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www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/sports/barry-bonds-how-baseball-great-made-final-wish-of/nqgzQ/

 

Barry Bonds hit 762 career home runs, more than any player in baseball history. He hit one more earlier this week, a symbolic blast in honor of one of his biggest fans, a man he never knew.

 

That man was Roger Gill of North Palm Beach. A longtime usher at Roger Dean Stadium, Gill spent the last month of his life acting like a little kid — never mind that he was 74.

 

He was looking forward to what would have been his 10th spring training manning the gate outside the Marlins clubhouse, a job that allowed him to get to know players, coaches and fans.

 

When the Marlins hired Bonds as their hitting coach in December, Gill couldn’t contain his excitement. A lifelong San Francisco Giants fan who attended his first game at the old Polo Grounds (before the team left New York after the 1957 season), he knew he’d be working around his favorite player.

 

By the middle of January, Gill started sorting through his vast collection of Barry Bonds books at home (where a sign at the end of the driveway says: “San Francisco Giants Parking Only”). He was plotting a strategy to work up the nerve to ask the retired slugger to sign one at some point this spring.

 

 

 

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MARISA GILL-BIRCH

 

Barry Bonds plays with Mia Baumer, 2 1/2 year old granddaughter of Roger Gill. Baumer’s mom is Sue Baumer. Photo: Marisa ... Read More

 

 

 

“Sue, which one do you think I should ask him to sign?’’ Gill asked his wife of 37 years.

 

“I don’t think Barry Bonds signs,” Susan Gill replied, alluding to media portrayals of Bonds’ touchy personality.

 

Roger shrugged. “Well, I’m going to try.’’’

 

 

 

IMG_2013_PS.jpgMARISA GILL-BIRCH

 

Plaque at Roger Dean Stadium in honor of the late Roger Gill.

 

 

 

He never got the chance.

 

One day in late January, he started experiencing stomach pain and shortness of breath. It got worse Feb. 1 and he went to the emergency room.

 

Of course, Gill wore a Giants shirt and Marlins jacket to the hospital that day, which caught the attention of at least one doctor.

 

 

 

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MARISA GILL-BIRCH

 

Barry Bonds autographed one of Roger Gill’s favorite baseball books.

 

 

 

“The specialist said, ‘I’m a little confused. You’re wearing a Giants shirt. What’s the Marlins jacket doing on the chair?’ He said, ‘I work for the Marlins during spring training, but I’m really a Giants fan at heart,’’’ Susan recalled.

 

It was a light moment in a dark day. Gill was told he had suffered a heart attack earlier in the week, and his condition deteriorated throughout the day.

 

He died surrounded by his family on Feb. 2.

 

 

 

Roger-Gill_04.jpgMARISA GILL-BIRCH

 

Roger Gill died Feb. 2, weeks before he would have started his 10th season as a security usher outside the Marlins clubhouse at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter.

 

 

 

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When the Marlins opened camp on Feb. 19, a tribute to Gill appeared in The Palm Beach Post’s Insider blog, recounting snapshots of his career as a spring training usher. How his “office” was a metal folding chair outside on the sidewalk between the glass doors to the Marlins offices and the black gate to the players’ clubhouse.

 

How he was usually the first person to arrive each morning, unlocking the doors and making the first pot of coffee. How he was quick to open the office doors for arriving officials and media — even for fans who asked to use the restroom.

 

 

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How he offered advice to fans on the best spots to see players. How he kept a stash of baseballs that had landed near him during batting practice, so he could give them to little kids.

 

How he somehow got away with wearing his Giants jacket over his Marlins shirt on chilly mornings, a blatant violation of Marlins etiquette. How he was on a first-name basis over the years with many Marlins, such as outfielder Cody Ross, pitcher Steve Cishek and manager Fredi Gonzalez.

 

And how, once in a while, the kid in him would come out and he’d snag an autograph for himself.

 

A few days before he died, Gill had arranged his Bonds books at home in preparation for spring training. “He had them all in a pile ready to go,’’ Susan said.

 

A Marlins official, traveling secretary Manny Colon, read the online tribute in The Post and was moved to take action. Colon, one of the many team big-shots on a first-name basis with Gill, reached out to Susan Gill and obtained one of the books from her husband’s collection.

 

Colon said he couldn’t make any promises, but he would ask Bonds to sign it. More than two weeks went by. Susan and her two daughters — Sue Baumer and Marisa Gill-Birch — assumed Bonds was too busy or had forgotten, neither of which would have bothered the family.

 

On Tuesday, Susan received a phone call from one of her late husband’s co-workers, Joan Newark, a receptionist in the Marlins office. A gold plaque in Roger Gill’s honor had recently been installed on the gate where he worked for nine years, a gesture by Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. Newark invited the Gills to stop by that morning to see it.

 

“We saw the plaque and we just broke into tears,’’ Susan said.

 

The Gills figured they would view the plaque with Newark and her husband, Frank, who also worked as an usher, and then go home.

 

They figured wrong.

 

Team President David Samson came by. And former manager Jack McKeon, and trainer Sean Cunningham, and former traveling secretary Bill Beck and others, all sharing their favorite Roger story while standing in the spot where Gill worked every day during spring training.

