Barry Bonds Says He Acted ‘Stupid’ During Playing Days

Baseball legend Barry Bonds became known for being several things during his playing days: a symbol of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ return to prominence, hometown hero with the San Francisco Giants, home run king, suspected steroid cheat. However, he was never very well-liked.

Barry Bonds Says He Acted ‘Stupid’ During Playing Days

Bonds gained a longtime reputation of being standoffish with his teammates and condescending to the media. This quickly led to questions on how well he would get along with people when he joined the Miami Marlins as hitting coach this season.

The former left fielder, now 51, seems to have learned a few lessons in humility since retiring in 2007, and recently admitted he wishes he had displayed a different type of behavior as a player.

“It’s on me. I’m to blame for the way I was [portrayed], because I was a dumbass. I was straight stupid, and I’ll be the first to admit it,” Bonds told Sports on Earth’s Terence Moore in comments offered last week.

“I mean, I was just flat-out dumb,” he continued. “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. … 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.”

Bonds also, however, provided some context for his behavior. He stated that as a two-time MVP with the Pirates, he was scapegoated for the team’s repeated postseason failures, something which he naturally said he took personally and was offended by.

Bonds, who is the all-time MLB home run leader with 762, also recalled an incident in San Francisco when he tried to act “nice” at the request of his teammates but soon afterward reached a hitting slump.

“I was like 0-for-21,” he said. “And the first thing those teammates said to me was, ‘We want the old Barry back.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but y’all don’t like the old Barry.’ And they said, ‘We don’t care. We want the old Barry back.’ But the media never knew that was happening, and I was still being cooperative with [reporters] during that stretch, and they were still writing crazy stuff about me, but in that new role, I didn’t care.”

Bonds also added that he has become very passionate about cycling, which he says is easier on his body. The once-fit seven-time NL MVP has discovered “this fitness world of getting lean and thin,” and revealed he dropped about 25 pounds from his playing weight of 240.

The baseball legend also admitted that nobody will probably ever see him as a social animal. “People never really see me out that much,” he said. “When they do, I only like to deal with a small group of people.”

“I’d rather play sports and be active than to really hang out with people,” Bonds added.

PHOTO: JUPITER, FL – FEBRUARY 23: New hitting coach Barry Bonds #25 of the Miami Marlins during a team workout on February 23, 2016 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)