MLB home run king Barry Bonds was one of the most polarizing players in the league’s 113 year history.
Bonds was just as well known for his less-than-approachable demeanor as he was for crushing dingers, but now he’s apologizing for the way he treated fans and the media.
“It’s on me,” he said in an interview with Sports On Earth. “I was a dumbass. I was straight stupid, and I’ll be the first to admit it.”
“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,” he added. “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.”
“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 continued. “When it came to [game prep], 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.”
You can read his entire interview over at Sports On Earth.