 

“I always called him ‘Tony’ because I thought he looked like (former baseball manager) Tony LaRussa,’’ McKeon told the family.

 

About 15 minutes later, Colon showed up. He apologized and told the family he was still working on the Bonds autograph. “It might be a few more days,’’ he said. Sue replied, “Oh, don’t worry. Don’t rush it.’’

 

Then, Colon looked over Susan’s shoulders. “Oh,” he said, “here he comes now.”

 

The ladies turned around and saw Barry Bonds approaching them. He smiled as he walked through the gate — Roger Gill’s gate — and gave them each a hug. Susan and her two daughters were nearly speechless. Tears flowed from their eyes.

 

“Hey, you’re going to get all of us crying,” Bonds said with a grin as he held Susan. “This is baseball. There’s no crying in baseball. This is a happy occasion. We are here to celebrate the memory of your husband. I hear he was a great guy.’’

 

Bonds spoke to the family for 15 minutes, signed some photographs and baseballs, and even took time to tickle 2-year-old Mia Baumer, Gill’s granddaughter.

 

“He engaged us. It wasn’t a real quick ‘Hi, how are ya.’ He really spoke from his heart,’’ said Sue Baumer, Mia’s mom.

 

“We kept asking each other, ‘Is this really happening?’’ said Marisa Gill-Birch. “We had hoped to maybe connect with him in some way on paper or in a photo, but for him to take time on what was one of the busiest days of the season, the Marlins playing the Yankees. I was blown away.’’

 

On the drive back to her North Palm Beach home, Susan Gill laughed about what her late husband would have thought about the day they hung out with Barry Bonds in Roger’s honor.

 

“I was the one who kept telling Roger, ‘Oh, he’ll never sign,’’’ Susan said. “I thought, ‘Roger, I know you are having the best laugh. I know you are enjoying this immensely.’’’

 

 

 

That's awesome. I actually remember seeing that guard a few times over the past few seasons. Pretty cool story.

 

 

Holy shit I'm not ashamed to say that story got me choked up. Beautiful story.

 

 

And that's why I love baseball. It's happy, it's scary, it's unnerving, it's romantic, it's funny. It's life. Awesome story.

 

 

He'll do anything to get that parking spot

 

 

Great story and props to Barry.

 

 

No.

 

Bonds is a cheater and an asshole and he has never done nor will he ever do anything right.

 

He is human feces and garbage and can never be a good person because of the things he did in the past that have never been proven in a sport that people pay money to watch the things he did.

 

 

Nobody really claims that Bonds is a terrible person who is incapable of empathy, passion, or doing the right thing.  However, what he did was a disgrace and a serious hit to the integrity of the game, and that should never go unrecognized.

 

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You may not, but many people do. The vitriol toward Bonds is ridiculous. He may have taken steroids, just like almost every other player did. Just like Willie Mays took greenies, just like Hank Aaron took amphetamines. All of our heroes are cheaters and what is the world for? Oh god what happened is this how life is now or

 

 

Nobody really claims that Bonds is a terrible person who is incapable of empathy, passion, or doing the right thing.  However, what he did was a disgrace and a serious hit to the integrity of the game, and that should never go unrecognized.

 

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(Also, if you told me only one person in the history of the world had ever taken steroids, I would guess Ed Hochuli)

 

 

I think many people are just shocked that someone could reach such a pinnacle of greatness while deliberately and persistently cheating. I do not think that anybody genuinely thinks Bonds is a deplorable human in every respect.

 

What about the pinnacle of greatness reached by guys like Aaron and Mays who were doing similar performance enhancing drugs, just before they were deemed against the rules? Don't forget that Barry Bonds was a hall of fame caliber player before he went crazy and hit 73 home runs in a season.

 

 

I have no doubt that Bonds would have gone to the Hall of Fame without steroids, but it is a matter of principle. He knowingly and deliberately broke rules that are considered sacred to the game. The league could have done a better job preventing it, but that is irrelevant to the subject of Bonds, as is mentioning Mays and Aaron, who never broke the rules.

 

You're right that Mays and Aaron never broke the rules, but that's because there weren't rules to break. Still, that's an important distinction that certainly nicks Bonds a few points. However, the assumption again is that he knowingly broke the rules. While the odds are pretty damn high that he did, it could just have easily been his team trainer or his private trainer who provided him with the "illegal" substances without Bonds' knowledge. Knowing Bonds' arrogance, I find it hard to believe that he would have ever asked anyone for help with anything, so I am not completely sold on him asking for and knowingly doing the steroids. However, ignorance of the law blah blah blah.

 

 

What about the pinnacle of greatness reached by guys like Aaron and Mays who were doing similar performance enhancing drugs, just before they were deemed against the rules? Don't forget that Barry Bonds was a hall of fame caliber player before he went crazy and hit 73 home runs in a season.

 

I honestly had no idea Mays or Aaron were taking PED's. That sucks.

 

 

Well now that you think about it Bonds is always constantly talking about his father and Mays, could it be that Mays is the one that encouraged it? Obviously he knew. Like you said Bonds was an incredible hitter before steroids and was on his way to the Hall regardless. I think the same could be said for A-Rod.

 

 

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