Posted on 10/07/2001 1:43:16 PM PDT by Sabertooth
If Barry Bonds is such a distraction, how come he pulled so many teams so far, in 1990, '91, '92, '93, '97, '98, 2000, 2001…? He comes and plays; in only one full season has he played fewer than 140 games. As my esteemed colleague Jim Caple detailed so well, he is the best left fielder -- ever. He should have five MVPs after this season (Terry Pendleton said as much after '91) and could have six, he has been a Gold Glover, he stole more than 400 bases, he's heading for Willie Mays, who is the greatest player I ever saw, if you'll pardon that since Mays is also my all-time favorite player. It will take awhile for us to decide which record Bonds set is more remarkable -- the home runs or slugging percentage, or the home runs with walks and slugging percentage, not to mention the first .500 on-base percentage since 1957.
To those who obsess on his persona, this man never demanded to stay in a separate hotel, and in his free-agent year when the home run record meant millions in salary and endorsements, never once did he stray from his primary goal of winning. Never once did he start swinging at pitches two inches off the plate looking for the cheap home run. He took, and waited, seemingly hitting every fifth strike out of the park, taking his walks and scoring the runs that kept the Giants in the race in a year in which two of their best starting pitchers had off years, one of the generation's best closers had bad stretches, and the team struggled to fill the void that Ellis Burks' departure created.
Wanna round out the foursome on the road? Get someone other than Barry Bonds. Wanna win? Get Barry. Peter Magowan did before the 1993 season, and it was the greatest free-agent signing ever made, because along with 72 and the other numbers came the best ballpark ever built.
I have to agree with you. I wouldn't be surrised to see someone hit 100 in the near future. This is what I call "Television Ball." Nobody really cares about the game anymore. Just get the money.
(1) League expansion, which has diluted talent. This means teams have fewer good pitchers and more weak pitchers.
(2) A smaller strike zone and a lower mound give batters an advantage over the struggling pitchers.
(3) A juiced ball travels farther, leading to new "longest ball" records in many parks.
(4) New "cozy" ball parks have shorter fences.
(5) Denver gets a franchise in thin air.
(6) Steroids are prevalent and favor batters over pitchers.
(7) Players know where their bread is buttered and frequently swing for the fences knowing league management wants offense and favors the long ball. Hit 40 home runs and check out free agency...
I know Bonds had a great year. I just can't sort out it's significance.
At least he didn't stop with that 72 sitting there significantly for all time.
We'll always wonder how Williams would have done if he had played baseball instead of fighting wars during his prime years.
The cozy parks are a return to the dimensions of the 20s and 30s, before the cookie-cutter multi-use monstrosities of the 60s and 70s.
Also, the strike zone is bigger this year. They're finally calling the high strike after years of absence.
Now, about Barry...
Bonds has changed his game, and it started back in '98 when he got injured and saw his playing time really limited for the first time. He stopped stealing so many bases, so he adjusted his hitting approach and his power numbers started to climb (though his BA dropped to .262). If you look at his atbats to home runs ratio in '98 (just over 10 ab per hr), it's already in the Ruth/McGwire/Sosa range. But no one besides Giants fans noticed, because he'd missed a third of the season. Now look at his numbers for '99. His BA is up, and his ab/hr ratio is now below 10. Starting to see a trend? He's getting better at it.
This year, his BA is up another 15 to 20 points, and he's hitting a homer every 6.7 atbats. An improvement of about three less atbats per homer. But that's about the same as the improvement between his '97 and '98 seasons, when he went from just over 13 ab/hr to just over 10.
We just need to recognize that Bonds is one of the uniquely gifted athletes of our time. Go see him play next year when he comes to town. Impress your future grandkids with the tale.
Check out Bonds' Career Stats. They're current through this morning, and the numbers don't lie.
God Bless the Splendid Splinter. He flew numerous sorties in WWII AND Korea, missing a total of 5 years.
Dimaggio, Musial, and Mays all missed significant time to military service also, but none more than Teddy Ballgame.
McGwire hit 5 homers in his last 3 games in 1998. That's a pace of...270 homers a year!
Sosa had a three-homer game recently. That's a pace of 486 homers a year. BTW, Sosa ended the season with 64 homers.
The Mariners ended the season with 116 wins, tying the 1906 Cubs for most wins in a season, but the Cubs did it in a shorter season. Should the Mariners' record be entered into the record books with an asterisk?
No, I don't think so. The record is for wins in a season.
The Cubs of '06 will still have the record for best winning percentage.
Or should they have an asterisk for accomplishing that in a shorter season?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
