Dubbed as ‘Strangers on a Prison Bus’ Treatment, Controversial Giants’ Legend Barry Bonds Once Faced Backlash From Teammates for Aloof Demeanor

Despite making and breaking numerous records in MLB, San Francisco Giants legend Barry Bonds remains one of the most popular players negatively. Throughout his lengthy career on the diamond, and even after retiring, Bonds maintained a substantial notoriety that kept him aloof from fans, teammates, and media. Hence, when the time came for the biggest win of his career, the former Giants star did not have any teammates on his side. 

Barry won every possible honor but failed to win the most special of all, i.e., the World Series. However, a few years before retiring, he had come quite close to it in 2002. By his fault or not, the Giants lost the World Series against the LA Angels despite reaching game seven and leading in the first half. Notably, the unfriendly Giants star did not hold back his emotions and proved why he was among the most despised baseball players. For the same reason, Bonds also faced a brutal backlash from all his teammates. 

Barry Bonds could have been friendly, at least to his teammates

If, at moments, Barry had remained even a little kind to his team, he would not have been alone as the team advanced to the World Series. After months of hard work, the Giants reached the World Series. In the first half of it, the Giants were leading 2-1 making everyone think they were about to win. However, that changed as the games progressed. And the SF Giants brutally lost in the seventh game of the 2002 Fall Classic. Moments after, when reporters approached Bonds in the locker, he said to them, “Back off or I’ll snap!” which then became the headline the next day of an article about him by Rick Reilly.

Read More: 70 Baseball Fans Once Paid a Whopping $7500 Each for “At Least Five Minutes” With Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.

 Famous author John Bloom mentioned parts in Barry Bonds’ biography. Reilly said, “Hell, maybe it (Giants losing in the World Series) was his teammates’ revenge. After all, in the postseason, he’d treated them like strangers on a prison bus. When they whipped the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League pennant, no champagne sprayed him. And during the World Series Game 3 introductions, he was the only player on the Giants to jog straight to his spot without greeting the line of teammates….Suddenly, it seemed, they were paying back their cleanup hitter.” 

It might be intentional or not by the rest of the team. But nobody, even Barry Bonds, probably deserved what happened to them back in 2002’s World Series.

Every record of Bonds remains controversial to this day!

Bonds unknowingly taking steroids and his association with the BALCO Scandal had put him in the spotlight of people trying to make baseball free of performance-enhancing drugs. Therefore, neither his 762 home runs nor his being the sole achiever of 500/500 matters. It is because many believe that while making these records, Bonds was hooked up to steroids. Thereby forever throwing his Hall of Fame contention down the drain. 

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What did you think of Bonds’ teammates’ reaction toward him? Let us know in the comments below!