LR:
What are your thoughts on Barry Bonds and the inevitable fact that he’ll break Hank Aaron’s homerun record?
G:
Well, I think he’s going to break it but it might take a little longer than he would hope because the pitchers are really pitching him tough now. And if the first base is open they’ll probably walk him.
He had a pretty good swing earlier in April, in May it kind of left him a little bit but I think he’s getting it back. You know, he could hit three or four homeruns in a week and reach the record pretty quick.
LR:
What about the media hype Bonds vs. Aaron?
G:
If somebody is breaking your record that you’ve had for years, I don’t believe you want to go and shake his hand and tell him congratulations. It’s a record that you’ve worked hard for and you want it to remain. There is controversy about how Barry’s going to get the record but every time he’s been tested he’s been innocent so you have to believe he really is innocent.
I’m pulling for Barry; I played with his daddy. His dad was one of my best friends. I knew Barry when he was a kid growing up in San Francisco.
LR:
What kind of guy is Barry?
G:
Some days he’s real moody and he wouldn’t even shake your hand, but the next day he’ll give you a hug around the neck. Earlier this year I was out there and he gave me the old dead fish handshake – he probably had something on his mind – and the next month I was out there and he gave me a big hug like I was a long-lost cousin. He’s been a decent guy to me, so I’ve got no complaints. I’m sure he’s being pulled in many ways with being asked to do so many things. I think he just wants to play ball and get it over with and be with his friends and family afterwards.
LR:
Do you think Hank Aaron holds any grudge? Does Bonds breaking his record make him irrelevant?
G:
When anybody’s going for a record that has been up there so long, like Rose going for DiMaggio’s 56th consecutive hit streak [Rose reached 44 games with a consecutive hit] everybody didn’t like Rose because they loved DiMaggio. So when Roger Maris hit 61 homeruns and broke Babe Ruth’s record [60, set in 1927], everybody hated Roger. However, Roger is one of the nicest, family men that you’ll ever find. He was just doing a job and trying to do it to the best of his ability. And when Aaron broke Ruth’s record of 715, so many people didn’t like him because he was breaking a record. Barry is just getting some of the same stuff that Aaron got, that Roger Maris got, that Rose got. Fans just don’t want records to be broken.
LR:
It’s like you are going against history.
G:
Yeah, exactly. But Barry’s been a very pleasant guy to me and like I said, his dad was one of my best friends, he played right field with me, and so I’ve known Barry since he was a kid. He comes from a great athletic family. His mother was a great athlete, and his dad was and he’s got some brothers who are also very good athletes. And if things go as people have talked about, and I think they’re right, Alex Rodriguez will probably break Bond’s record. And you know they don’t like Rodriguez right now [chuckles] and that’s because he is doing so well and people sometimes are a little jealous of him. Rodriguez hasn’t done anything to anybody but play ball hard. He might just be one of the guys that wants to stay to himself.
LR:
Is Sammy Sosa a Hall of Fame Baseball Player?
G:
Oh yeah, I would say so. 600 homeruns. He used a corked bat and that’s always going to follow him. I know a lot of people who used corked bats. I know that I would hand them to teammates when I was pitching. I’d say here, this one will hit it further.
LR:
So you believe that Sosa’s playing ability is worthy of the Hall of Fame?
G:
Yeah, he’s hit 6 plus homeruns a season several times, so yeah. He might not get in on the first, second or third ballot, but he’ll get there. You take McGuire. Now, McGuire only has a little over 1,000 hits. He doesn’t have the numbers to get in there now. I think Sosa probably has over 2000 hits, and when you talk about Hall of Farmers, you look at the numbers. You have to look at the wins for a pitcher; you know, you can get some pitchers in there who’ve only has 200/250 win but they did it in 10 years. But you have some of us who played 20 years or better who got 300. It goes by the numbers. You take Gibson, he didn’t win 300, but boy he had some pretty good years there, didn’t he? Don’t forget Jim Bunning who won 100 games in each league. It took a long time for him to get in there. But you got some guys who are just waiting in line and as soon as they retire, in five years, that’s it, they’ll be in.
LR:
Jason Schmidt with the Dodgers. I believe he signed as a free agent, $47 million on a three year contract, and now he has a season-ending shoulder surgery. What does that do to his mind? I mean, if he’s going to come back does he have a long fight ahead?
G:
Well, back when I played you were very, very concerned about it because you didn’t have a guaranteed contract. They could release you and that was it. Sometimes, you could negotiate and hope you get paid through the season, but you didn’t have a contract for the next year.
When I went for my 300th win, O’Brien [Seattle general manager] said come on down to Spring Break training and see if you make the club. I got there, made the club opening day pitcher, but my contract got renewed every thirty days. And this was in ’82. Schmidt has a guaranteed contract, he’s going to get his money - that’s the risk you take. But I think he’ll work hard enough, he’ll be back in by the middle of next year, and maybe he’s able to overcome this surgery and go on to have a great career. As a pitcher, that’s what I hope for him. It’s a big risk!
LR:
So, back in 1982, when got the 300th win, you were basically a month-to-month pitcher?
G:
That’s right. And the next year, they gave me a guaranteed contract.
Comments