Revisiting the idea of a Barry Bonds statue

Last month, I called a Kickstarter for Barry Bonds statue silly. It's getting to the end of the Kickstarter, and after corresponding with one of the creators, I'd like to revisit the idea.

First, the simplest of positions: I think there should be a Barry Bonds statue outside AT&T Park. He was the park. He defined the new park from the moment they broke ground. Heck, let's revisit that day:

Bonds, resplendent in a sharp beige suit, bore no resemblance to the superstar whose often surly behavior has been the bane of sportswriters coast to coast. "I'm fired up! This looks like a Giants-Dodgers game here today," he said. "If I could hug everyone today, I would. This is wonderful!"

He then hit some baseballs toward the Bay, though he could only get some bounce-ins. Eventually, he would ... lemme check ... yeah, eventually would hit a few real baseballs into the Bay. Bonds was Pac Bell Park. He was SBC Park. He was AT&T Park. Get Franklin Templeton to spring for the naming rights, and we can shorten Franklin Templeton Global Bonds Fund Park to just Bonds Park. They can call it whatever they want on TV.

There should be a statue of Bonds there, at least. The folks behind the Kickstarter agree. My initial post was a little too People's Front of Judea vs. Judean People's Front.

My initial response was that the Giants should pay for the danged thing themselves, and it shouldn't take a grassroots movement to make them realize that. They should also retire his number, then release an official statement that calls the Hall of Fame a "dilapidated roadside attraction run by bozos and drunks," and then they should insist that Bonds is a Hall of Famer in all official publications and media guides. But we'll start with the statue.

The idea behind the statue Kickstarter isn't necessarily to build a statue that will live away from the ballpark. The organizers realize that they're not going to twist thumbs and get the Giants to put something they don't want on private land, so there are no illusions of what the Kickstarter will or won't accomplish.

The larger goal is to make the Giants realize that people are behind this idea. Don't shy away, Giants. There are enough people interested in this statue that they'll build it themselves if they have to, but everyone would prefer it to be at AT&T Park, close to the statue of his godfather.

I'm for that. Unambiguously for that. So I apologize for the earlier snark, and direct you to a fundraiser tomorrow (with oysters! free oysters and free beer!) at the Mission Rock Resort. In addition to that, the Kickstarter is still going for another six days, and while they've raised $40,000, they're still over $19,000 away.

I don't care if the statue comes from a Kickstarter or the Giants. I just want a Barry Bonds statue, because unlike the other statues (which I revere and appreciate), I can tell my daughters that I saw that guy, and he was the best I'd ever seen. If this Kickstarter is the best way to get the Giants to reconsider the idea, then godspeed, Kickstarter.

There's a new commissioner now, and he shouldn't be as touchy when it comes to steroids. The new guy wasn't the one who had an idea of what was going on and then pretended like he was Captain Renault when he sent goons in to smash everything. The new guy shouldn't care as much about Barry Bonds, and the Giants might not have to worry so much about feather-ruffling.

For the record, I'm in favor of a design that's more of a perpetual motion machine doing this pirouette for eternity:

But I'm not picky. Build the danged statue, one way or the other.