Barry Bonds regrets the way he acted toward media and fans

[Tarik One]

"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," said Bonds, nodding in the visitors' dugout at Turner Field last week, when he was in Atlanta during his first year as the hitting coach for the Miami Marlins. "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.

"Hell, I kick myself now, because I'm getting great press [since being more cooperative], and I could have had a trillion more endorsements, but that wasn't my driving force. The problem was, when I tried to give in a little bit, it never got better. I knew I was in the midst of that image, and I determined at that point that I was never going to get out of it."

"The one thing that I would never, ever reflect on and talk about changing from the past is my ability with what I did out there on the field," Bonds said. "When it came to [preparing for and playing the game], I did that right. But as far as my attitude and the way I handled things, I just didn't do it the right way. There were times during my career when I really did try, but I wasn't given the benefit of the doubt, because I had already created the monster."

Solid introspection there. Of course it's going to be perceived as a calculated attempt to get into the HOF, but it sounds genuine.

[JohnnySic]

Bonds was the man. He was real. I'm glad he didn't act like a cardboard cut-out (like ARod for instance). Pro sports needs more real characters.

[Snarky Narc]

He is more calm now because he is no longer on the roids.

[warriorfan]

Barry Bonds was obviously the son of Bobby Bonds who was a great MLB player. Growing up in southern california and then the bay area, he was a baseball prodigy that was highly recruited from a young age. He was famous and the best from very young, people always wanted to be around him no matter if he was a dick or acted cool. One of his friends from back then said that Barry never really learned how to act, he never learned how to get people to like him and just be chill. It is similar to LeBron and how he acts like a douchebag all the time. They got such heavy praise and such little discipline from such a young age that it screwed up their "humble beginnings" and ability to relate to the majority of people they would end up meeting later in life.

[mlh1981]

I'll take him at his word. People can change. We all probably don't like the way we've acted at times in our past. Sure, there's always a chance that maybe this is HOF posturing, but he's a middle age man now, and perhaps he's simply looking back and wishing he had done some things differently.