Chat with Ralph Wiley

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Lance (Carlsbad, CA)


Hey RDub, did Willie Mays actually catch a 95 mph fastball with his bare hands on a bet? Never heard that one! Details, por favor?PS: I think you are who Eric Neel wants to be when he grows up.

Ralph Wiley
  (2:59 PM)


Lance, all the amazing things which can't be quantified by numbers that I put in the piece about Bonds and Mays, I have on good authority that Mays actually did 'em all! The only question is was it actually a 95 mph pitch he caught bare-handed. It was as hard as a certain gun-armed NL outfielder of the '50s,d '60s and '70s could throw off the mound. He bet Mays he coukldn't catch such a pitch bare-handed. Mays caught it. I dig Eric Neel's stuff, and wish he would try more things; he knows muchlot about the craft; if you see any similarities in style, compliment is to me.

Craig Rosen, LA, CA


I have thought a lot about a player's impact on a sport in relation to the notion of changing the game. I think Barry Bonds really defines this notion. The game as it has always been played suddenly changed for him, he gets intentionally walked with the bases loaded in an extremely close game (and in many other situations where before Bonds an intentional pass was never considered.) The mark of Bonds is that the game will go back to the way it was after he leaves. Sometimes a special athlete comes along and a game changes, in the way they play the position say Johnny Unitas or Lawrence Taylor, but the argument could be made that another superior QB or linebacker would've come along and forceed the same adjustement to the game, at some point the game itself was going to change due to modern atheltes, etc... But after Barry, the old rules of when to intentionally walk someone and when never to, will return. That seems to be the real mark of changing the game. When you see it change back. Do you agree?

Ralph Wiley
  (3:03 PM)


Not to sound like Mr. Spock here, but, Fascinating, Captain Craig. Yes, when you "change ball," you have reached the epitome of athletic historic proportions here in America; I had not before thought about your point about the game then changing back, once that player retires; much more common is the person changing the game, and the game remaining changed in that image, a la Ruth or Jordan. Again, fascinating. . .

Mike (Iowa City, IA)


Ralph, Do you believe the way people speak of Bonds (baseball skills, not personality), do you think we will be saying the same about A-Rod in say the next ten years?

Ralph Wiley
  (3:09 PM)


A-Rod is the great "Classic" ballplayer of this era, a player who could average 50 home runs a year for the next ten years, and eventually overwhelm the cumulative home run totals of Bonds, though for right now it's hard enough for me to get my spinning head around 755, and the fact that a man can and will hit more than 755 in a career. Bonds will do that, but then, one day, A-Rod will supplant BB. But will A-Rod have a 1.000 slugging perfenctage? 198 walks in a season. 73 home runs in a season. Eight HRs in a single playoff? A-Rod/Bonds will be future version of Aaron/ Ruth. . .maybe. . .

Chris Brody, SF


Do you think it's fair to compare players from different generations. I have no doubt Barry Bonds is the best baseball player I have seen, but I never saw Willie Mays, Ted Willaims, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, etc. Bonds numbers are as good as any you can put him up against (especially 500/500), but I have heard many people say Mays didn't play for the numbers because he could have had many more SBs and Candlestick robbed him of 100 HRs. What's your take?

Ralph Wiley
  (3:14 PM)


I saw Mays, but was too young to really appreciate it; Mays was so complete; we are basically talking about BB's greatness as a hitter; he won some Gold Gloves, fielded his position well, was not blessed with a cannon arm; but Mays, in the field, was a revelation; if I'm not mistaken, he still has recorded more outfield putouts than anyone in the history of the game. Mays on the bases was a revelation; and don't forget, Mays played when Gibson had a 1.12 ERA for an entire season, vs. Koufax, Drysdale, Fergie Jenkins, Seaver, Carlton, etc. Even BB himself says no one could be better than Mays, not as a Total Gamer, as we've seen. Yet the Red Sox passed on him. Beyond belief. Maybe that, and not the Bambino, is their Curse.

