This man is unreal. His last 3 seasons rank in the top 10 all-time greatest seasons ever. To have an OBP of over .500....To have a SLG % of over .740....To have an OPS of 1.267. To hit game winning home runs, after game winning home runs. As big of an ass that Barry is, his accomplishments are the stuff of legends. We are watching the greatest player in the last 50 years. The MVP race shouldn't even be close, because there is no one more valuable and more productive than Barry. I'm still shaking my head. A guy for the last 3 years who hits a home run ever 7.6 AB's. And he's been hitting them when it counts with a regularity that should be reserve for fiction.
OK, about Barry.... Yeah he's got the stats. Statistically he is arguably better than the Babe. But Babe Ruth is the epitome of the game. Its gonna take A LOT for him to overcome the idealization that people derive from the sultan of swat - not just 3 good consistent seasons. He's gonna have to stop a bunch of crap before people take him seriously. I mean, look at all the controversy that went into Roger Maris' record. "Should he get the *; should he not get the *? " "It would be a crime to break Babe's record" etc. He's a great ball player, but because of bad press, he's not as well remembered as he should be. And right about now that's the same category I am ready to stick Barry Bonds in. Good, but not worth remembering too much 25 years from now. If he'd stop starting stuff, maybe I'd have a higher opinion of him. But then again, I'm just a girl in this world. What would I know?
sure as a person he's a prick but that won't change people's opinion of him as a ball-player now or 25 years from now when he'll still be known as one of the greatest ever. i mean the hall of fame has got a pretty significant amount of inductees that were alot worse people than bonds. also it's not just "3 good consistent seasons", it's 3 of the greatest years ever by any player. even if these last 3 years never occured he'd still be a hall of famer.
A couple of years ago, I actually think the guy atually has a very nice side, one that I witnessed first hand. I saw him at their hotel walk over to the young bother of a friend of mine in a wheelchair and talk to him in the lobby for about 10 minutes before telling him "I want you to come to the game tonight, its on me." He took his name as well as family's and then went up to his room I presume. About 5 minutes later he came back into the lobby and said, "I may not be able to meet you after b/c we leave right after the game, but I wanted to give you this," and handed him a signed jersey. It made me think for a minute about the pressures these guys face night in and night out. They are human, and if they are not interested in answering the same questions night in and night out, that is fine. I would much rather deal with that than these pathetic interviews Biggio gives night in night out about it being 162 game season... you can't get too caught up in one game... we just didn't pull thru tonight... we just have to come back and try to get one tomorrow, and the other bull **** answers we have heard from Craig for the last 10+ years. PS- One of the reasons I think Bonds & Griffey both seem to have a different relationship with the media is a result of them being children of athletes and both seeing their fathers talked about in a negative manner in the press.
I like Barry because he actually has a personality. He's certainly not your average throw back baseball personality, but he seems more real and genuine than any other players in the game. Now, he might be hard to get along with judging by his relationship with Jeff Kent, but at least he is honest to the fans. However, I don't think he'll ever eclipse The Sultan of Swats. Sure, Bonds could eclipse his home run record and even (gasp) Hank Aaron's record, but he is of a different generation. To me personally, Babe was the epitome of baseball back when the game was young. Bonds might eventually have the records, and he'll certainly be a legend, but he'll never be the pioneer that Babe was.
I cannot stand the guy BUT he should be MVP this year. The guy can flat out hit and since I was never able to see Babe Ruth play I would have to say he is the best power hitter I have ever seen. Not only can he hit the long ball but the guy has alot of patience at the plate and will take a walk unlike alot of power hitters who will swing at pitches out of the strike zone.
How did the original post even compare Bonds with Ruth, other than to say Bonds has had some of the best years in the history of baseball?? I'm a big proponent of the idea that Babe was the greatest to ever play the game...but that doesn't detract from what Barry has done in the slightest. The point was made...he's the greatest player of the last 50 years. I don't think there's even a legitimate argument over that, quite frankly.
