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In Bay Area, Barry Bonds remains a giant
Hometown fans are often more tolerant of an athlete whose alleged behavior on or off the field has drawn the ire of others.
from the June 1, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 4
"Sophistication and fandom are mutually exclusive," says Ray Ratto, a sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. "It's something you do for fun, and when you go to a ballpark or a football game, you don't give it the golf clap."
Support for Bonds, he says, is a matter of concentric circles: The farther away from the ballpark, the less he is liked.
Inside the stadium, he's the star. Wearing a Bonds jersey, Trevor Tauzer from Davis, Calif., likened fellow fans to the die-hard Republicans who still defend the Iraq war decision because of their loyalty to the president; with Bonds it's loyalty to the team. "There's been all sorts of rumors and speculations and leaks to the press, but from my standpoint, if he doesn't belong on the field for these reasons the league should have him taken off," he says. "Until that time, I'll stand behind him as a Giants fan."
The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that Bonds told a grand jury he never knowingly took steroids. But Bonds has generally remained mum on doping allegations.
"I'm a fan of his," says Greg Bradford of Sacramento, but "if he didn't do it, he should just say it straight out."
Others Californians are less equivocal.
"I'm a fan of him as an athlete, but I'm not a fan of his behavior with the steroid controversy," says Paul Rosenberry of El Dorado Hills, Calif. "He probably has not represented the sport as well as he could have. He had a chance to be the greatest athlete in baseball history."
But many say the controversy is irrelevant.
"Steroids aren't going to give him the hand-eye coordination to hit the ball," says Addie Martin of San Francisco. She admits that if he played for a different team, she'd view the case with more of a crooked eye. "Fans are fickle; we like our hometown boys."
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