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Bonds Pulls Out of World Baseball Classic
Barry Bonds pulled out of the U.S. team for the World Baseball Classic on Monday, opting to skip the March tournament to focus on the next baseball season.
"After much thought and discussion with my family I have decided to remove myself from the upcoming World Baseball Classic roster," the San Francisco Giants slugger said on his Web site, weeks after pledging to play in the 16-nation event.
"After the announcement, I received a lot of criticism as well as concern from fans and my family and friends," the injury-prone 41-year-old added.
"The obvious objections were about my health and whether or not I would be ready to play. In the end, I decided that I can't take any chances that might jeopardize my season."
Bonds missed most of last season after undergoing knee surgery but returned toward the end of the campaign to move his career home run total to 708, six behind Babe Ruth in the all time standings and within reach of leader Hank Aaron (755).
Some of Major League Baseball's biggest stars have agreed to participate in tournament, including future Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens, third baseman Alex Rodriguez and New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter.
The event features major league players in international competition for the first time with the final to be played in San Diego on March 20.
Baseball powers United States, Cuba, Japan and South Korea will be joined by Taiwan, China, Puerto Rico, Panama, Mexico, Canada, the Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Australia, Italy and South Africa.
Despite hitting a record 73 home runs in one season five years ago, Bonds has struggled with injuries since and only played 14 times last season.
"Currently, I'm deep into my offseason workouts, doing a wide variety of things from swimming to biking to running the hills around my house," he added on barrybonds.com.
"I lift and run six days a week. I feel great and am happy with my conditioning at this point.
"I need to be in the best physical shape for the 2006 season - in what could possibly be my last season," the seven-time Most Valuable Player award winner wrote.
"I assure you, my decision was not an easy one but based on my circumstances, I had to put my health and my team first."
Source: AP
"After much thought and discussion with my family I have decided to remove myself from the upcoming World Baseball Classic roster," the San Francisco Giants slugger said on his Web site, weeks after pledging to play in the 16-nation event.
"After the announcement, I received a lot of criticism as well as concern from fans and my family and friends," the injury-prone 41-year-old added.
"The obvious objections were about my health and whether or not I would be ready to play. In the end, I decided that I can't take any chances that might jeopardize my season."
Bonds missed most of last season after undergoing knee surgery but returned toward the end of the campaign to move his career home run total to 708, six behind Babe Ruth in the all time standings and within reach of leader Hank Aaron (755).
Some of Major League Baseball's biggest stars have agreed to participate in tournament, including future Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens, third baseman Alex Rodriguez and New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter.
The event features major league players in international competition for the first time with the final to be played in San Diego on March 20.
Baseball powers United States, Cuba, Japan and South Korea will be joined by Taiwan, China, Puerto Rico, Panama, Mexico, Canada, the Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Australia, Italy and South Africa.
Despite hitting a record 73 home runs in one season five years ago, Bonds has struggled with injuries since and only played 14 times last season.
"Currently, I'm deep into my offseason workouts, doing a wide variety of things from swimming to biking to running the hills around my house," he added on barrybonds.com.
"I lift and run six days a week. I feel great and am happy with my conditioning at this point.
"I need to be in the best physical shape for the 2006 season - in what could possibly be my last season," the seven-time Most Valuable Player award winner wrote.
"I assure you, my decision was not an easy one but based on my circumstances, I had to put my health and my team first."
Source: AP