Jim (NJ)


Hi Ralph, I read your article on Bonds today and have a question. I don't know him but it seems to me like the media does make him out to be a bad guy when really I've never heard of anything he's done that I consider morally wrong. If Bonds and Kent don't get along, Bonds is made out ot be the bad guy even though Kent is the type of person who lies to his team because he broke his wrist doing something he shouldn't have been doing. But what I do know is that at times Bonds is downright surly to the media. Isn't it possible that the media dislikes him not because he has an independent personality but because he's frequently rude to them? And isn't that just a natural human reaction rather than a bias?

Ralph Wiley
  (3:19 PM)


Yes, I think it is. Barry is rather like Ted Williams in that he coems off as rude. Compare and contrast their eventual treatment in the media , which was not in Ted Williams control, of course. I bet HE would've signed Willie Mays, a**hole or not. He knew it's not a personality contest (luckily for him and BB). It's baseball.

B-Lo, NY


Why have journalists hated on Ted Williams (when he was active) and BB? Aren't journalists supposed to be JOURNALISTS - objective, clear eyed, etc? Or is the nature of sports (and baseball in particular) TIED to the subjective emotional responses that certain atheletes and performances create? Always look forward to your columns!

Ralph Wiley
  (3:24 PM)


You've put it in a nutshell, B-Lo. The nature of THE APPRECIATION of sports is tied to the subjective emotional responses that certain athletes and performances create. Now nix on that, or we may get arrested for not dumbing it down enough.

Marty Bolt (Houston, Texas)


R-Dubya, Barry needs a better nickname. I've always thought Barry the Basher or Barry the Bomber were good ones....what would you nickname him?M-BoltH-Town, Tejas

Ralph Wiley
  (3:27 PM)


Don't know about nicknames for Barry, Marty, that's Boom Berman's department, but I DO know that little kicker you gave to my own nickname is the sickest one yet!

John (Santa Barbara)


Ralph, would you become comissioner and save baseball from the used car salesmen running the travesty?

Ralph Wiley
  (3:29 PM)


Yes John, I would. Will you arrange it?

Ruben R. (Los Angeles, CA)


Hello Mr. Wiley, I enjoy your work. Do you know Tony Gwynn? If so, I have a strange request. Think you can talk him into uttering the immortal words from Beverly Hills Cop, "We're not gonna fall for the banana in the tailpipe." On air. That thought runs through my head each time I hear him calling a game. It's all in good fun, thanks for the help.

Ralph Wiley
  (3:33 PM)


If it's all in good fun, Reuben, maybe that explains why I'm laughing. . .

Dinger (Wilmington, DE)


Of all your interviews you have done in your days as a writer, who was the most interesting athlete youve ever interviewed?

Ralph Wiley
  (3:37 PM)


Just impossible to say; too many good characters, zany personalities, complex situations and people; even to limit it to baseball would still be impossible. Well, it could be done, but it would take a whole book. Name any pro team in any big-time pro sport except hockey (and Glen Sather, Wayne Gretzky, Grant Fuhr, and Clint Malachurck, the goalie who had his carotid artery opened up by a skate, leading to the low-mask attachment goalies wear today), and I'm sure I'd have four or five unforgettable characters off it

Mike in Texas


Since you cover most of the major sports, I figured you might be able to give some insight on which of the four big sports (Baseball, Basketball, Football or Hockey) is going to flourish in the near future, mush like the NBA did in the mid 80s to the late 90s. Baseball may be in a golden era right now, actually, but what do you think?

Ralph Wiley
  (3:39 PM)


The NFL rules. Having said that, today we are trying to stay on baseball, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Henry Aaron and BB.

Rob


I don't think BB will finish with more than 755 homeruns. Where do you think he'll finish?

