Three veteran major leaguers who at one point were all locks for the Hall, made the news recently.
Barry Bonds
It’s reported that Barry Bonds while he may report with the Giants sometime soon, it won’t be today. According to ESPN:
Bonds, whose workout with the San Francisco Giants on Monday in Los Angeles included taking batting practice and testing his throwing arm, was re-evaluated Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Pedro Gomez reports. But Giants general manager Brian Sabean told ESPN’s Karl Ravech that Bonds will not be activated for Tuesday’s game against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Sabean told Ravech that Bonds will not suit up because Bonds has yet to be medically cleared to run the bases.
I’m going to have to take a *yawn* on this one. When I read the headline, Bonds Will Not Be Activated Tuesday, that tells me nothing new. I’m not getting too terribly excited about hearing that Bonds is not going to play.
Rafael Palmeiro
Palmeiro is being sent home to heal his ankle and knee problems and he is pondering his 2006 plans. Quoth the Oriole management:
”It is in his and the Orioles’ best interests for Palmeiro to stay off the knee as much as possible to allow it to heal completely,” the team said in statement. “At the same time, remaining with the team while unable to play has created an unnecessary distraction for both Palmeiro and the ballclub.”
Translation: “It is in the Orioles best interests that he stay as far away from Camden Yards and not come back. We don’t want him here.”
Ken Griffey Jr.
I truly felt bad when Junior got injured. He’s played his heart out this year. It’s my contention that despite what others might say, he is a legit HOF candidate. He’s had the misfortune of having a few injury-laden years in the autumn in his career which tends to downplay a player’s value (perhaps unfairly). I feel that this season was doing a lot to revive his candidacy among the skeptics.
Griffey and the Reds both say he’ll be back this season. I hope he will. And not just because he’s on my APBA team either.