We always knew the relationship between former Giants legend Barry Bonds and Major League Baseball was far from amicable, but Selig has more than doubled down on those feelings in his upcoming book "For The Good of the Game".
In an excerpt published by Sports Illustrated on Tuesday, Selig was not shy about his displeasure for Bonds and the time frame between July 27, 2007, when Bonds connected on career home run number 754, to August 7, when he hammered his 22nd home run of the season and the 756th of his career.
"Bonds was on the verge of breaking Henry Aaron's record for career home runs, and I was doing what a commissioner of a sports league is supposed to do," Selig said. "I was hopscotching around the country to be in attendance when the self-absorbed slugger hit the record homer."
Selig presided over baseball as its embattled commissioner from 1992 until he retired in 2015, a period that saw rampant steroid use across baseball, especially from many of its star players. While Selig does take responsibility for not doing more to stand in the way of performance-enhancing drug use, he pulled zero punches when describing his emotions during the two-week period where Bonds and his chase for the record was the epicenter of the sports world.
In addition to arrogance, Selig also lamented the contrast between Bonds and Hank Aaron, who Barry was in the process of chasing down for the all-time home run record.
"Along the way, I had a lot of time to think about the differences between Barry Bonds, who simply wasn't likable, and Henry Aaron, who had been such a giant on the field and now was the same way off the field, carrying himself with as much poise as humility," Selig opined." I have called myself a friend of Henry's since 1958 and burst with pride every time I speak about him."
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Selig went on to talk about about the scene in San Diego after Bonds went to the opposite field at Petco Park to get home run number 755 and tied the MLB record:
I trudged up to a box high atop the stadium the next night. I didn't mind being by myself. I thought I'd experienced every emotion possible at a ballpark. I'd been nervous a lot and angry more often than I'd like to admit. I'd chain-smoked and I'd felt the level of peacefulness that my friends talk about after long hikes at a national park. I'd been exhilarated and had moments of pure joy. But this took me to a place I'd never been before, and I'll admit it.
I was thinking about that and a million other things as I watched Bonds drive a pitch from the Padres' Clay Hensley into the seats in left field in San Diego, setting off a celebration as he tied Henry's record.
I didn't go to the clubhouse to congratulate him afterward. I just couldn't bring myself to look him in the eyes and act happy about what he'd done. I don't exactly have a poker face.
Selig also noted that Aaron had been hesitant about doing some kind of video tribute for Bonds when he set the record, Selig was the one who convinced him to do it "regardless of the circumstance".
The former commissioner was reflective in the final paragraphs of the available excerpt:
"Steroids became a bigger issue than any of us imagined when we were watching Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in the summer of 1998," said the former Commissioner. "But through my work with owners-eventually with cooperation from the players union, which was kicking and screaming all the way-we ended up with baseball having the toughest steroid policy in sports. I couldn't be prouder as I look back. The same is true for the economic overhaul of the sport during my tenure.