Ralph Wiley
  (3:45 PM)


This is part of the mystery. Ffor whatever reason, Bonds is ambivalent on breaking Aaron's 755 record. Maybe he too thinks it was harder to do what Aaron did. I think over time, his own craftsmanship will win out; he is more dedicated to that than he is to any other loyalty or ideology or any pseudo-intellectual exercise; if he goes to the AL to DH, it will be a relative simple matter for him to hit 755t; but, if he doesn't hit 715 while being an everday player, then it's not the same thing as what Aaron did. It might not be the same anyway. I think Barry can hit 788 bombs. Maybe even 800, if things break right.

Vince (Raleigh, NC)


Ok, Quick Question, Who's it gonna be? White Sox or Twins??

Ralph Wiley
  (3:46 PM)


Great race. The White Sox. They've suffered enough.

Jim, Madison


Why does the entire Bond's conversation by sports writers and talk show guys so pointedly ignore that Bond's has gone from stick figure to linebacker physique, with 3 times the sized head he had as a Pirate? How can we possibly take his admitted hitting prowess seriously in a game so reliant on the tradition of it's records until we can confirm this is not wholly steroid induced. Need a nickname? How about B-Roid.

Ralph Wiley
  (3:47 PM)


Because steroids cannot help you hit wicked ungodly major league breaking stuff; if they could, then Ben Johnson would be playing center for the Blue Jays.

Eric (ep) Maquoketa, Iowa


Barry Bonds is arguably one of the best baseball players and athletes of all time. However, I was cruising around on ESPN and found a poll that asked who was the best hitter ever? In my opinion it was Stan Musial. The guy has better career numbers than such players as Mickey Mantle but still continually gets over looked by the media as being one of the greats because of the small market that he played in. Had he played in New York I think it would be much a much different story. Who do you think is the best hitter and or player ever? Thanks.

Ralph Wiley
  (3:52 PM)


Love Stan the Man the way Stansfield in "The Professional" loved Beethoven. Musial only combination Classic/Frontier ballplayer I know of; may have to do with where and when he played. St. Louis was for years the westernmost outpost. Stan was a GREAT hitter; decent man, too. The only thing is. . .did you know that Stan the Man is the all-time runner-up in Total Bases, and the leader in TB bases, Aaron, has over 12 more MILES is base-path distance than Stan? Sheeeeeeesh!No wonder Bonds is ambivalent.

CHRIS DALE RUSSELLVILLE,AR


I AM TAKING MY 9 YEAR OLD OUT OF SCHOOL ON THE 22 and 23 OF SEPTEMBER TO SEE BB PLAY. WE GONNA DRIVE 500 MILES ONE WAY TO SEE THE SHOW. YEA I THINK IT IS WORTH IT SOMEDAY MY SON AARON WILL TOO.

Ralph Wiley
  (3:53 PM)


Chris makes the real point of this article I wrote; it isn't about who writers like, or dislike; it's about fathers and sons, and passing it on; Bonds will be an icon to those whose childhoods he encompassed.

Josh (Miami)


Ralph, that was a cowardly side step on the steriod question. His ability to hit a wicked big league bender might be naturall, but not his ability to slap it 400 plus over the gate. The steriod/HGH question must be answered, and writers should question about the body armor too. Sure makes it easier to get those walks when you get so close to the plate that there is no inside half for a pitcher to hit.

Ralph Wiley
  (3:58 PM)


I thought it was a pretty neat sidestep myself, Josh; the supplement/body armor issue is this generation. Every generation has one; Ruth, just as an example, didn't play against Japanese, Latin American, or black ballplayers; actually, the period between 1947 and whenever DH/steroid era locked in (late '70s) is probably purest in a competitive sense. Sorry guys, but I can't disqualifiy BB's marks on those grounds.

Huntington Beach, Ca


RW, the display BB put on in the weeks prior to his Pop's death, by far surpass the calling his shot, the miracle on ice, the '69 Mets or Killanova's trimuph over G-town. In short BB is sic.

