Comedian Bill Burr comes to the defense of controversial SF Giants slugger

While former SF Giants slugger and home run king Barry Bonds is beloved in San Francisco, he is controversial in the rest of the country. The comedian Bill Burr, a Boston sports fan, recently came to Barry's defense in an interview on KNBR.

Comedian Bill Burr comes to the defense of controversial SF Giants slugger

Burr was on KNBR promoting his upcoming stand up shows at the San Jose Civic Center and host Brian Murphy asked Burr about his thoughts on Barry Bonds. Burr is an avid sports fan and is famous for his comedic takes on why steroids were actually good for baseball and a legendary 10 minute rant against the city of Philadelphia and their lack of sports championships at the time. His answer on Bonds did not disappoint and you can watch it here.

When asked about Bonds, Burr says that he was a victim of the steroid era. He basically argued that Bonds was great with or without steroids and that he was swept up in the steroid craze of the time which led to so many players of that era using performance enhancing drugs.

Burr did say the one thing he did not like about Bonds and other players of the time was the arm gear he would wear on his front arm when he went up to the plate. He referred to it as a medieval manner like a knight carrying a sword.

In the clip, they do not get into whether Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame, a debate that will continue until someday he is let in. The fact that Bonds is not allowed in while so many other players who almost certainly used steroids in their career are in the Hall just exposes the hypocrisy of the institution.

It is doubtful that Burr's defense of Barry, no matter how popular of a comedian he is, will sway the Hall of Fame that much. But perhaps over time as a new generation of baseball writers replaces the old, there will be a reappraisal of Bonds and the era he played in which will lead to him being in the Hall of Fame.