For much of his ball-playing career, Barry Bonds has received assorted criticism for everything from his interactions with teammates to his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. While Bonds has been a hard athlete to cheer for at times, he is still a human being, and proved so recently. Reports indicate that Bonds has promised to pay all future college bills for the children of Giants fan Bryan Stow. Since Stow’s assault at Dodger Stadium on Opening Day, he’s been in a medically-induced coma and remains in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital.
What makes this all the more a self-less gesture is the fact that Bonds actually made this pledge a month ago when he visited Stow in a Southern California hospital. The only reason it became public was that Stow’s attorney Thomas Girardi made reference to it recently.
The reason it came up was in light of the family’s lawsuit against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The family has said if they win the lawsuit they will either return the donations to people or they will pass them along to charity. However, they mentioned that “the gift of a college of education is something they treasure and will keep.”
The Giants and the San Francisco community have done a lot for Stow in recent weeks. Tim Lincecum donated $25,000 to the Stow family fund. A month ago, Charlie Sheen raised $20,000 for the Stow family at his show in San Francisco.