Sagittarius
After reaching free agency after the 1992 season, he moved to West Coast and signed a long term contract the San Fransisco Giants. As the son of former major leaguer Bobby Bonds, he was joining the franchise his Godfather Willie Mays became a legend with.
His amazing offensive numbers continued when he joined with the Giants in 1993. In his first year with the Giants, he won his third NL MVP. The amazing thing about Bonds numbers that is often ignored is the amount of times that pitchers would not give him a good pitch to swing at.
With pitchers pitching around Bonds and that the fact that he was a selective hitter, this led to a high number of walks (known as bases on balls) which in effect accounted for his always high On Base Percentage (OBP).
In the decade between 1990 to 2000, Barry Bonds was a slugger with his bat. In this time period, he never had slugging percentage (SLG) fall below the .514 line, and 6 out of these 10 years he slugged above .600. These were terrific numbers representative of a Hall of Fame career.
But, in 1998 the NL slugging pair of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were the talk of baseball parks around America. They were hitting home runs at a record pace, and two were gaining popularity and they were on a pace to beat Roger Marris's all time season record of 61 home runs in a season.
COMMENTS (3)
RATE THIS STORY
It's that time again. I think that it's a good bet...
Through my humanitarian work in Central Africa, I learned that refugee children from...
Comments
Re: Bonds Away?
By bballhappenings, February 25, 2008 at 04:57I hope he does not have to go to Japan to get a job. Like you say, at 42 he can put fannies in the seat and still can contribute. But, the fans of San Fransisco were the one place where they really supported him, where as the baseball community (including commissioner Bud Selig) wanted Bonds to go away. Yes, its early in spring, but this time of year most teams have their roster pretty much settled. If an injury happens, that would increase Bonds chances.
Re: Bonds Away?
By bradkemp, February 25, 2008 at 11:38i'm sorry to disagree David, but the chances of Bonds playing in Japan are about as likely as the D-Rays winning the East. You are right, San Fran was home for many years, and yes he was respected there, but do you not think for one second that if dealt to another team which will happen, that fans wont except him? You can boo Barry all you want but, people would be lying if they were to say they wouldn't want him on their team. You gotta be pretty good for 45,000 fans to boo you while on the road. it's what makes this game great. Gives fans something to complain about. But the second the he were to put on your teams uniform, you would magically become a Barry fan! Again we are only in week one of the spring and no rosters are no where near being final yet, so Bonds has nothing but time to find a new home! Oh ya, he's never failed a drug test neither!
Re: Bonds Away?
By bradkemp, February 24, 2008 at 16:38I don't think Barry Bonds is being blackball by anybody here! Let's be honest, just because he isn't in camp with a team right now doesn't meen he isn't going to play this year! If Barry were still with the giants he most likely wouldn't be at camp yet anyways! Talk steriods all ya want, the bottom line is that Bonds at 42 can still put people in the stands. Chances are he wont play in the national league, i would actually bet on it!. Let's just be patient, we're only a week into camp. Barry will sign and untill he fails a drug test, he 's innocent right?