Ralph Wiley
  (3:59 PM)


Totally dude.

Dave, New York City


Mr Wiley- I love your article, and personally feel that Bonds has ever been misrepresented by a media (for racial reasons? because he'd rather just play ball and live his life than cater to beat writers? who knows...but they sure don't like him, that's obvious). His last 3+ seasons are easily the best on record, and he doesn't seem to be slowing down.That said, I don't quite understand how it is that you see Ty Cobb "as a gregarious, lovable, hail-fellow-well-met, life-of-the-party, come-on-in-and-set-a-spell sort." I mean, you can't get any further from this. The guy was a total #$%@and^, and everyone knew it then as now. He may have recognized for his indisputable talent, but I think only SOME Tigers fans at the time actually liked him. If anything, he seems to me the pioneer of those ballplayers portrayed as "distant, somehow unapproachable, grim, brusque, gruff, terse, downright ornery, lacking social graces, unwilling to bow to either prior convention or custom, and having attained from sheer implacable nature." Am I missing something here?

Ralph Wiley
  (4:05 PM)


Welly, maybe in hindsight, Cobb was a combo Classic/Frontier player, but he was definitely treated as a Classic player by the media; it wasn't until years later that his pathological and criminal behaviors were examined -- after he was dead, in fact. He made more money out of Coca-Cola than anyone, and was certainly not portrayed as being odd or sullen in the vast majority of media; remember, it's by how these players are perceived that we categorize them, not how they actually are or were. . .

Hank (Studio City, CA)


Just seeing the emotion he had spilling over for his departed dad, the heart palpitations, how he kisses his kid after a dinger. It's plain to see that Bonds is a man of great passion inside who just doesn't respect media types who never played the game passing themselves off as experts. Barry does with a baseball what Sinatra did with song. Hit the high long notes better than anyone else. Old Blue Eyes never got along with the media either. More people disliked him for his tough guy image than appreciated his music. Barry is the same way. Worship him for his talent and reserve your personality analysis for friends and people you actually know. For greatness is not your best friend, it's the worst enemy you're jealous of.

Ralph Wiley
  (4:08 PM)


Bingo, Hank. Give that man a cigar.

Ryan, Kansas City


RW, what do you think the Cardinals chances are this year. Will they be able to catch the Cubbies.

Ralph Wiley
  (4:09 PM)


Ryan, it's Baseball 101. The Cardinals have the better everyday lineup. The Cubs have the better starting pitching. The bullpens are equally flammable. So. . .you tell me.

Rey (San Francsico, CA)


top 5 greatest baseball players in history?

Ralph Wiley
  (4:12 PM)


Players, or hitters? Players, not much question, Ruth and Mays, or Mays and Ruth, as you like it. The five best hitters for me would be in no order Bonds, Ruth, Mays, Aaron and tough call between Ted Williams and Musial; I'd say Stanley Frank.

Stoop (S. Florida)


I think the Cards had better keep an eye on the Astros...

Ralph Wiley
  (4:13 PM)


Good point. Love Oswalt.

Ricky, Chambersburg, PA


Good journalism or writing in general is to me the ability to explain all matters or events great and large in a way that its magnitude can be understood by folks today and tomorrow. That was your Bonds article to me. Thanks so much for taking the time to write it.

Ralph Wiley
  (4:15 PM)


Thanks Ricky. That one was for my ego, folks. Maybe Barry Bonds is rubbing off! Hey. Thought it's not supposed to rub off?

Trent ,Phoenix


Are the D-backs going to wim the wild card?

Ralph Wiley
  (4:16 PM)


Nope. They're not going to win it either. Sorry Trent, that was cheap, low, totally digusting. And my reply was no better.

Wes (Dallas)


B squared is a better nickname than BB, or B2.

Ralph Wiley
  (4:17 PM)


Except there's no keyboard character for B squared. or B to the 2nd power. . .thus, BB

The Splendid Splintsicle


I was better than Stan! I missed my prime years as an ace pilot in not one, but two wars! Give me some props!

