Baseball icon Ken Griffey Jr. vowed that he would never play for the New York Yankees because of the way the organization treated his father Ken Griffey Sr., when he played in the Bronx (1982-86). Junior is considered among the two most dynamic Black baseball talents in modern times, along with Barry Bonds, who also shared a story about why he never joined the Yankees during Netflix’s MLB season Opening Day coverage.
Barry Bonds Says Yankees Offered Him Biggest Contract Ever
As the Yankees lambasted the San Francisco Giants 7-0, Bonds shocked his fellow announcing team and the baseball world by revealing that the Yankees and legendary owner George Steinbrenner were ready to make him the highest paid player ever at the time of his free agency. The Pittsburgh Pirates star signed with the Giants, he says, after Steinbrenner only allotted him a few hours to take the money or leave it.
Bonds, whose ego has been a driving force in his rise to MLB home run supremacy, says he didn’t like how George was pressuring him and hung up the phone.
“George isn’t here anymore, so I can tell the truth,” Bonds began.
“By 2 o’clock this afternoon,” Bonds said the stipulation was. “I said, ‘excuse me?”
Barry Bonds Hung up On George Steinbrenner After Being Offered Largest Contract In History
Bonds wasn’t feeling the deadline imposed by George, who had quite the reputation at the time for getting what he wanted, so then “the Giants called me, and I said I’m going home.”
The rest is baseball history. Bonds would go on to smash the all-time home run record and hit 762 bombs amidst accusations of PED use. He also would never win a World Series with the San Francisco Giants, which is something that he almost certainly would have done multiple times with the Yankees.
Fans Reacted To Barry Bonds’ Story About Dissing George Steinbrenner’s New York Yankees
The throwback ’90s story incited plenty of reflection from old school fans who also offered some historical perspective to the story about Steinbrenner and his controversial and legendary reign as Yankees owner.
One fan offered further perspective on how the entire situation went down and why Bonds didn’t mention the exchange with Steinbrenner when he’s told this story in the past.
There were a few wet-behind-the-ears baseball fans who automatically accused Bonds of fabricating the story, but then again, how would they know?
“‘So I can tell the truth’ lol What he means is, ‘George isn’t here anymore, so I can tell people whatever I want about him, and he can’t call me out for lying,’” one netizen quipped.
Fans Marvel At Thought Of Barry Bonds Hitting In Old Yankee Stadium
Others just marveled at the thought of Barry Bonds hitting in the old Yankee Stadium with its favorable dimensions.
“No question Barry has at least 825 if he signed,” said one fan.
“Imagine Bonds with the Little League dimensions of Yankee Stadium’s right field wall. Dude would’ve hit 800-900 HRs,” predicted another fan.
“He would have hit so many more home runs in Yankee Stadium,” another fan insisted.
Netflix Went All Out For Season Opener Debut
Netflix’s venture into live baseball came with all of the bells and whistles you would expect from a streaming app trying to capture audiences that might not be clamoring for Opening Day. Aaron Judge’s four Ks can only satisfy the casual curiosity for a limited time.
There was Jameis Winston who was there to keep everybody loose, act enthusiastic and smile a lot. Elle Duncan has made her way to baseball commentary, moderating the post-game panel. They even grabbed Lauren Shehadi from the MLB Network. Former Giants star Hunter Pence, GOAT Bonds, another 700-homer icon in Albert Pujols and soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee CC Sabathia, who is tied with Bob Gibson for the most wins in baseball history by a Black pitcher with 251.
The names bringing you the game on Netflix are bigger than the players playing in it. For any baseball fan, Barry Bonds’ comments about why he never wore pinstripes was right on time and a nice nugget for Opening Day.
