The pairing of Don Mattingly and Barry Bonds seemed like a reenactment of “The Odd Couple” from the very beginning. Reports now circulating indicate that there was a story within a story about the departure of Bonds as the hitting coach of the Miami Marlins.
You had to know from the start that the marriage of Barry Bonds as the hitting coach of the Miami Marlins to their already in place manager, Don Mattingly, would ultimately end with a parting of the ways.
Sometime during the summer, divorce papers were filed in court and Don Mattingly gets to keep the house while Bonds goes looking for other digs. Depending on who you believe, Bonds was either fired or resigned. But the real story is just now beginning to circulate.
It’s being widely reported that Don Mattingly issued one of those “one of us has to go” ultimatums to the Marlins that challenged the work ethic of Bonds. Anyone who has followed the careers of both men, and Mattingly especially, should not be surprised by this development.
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Because even when he was with the Yankees as a player, he was known as a carry your lunch pail to work every day type of guy. And though he was never blessed with a boatload of raw physical talent, he got the most out of what he had by working diligently at his craft. And If not for chronic back pain that forced a premature retirement, he would be a serious candidate for the Baseball Hall Of Fame.
Bonds on the other hand inherited all of the talent his dad Bobby Bonds had and then some. And if that wasn’t enough for Barry, he decided to add a little more “talent” on his own. And even back in his playing days, Barry Bonds was the “Prima Donna” (and the Giants let him get away with it) who would be the last one in the door and the first one out.
Mattingly’s Issues With Bonds Began In April
The disenchantment of Mattingly with Bonds had its origins almost immediately after Bonds was hired in April of this year. Mattingly being Mattingly couched his disappointment trying hard to be, shall we say, “accommodating”. Here’s how he put it to the San Francisco Chronicle back then,
"“(Bonds is a) work in progress from a standpoint of the amount of time and preparation. You see Frankie still doing a lot of the prep work. Barry is still getting into the routine of the ugly side of coaching: being here at 1 and studying video, studying on the plane and you don’t get a chance to watch movies, things like that.“It just depends how good you want to be as a coach. If you want to be a really good coach, you’ve got to do the work.”"
Not exactly a ringing endorsement. But here’s the thing. It’s not as though Barry Bonds failed as a hitting instructor. Actually, from all appearances he may have even been quite good at it . For instance, here’s Brandon Crawford speaking about Barry Bonds when he was a spring training instructor for the Giants in 2014. And this is a ringing endorsement……..
"“Everything I heard him talk about this morning [regarded] keeping your swing as simple as possible. And he explains it in the simplest ways. It’s cool to just listen to him. The big thing he was telling me was that my hands are fast enough to get to an inside pitch. I don’t need to cheat or use my body or shoulders to get to that pitch.”"
Does Bonds Have A Future In Baseball
So maybe, it just boils down to the fact that Barry Bonds is not the kind of guy that Don Mattingly would want to sit down and have a beer with. And vice versa. So, let it be.
The question now though is will Bonds fit in elsewhere. He’s not likely to change and his work ethic, or lack thereof, will always be of his own making.
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He’ll always be a distraction wherever he goes, but it’s possible that’s something another team can live with if they get the return that Brandon Crawford describes. If it was me, I’d take a pass. But more than likely, there’ll be another Miami Marlins type team out there who, desperate at the time to make a splash, will take the plunge and say “I do” at the altar.