Ralph Wiley
  (4:18 PM)


Get your head on straight first, Big Guy.

BigReub, SF, CA


Bonds...6th MVP, no question. Your thoughts?

Ralph Wiley
  (4:20 PM)


His team, a very unremarkable team without him, is 11 games in front. To me, that's case closed. Albert Pujol is having a stastically great year; he is surrounded by good pop in the lineup and has 100 more official ABs than BB. Will BB actually win MVP? Not really, but I think he deserves it.

Matt Denver


I know you won't answer but... Ralph, when was the last time you wrote a feature article on a white or Caucasian athlete?

Ralph Wiley
  (4:23 PM)


Go around the corner and ask John Elway. I've been singing John's praises since he was an 18-year-old freshman @ Stanford. I covered him for the Oakland Tribune. He was a miraculous player. He set the standard for QB play, and I was there to see the start of it. Better than Joe Montana. Now the standard John set is being approached by Steve McNair. Am I not supposed to notice this because Steve McNair is the black son of sharecroppers?Later for you, dude.

Mike, Des Moines, Iowa


Bonds is a fantastic player and all, but Ruth is the best. When Barry wins twenty games as a pitcher and hits the way he does then he will be the best ever. Your thoughts on that?

Ralph Wiley
  (4:24 PM)


Ruth is the most unique player in history.

Asher, Jersey City, New Jersey


How do you think McGwire ranks among the greatest hitters in Baseball History

Ralph Wiley
  (4:37 PM)


Good question. I think steroid question is more for McGwire, Canseco, maybe Sosa than for Barry Bonds. McGwire, for his era, was more in the Rog Maris, Ralph Kiner, Eddie Mathews, Harmon Killer, Ted Klu, Mike Schmidt mold. Now you talk about growing late. Was in the spring clubber with him once, chatting up one of the Cardinals. He came striding by. Huge. And the stories about some of those plane trips. Put it this way. None of these guys ends up being your day at the beach. Because we basically never let them off, or rest. We demand so much, and they cannot possibly satisfy the demand, so they cut us off, try to make themselevs productive, if not happy, then we call 'em jerks; hey, everybody in their job becomes a jerk. It's sort of like being the President.

Rob (Berkeley, CA)


Despite the geography, I'm not a particular Giants fan (raised to root for the Twins, guys with interesting ideas about probity both on and off the field), but I've acquired an enormous respect for Bonds -- he reminds me oddly of Tom Kelly: two guys who know their place, keep to it, and don't have time for much else (Bonds, of course, knows his place is much bigger). Yet as much as I respect Bonds, I'd second his apparent ambivalence about breaking Aaron's record: the name glaringly missing from espn.com's recent all-time underrated list. Has there ever been a more anonymous career record holder? TURNER Field? How about stocking the folklore with a few Aaron stories before the day comes when we can use Bonds or A-Rod as a feeble excuse for our never wanting to admit that he did what he did when he did it? (Not so easy to fob Aaron's struggles off on the sins of bygone, bad-old-days the way the baseball establishment does with Robinson; and no enlightened, paternalist Rickey in Aaron's story, either.)

Ralph Wiley
  (4:39 PM)


IF (when?) Bonds approaches Hammer's, I'll likely write more about Aaron than BB.

Bill - NY


Recently, when the Giants were in town, a reporter from my local papers went to ask Barry about playing with a home town kid who just got a call up from triple A. Barry's response: "I don't do those interviews. Go ask his fucking friends." Regardless of how great he is (and he is probably one of the 3 greatest hitters ever) this is the kind of thing he will, and should, always be remembered for. Just as Cobb should always be thought of as a racist thug, Rose should always be thought of as a gambler, and Henderson should be thought of as self centered, Bonds should be remembered for his almost pathelogical dislike and disrespect for the media and fans. Thoughts?

