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Former Miami Marlins president David
Samson called Barry Bonds’ one-year tenure as the club’s hitting
coach in 2016 a “complete disaster.”
Samson explained Thursday during an
appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (via Audacy’s Jesse
Pantuosco) that Bonds was pushed on the front office by former owner
Jeffrey Loria and proceeded to put no effort into the role.
“He had fun as a hitting coach
because he would hang out with [Giancarlo] Stanton and give Stanton
some pointers. But he was ineffective, completely,” Samson said. “He would sleep in the clubhouse. He would not pay attention during
games. He did not work hard. It was a complete disaster.”
The former Marlins president, who also
worked under Loria with the Montreal Expos, noted the problems with
Bonds started during the initial interview, with MLB’s all-time home
run leader making a steadfast demand for a $1.5 million per year
contract.
“It was the worst interview I’ve ever
been a part of,” Samson said. “Bonds was an absolute pain in the
ass about pay because he knew he had the job.”
He added the moment that stands out
most is when Bonds stormed out of the clubhouse while second baseman
Dee Strange-Gordon was apologizing to the team after receiving an 80-game
suspension following a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.
“Barry Bonds, in the middle of the
clubhouse, he’s standing toward the backdoor, he screams, ‘This is
crap!’ and he walks out,” Samson said on Le Batard’s show. “I
look at [general manager] Mike Hill and I say, ‘Are you kidding me?’
Like Barry Bonds just stormed out as though he can’t believe one of
the players did steroids? Is that really possible?”
Bonds hasn’t been elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame despite his worthy numbers in large part
because of suspicion he used PEDs, though he
never tested positive in an official MLB test.
Samson concluded “no one got better” during the 14-time All-Star’s year as hitting coach.
The seven-time NL MVP retired as a
player in 2007 after 22 seasons, seven with the Pittsburgh Pirates
and 15 with the San Francisco Giants. He broke Hank Aaron’s home run
record in August 2007 and finished his career with 762 homers.
