (getting him 3x in about 30 tries). He was the first autograph my son even got calling him over when he was on the field when Noah was just a fan in the field. Sosa was a total pain. Barry often turned up down but he was consistently not a nice guy. Sosa would be your best friend if the camera was on and sh_t on you once they turned it off
barrynoah.jpg

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by theshleps

My son batboyed for team South Africa at the WBC a few years back. Barry came into the dugout (maybe to see Lee Smith) and Noah got him to pose. It took along time to get it signed. Noah worked at times in Scottdale clubhouse and new another guy who did got it signed for him. Signed God bless, Barry Bonds with the God bless going through the Barry Bonds. Typically he would personalize with the recipients name going through the sig as people often remove personalizations and then sell. I only have the picture on my computer before it was signed. We actually had good luck with Barry (getting him 3x in about 30 tries). He was the first autograph my son even got calling him over when he was on the field when Noah was just a fan in the field. Sosa was a total pain. Barry often turned up down but he was consistently not a nice guy. Sosa would be your best friend if the camera was on and sh_t on you once they turned it off
Attachment 457472

Great photo!

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

"It was all about Barry. We had to do so many special things for him in terms of how we traveled, the hotel and the suite and the food, the money. It was just an absolute nightmare,”

From the linked story : "During his interview, Samson recalled that Bonds was combative and refused to accept less than $1.5 million—well above the typical salary for MLB hitting coaches."

So they hired a guy who had no experience as a hitting coach to be their hitting coach, paid that guy will above what would be considered "typical", and it didn't work out very well? Bummer.

There is an easy way to pay somebody the typical salary for their position, hire somebody typical, the Marlins obviously wanted Bonds badly enough to agree to his terms, complaining about it later is just sour grapes in my book.



I have a feeling that the business managements for some of the bands I have worked for would describe my interviews with them in a similar fashion. I once interviewed for a position with a band that might have a stadium tour this summer, during the interview I got into three separate arguments with one of the band managers. Combative goes both ways. They didn't offer me the gig, and I would have upped my salary demands if they had.

Doug "pitch to Barry" Goodman

[Bigdaddy]

In the article, it also states that:

"Samson explained on Thursday that he didn't want to hire Bonds, saying he was “not worth the squeeze.” But, he was overruled by former owner Jeffrey Loria."

So the president of the club was overruled by the owner. Doesn't sound like sour grapes to me, more like 'We saw it coming but the orders were to march on.' We all have a boss.

[Seven]

It's a shame, I have some items I would love to get signed by Barry, I hope he does a signing soon.

He very well could be one of those guys that mellows out when they get older, and decides to be more generous with the fans. I've read of plenty of bad experiences people had with players like Mickey Mantle, when they were active, and then Mantle turned around and became a pretty prolific signer. Hopefully Bonds will do the same.

I think it would do well to help at least recover his image a little bit, if he started signing things. Regardless of what sort of assistance with PED's he had on the field, watching him play was a sight to see, and something we certainly won't see again.

[egri]

Originally Posted by Seven

It's a shame, I have some items I would love to get signed by Barry, I hope he does a signing soon.

He very well could be one of those guys that mellows out when they get older, and decides to be more generous with the fans. I've read of plenty of bad experiences people had with players like Mickey Mantle, when they were active, and then Mantle turned around and became a pretty prolific signer. Hopefully Bonds will do the same.

I think it would do well to help at least recover his image a little bit, if he started signing things. Regardless of what sort of assistance with PED's he had on the field, watching him play was a sight to see, and something we certainly won't see again.

I'd like to see him change as well, and I agree that it would help mend his image considerably, but he's 57, and has been retired for 14 years. I think at this point he's set in his ways.

[keithsky]

His Godfather Willie Mays probably told him how to deal with the public and be rude and that is what he is doing not to disappoint Mays

[Seven]

Originally Posted by keithsky

His Godfather Willie Mays probably told him how to deal with the public and that is what he is doing not to disappoint.

I'm not too familiar with Mays as a public figure, how was he signing back during the show circuits of the 80's and 90's? Wasn't Mays a pretty prolific signer?

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

Barry's actually been in the news lately as the former Marlins President David Samson has dished on his tenure with the club.

A couple of quotes from the article:

• "He was ineffective, completely. He would sleep in the clubhouse. He would not pay attention during games. He did not work hard. It was a complete disaster."
• “It was the worst interview I’ve ever been a part of,” said Samson. “Bonds was an absolute pain in the ass about pay because he knew he had the job.”
• "It was all about Barry. We had to do so many special things for him in terms of how we traveled, the hotel and the suite and the food, the money. It was just an absolute nightmare,”

I'm guessing we won't see Barry sitting behind a table greeting fans any time soon.

Yelich tells a different story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgj66qwaw9w