Ralph Wiley
  (4:41 PM)


Well, aisde from the fact that the story is second-hand and possible apocryphal, I can't argue with your conclusion. There will be the small matter of those 788 HRs.

Mikey, Boston


It seems like Ruth is still a real grudge for a lot of people...it seems like there's an ongoing racial defense, or need to define the greatest player ever, and that Ruth's somehow impenetrable. What a shame- Aaron, Mays, Ruth, Bonds, Cobb, Henderson....they're all great, and all so different. Can't we just all get along?

Ralph Wiley
  (4:44 PM)


I guess not, Mikey, but you're right, they ARE all great. And they did it. All we can do is sit up here and talk about it. Like we have any sort of real clue about what it is.

Jamie,Rochester NY


I've always believed that in the sport of baseball, you have to look at numbers. Numbers do not lie! Do you agree? Also, going by that notion, I believe that people need to start to embracing Barry Bonds. He may be a Frontier Ballplayer, but he is a great one. With his all-around numbers, there is no possible way that we cannot say that this man is the best player ever. R-Dub, tell me what you think!

Ralph Wiley
  (4:52 PM)


I think BB is the best of his 20-year prime. No player. no COMPLETE player, with the exceptions of Ruth and Mays, can take it further than that. Having said that, I think, really, deep down, that Bonds is the synthesis of Ruth and Aaron, as a hitter. You cannot be better, not at this point.

Shawn (Denver)


There is alot of uproar recently about the "rookie" definition with regard to the players coming over to MLB from Japan. To me, this smacks of a bit of hypocrisy given the fact that one of the great "rookies" of all time was Jackie Robinson, a man who had experience in the Negro Leagues prior to entering MLB. I think on some level this reduces the level of the Negro Leagues, when I believe they were likely the equal of MLB at the time in terms of talent. Ralph, I am interested in your thoughts on this.

Ralph Wiley
  (4:53 PM)


Interesting. I think a rookie is one in his first full big-league year, period, with no other qualifiers.

Ron (Hayward, CA)


Yahoo, Ralph! Ride'm cowboy!Best BBonds story I've ever read!!!No interview yet?A young, white Giants beat reporter from a small local newspaper here (SF Bay Area) went to all of BBonds interviews--and never asked a question. One day he and BBonds saw each other in a walkway. Just as they passed, Barry turned and said "You're the only reporter around here so far who has never asked me a dumb question. Let's go talk."Barry gave an exclusive 40 minute interview--which broke a big story--and annoyed all of the Rick Reilly-type big-name reporters. Later the young guy wrote a BBonds book.Yahoo, Ralph!

Ralph Wiley
  (5:04 PM)


Yes, I think I know the young man you mean; Josh Suchon of the Oakland Tribune;guess the great circle of Life is beginning to close in on R-Dub here. The story sounds right, and the Oakland Babe Ruth people tell me Josh did a great job covering them when they won a couple of national titles, then he moved on to the Giants, where his rectitude was noticed by Barry. Very instructive. of course, when you're on the beat, you don't have the luxury of not asking dumb question; and any question, any well-intended question, is meant to clarify a certain ignorance. In the words of Will Rogers, Everybody is ignorant -- only on different subjects. You'd just like to think that Baseball writers wouldn't be exactly innocent of baseball. BB may often be a jerk, but he didn't invent the position, he's just helping us fill it! Oh well, either way, nice going by Josh S. of the Oak Trib!

Highlight (Illtown, CA)


Barry's new nickname:Barry the Ill

Ralph Wiley
  (5:06 PM)


Not bad. OK. One more.

John, Philly,PA


Former Die Hard Steeler fan here. Now a Titan fan soley by watching amazing McNair rip my team apart so many times. Future hall of famer?

Ralph Wiley
  (5:09 PM)


John just segued us right into next week's column. Good night baseball, wherever you are. See you real soon, pilgrims!

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