Posted on 09/17/2005 7:19:55 PM PDT by SpringheelJack
SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds used to commit any spare time before games to lifting weights, working meticulously to build up his leg strength for long nights of standing in left field and on the basepaths following his many walks.
His bum right knee no longer allows it. He is carrying a few extra pounds around his middle and vows to spend the offseason bringing his playing weight down from more than 228 pounds to about 200.
"I'm going to be skinny," said Bonds, who weighed 185 pounds as a rookie in 1986 but has not been near 200 for many years.
Such a drop is hard to imagine for the imposing Bonds, who steps into the batter's box with his body armor and proceeds to crowd the plate. But doctors have told the San Francisco slugger he must lose weight to protect his fragile knee, which required three surgeries since Jan. 31 and sidelined him for most of eight months.
Considering the way Bonds has been aching after his first four starts, he is likely to listen....
This has been a trying year for the 41-year-old Bonds, who hit career home run No. 704 in the Giants' 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. He didn't start Saturday -- his customary practice for day games after night games -- though he was available to pinch hit.
Bonds still defends his powerful swing against anybody else's in the game, though he acknowledges he no longer might be able to hit homers at the same rate he has in recent years.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
I guess not.
Damn right he's going to be skinny. The MAN took his juice away.
No more juice for Barry.
How obvious does it have to get before they strike his records from the books?
MLB would have to get some integrity for that to happen.
It's become as much of a joke as 'travelball' (the NBA).
Get skinny? Who could have predicted that Bonds would all of a sudden get skinny and hit way less homers?
Obvious is correct. You don't get skinny by not lifting. You get skinny by aerobic exercise. If he can't lift because of his knee, he can't do aerobics.
Oh my, he'll be but a memory. Did anyone mention that he hit another one into McCovey Cove today?
We'll see the real Dr. Jekyll next season ... enough of his Mr. Hyde routine.
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