I think the Barry Bonds is the greatest ever type stuff is waaay carried away. If you look at career OPS stats, 10 of the top 20 are playing right now. That tells me this era is ridiculous in terms of offense. Even with that, he's nowhere near the top three guys in Ruth, Ted Williams, and Lou Gehrig. Bonds could hit 800 home runs and he's still not going to crack that top three. Also, if you look at the difference between Ruth's OPS and the next best hitter of his era in Gehrig, that difference is almost twice the difference between Bonds and Bagwell, the 10th best hitter of his era. And all of these old players did this without their entire lineups trying to get pitchers to throw as many pitches as possible like with what we're seeing today. It used to be taboo to strike out. Career Leaders for OPS Minimum of 1000 IP, 3000 PA and 100 decisions for career and active leaderboards for rate statistics. Rank Player (age) OPS Bats 1. Babe Ruth 1.1636 L 2. Ted Williams 1.1155 L 3. Lou Gehrig 1.0798 L 4. Jimmie Foxx 1.0376 R 5. Todd Helton (28) 1.0319 L 6. Barry Bonds (37) 1.0233 L 7. Hank Greenberg 1.0169 R 8. Rogers Hornsby 1.0103 R 9. Manny Ramirez (30) 1.0097 R 10. Frank Thomas (34) .9999 R 11. Brian Giles (31) .9863 L 12. Mark McGwire .9823 R 13. Jim Thome (31) .9818 L 14. Mickey Mantle .9773 B 15. Joe DiMaggio .9771 R 16. Stan Musial .9757 L 17. Vladimir Guerrero (26) .9733 R 18. Larry Walker (35) .9727 L 19. Jason Giambi (31) .9678 L 20. Jeff Bagwell (34) .9650 R
You're probably right about that father thing. I think my dislike of him came from when I was growing up. Andy Van Slyke was one of my favorite players and Barry basically trashed him and dropped a semi-race card on him when he'd gotten a new contract in Pittsburgh. That really pissed me off then and since then Barry's turned into a big time hot dog/showboat who loafs on the field too much and can't seem to get along with a teammate to save his life.
I now know the source of all our animosity in the past, Timing. It's not politics. It's freaking Andy Van Slyke. I hated Andy Van Slyke. I don't know that I have a good reason for that, though! But I remember going to a game on my birthday with a group of friends my senior year of high school and booing him like crazy...heckling the whole game. He finally shot us the middle finger...and of course we were on him even harder after that. This must be the source of all our difficulties of the past. Given his retirement, I'm able to put those differences aside now and extend an olive branch of truce.
I love Barry Bonds. One of my favorite players in the game. I'm going to see him play at Pac Bell next year no matter what.
until Barry Bonds can do this.. Babe Ruth Pitching Statistics: 1916 BOS 23-12, 9 SH, 170K 1.75 ERA 1917 BOS 24-13, 6 SH, 128K 2.02 ERA He isn't close to being the best player of all time.. I'll give you that Bonds is a best hitter of our era...but no one will ever been the player Babe Ruth was...
I have heard the stat that Babe Ruth single handedly out homered entire teams in his day. Entire teams.
Until Babe can do this... Barry's years played with minority players: 15+ He isn't close to being the best of all time.
this argument is a bunch of crap of course this is a different era nowadays..but to act like there was the same amount of quality minority players excluded from MLB in 1916 as there are now isn't reality. Babe DID play against the vast majority of the best players of his era, sure there are some great Negro League players, but to invalidate Babe's accomplishments because the handful of great Negro League players werent in the MLB isn't fair.
Arguably, the top athletic talent of Bonds era is now diverted to the NBA and the NFL, which were, respectively nonexistent and a regional semi-pro league during the Babe's time, so it works out.
Personally, I love the guy because he is his own man and no one's going to change that. That's what I respect in an athlete like Bonds, Iverson, Barkley, etc.... They are great athletes and yet stay true to themselves without changing for the media. Not only has Bonds had a great last 3 yrs, but he has had a stellar career.
