In 2016, Barry Bonds reflected on his public persona throughout his career in a regretful manner, showing remorse for how he had acted toward teammates, other players and the media.
"It's on me. I'm to blame for the way I was [portrayed], because I was a dumbass," Bonds told Terence Moore of Sports on Earth (via Mike Chiari of Bleacher Report). "I was straight stupid, and I'll be the first to admit it. I mean, I was just flat-out dumb. What can I say?
"I'm not going to try to justify the way I acted toward people. I was stupid. It wasn't an image that I invented on purpose. It actually escalated into that, and then I maintained it. You know what I mean? It was never something that I really ever wanted. No one wants to be treated like that, because I was considered to be a terrible person. You'd have to be insane to want to be treated like that. That makes no sense."
And though he has since worked to repair that perceived image, a story that his former teammate shared reveals that he had a different side, even during his playing days, than the one that was outwardly presented — a side that would seem to counter the belief that "there are 24 teammates, and there's Barry Bonds," as Rick Reilly wrote in 2001 (via Robert Knapel of Bleacher Report).
Former All-Star shortstop Royce Clayton, who was one of the San Francisco Giants' first-round picks in 1988 and played for the franchise from 1991 to 1995, joined the Broadway Podcast Network's "Break a Bat!" podcast with Al Malafronte and recalled a cool story about Bonds' good qualities as a teammate.
"I knew Barry because my brother went to college at ASU with Barry, so I knew him when I was in high school. So I already had a history with Barry," Clayton said. "And there's just a certain way that he shows appreciation, love and respect and that's just who he was. But he treated me like a little brother, took care of me."
Clayton then launched into a story about the 1993 season. The 1988 15th overall pick had struggled throughout his early big league career, batting .216 in his first two seasons in San Francisco despite lofty expectations. Perhaps what Clayton needed was a little competitive nudge, and that's exactly what Bonds provided... in an interesting manner.
"...1992, I struggled a little bit, was up and down, but this was my first full, complete year. And Barry bet me I couldn't hit .280, so I'm just like, yeah, whatever man," Clayton said. "So he's talking trash to me, I'm at .300 after the break, and I'm thinking I'mma roll. I start to dip and he's like, 'man, you starting to fall, better step it up, better step it up.' "
But at the end of the season, Bonds' bet was likely far from the first thing on Clayton's mind. Because the postseason was formatted differently in 1993 — it was the last full season before the league included the League Division Series — the 103-win Giants needed to win their final game of the year against the Dodgers in order to force a playoffs against the 104-58 Braves. That wasn't the case.
"...Unfortunately, we lost a very tough game. We actually got killed by the Dodgers. Tommy Lasorda's going crazy like he won the World Series for knocking us out, but it was very disheartening," Clayton said. "And I'll never forget going into the clubhouse after the game, just being down, and Barry walking up to me and giving me $1,000 and saying, 'good job, kid' and I couldn't believe that was even on the top of his mind that he would remember our bet at that particular moment."
Clayton finished the 1993 season with a .282 average, and a 2-3 effort in that final game had kept him up above the .280 margin that had been at the center of the bet.
"...[He] really encouraged me and he said he was proud of me, to keep my head up, and [that's] just one of those special moments between teammates," Clayton recalled. "But that's just the kind of man Barry is that very few people know about."
Another former Giant, Kevin Frandsen, shared a similar experience about his time as Bonds' teammate.
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