Barry Bonds Broke Baseball
Barry Bonds is the greatest baseball player of all time. The statement is factually irrefutable. He won a record seven MVPs (4 in a row). The next closest player has just 3. Bonds is the career leader in home runs, walks and intentional walks. He has a career ops+ of 182, meaning, on average, he was 82% better than the league-average hitter. He did this while being an elite defender and base stealer. Bonds is the only player in MLB history with 500 stolen bases and home runs. He also holds the record for OPS+ in a single MLB season. In fact, he owns the three highest marks ever, with an OPS+ of 268, 263 and 259. He also has the most home runs in a season, with 73 in 2001.
However, the statement doesn't hold any value for one simple reason. Bonds juiced, cheated, and broke the morals of sports. He didn't make the MLB Hall of Fame for that reason alone, even though he was a three-time MVP before ever touching a steroid. Bonds may very well be the most divisive athlete in any sport. He was great for baseball; attendance records don't lie. He was also horrible for baseball, breaking the trust of fans worldwide. Barry Bonds was great, dividing, eye-catching and dreadful all at the same time.
When discussing Barry Bonds and his legacy, it's essential to separate the discussion into two parts, his on-the-field accomplishments and Bond's off-the-field issues.
On the diamond Bonds was perfect. He had, for my money, the best eye in MLB history. Swing data was only made available in 2002, so the data will only apply to Bonds 2002-2007 seasons. He swung at just 13% of pitches outside the zone. Comparing Bonds to the league average of 25% over that period shows his elite discipline at the plate. Bonds also got thrown fewer strikes than almost any player ever, making this discipline even more valuable.
But when a brave pitcher did challenge Bonds, the results were catastrophic. When Bonds did swing, he hit the ball and hit it hard. Having a contact rate of 80% on all swings, and over 90% on strikes, both figures are well above the league average. He also crushed everything he did swing at, having an exit velocity above league average against every pitch type. Bonds was unstoppable. This led to his impossibly high home run total.
To stop Barry Bonds, most pitchers just walked him. He averaged over 37 IBB a season. Which would be equivalent to the top 10 intentional walk players of 2022 combined. He was so unbeatable, strong, so disciplined that pitchers just walked him. Most baseball fans know that Bonds was walked with the bases loaded in the ninth, giving a free run to the Giants, simply to avoid Bonds doing any more damage. However, most fans don't know that Bonds has more career intentional walks than many MLB Hall of Famers.
Bonds was eye-catching and a star everywhere he went. He was the face of the most popular and talked about era of MLB baseball of all time. Bonds may have single-headedly saved baseball after their strike in 1994. After the strike, attendance records collapsed. Games saw a drop in attendance by almost ten percent in the two years following the 1994 strike-shortened season. Then 1998 happened.
Sosa vs McGuire. The most legendary battle between two athletes ever. Starting in 1998, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire battled back all season for the most home runs in NL history. While both players eventually broke the record, with Sosa hitting 66 home runs and McGuire hitting 70, the chase for the record 61 made the MLB popular again.
After the 1998 season started, the MLBs boom Bonds took this perfect storm and ran with it. Bonds was the catalyst of the most popular season in MLB history. Bonds in 2001 hit 73 home runs, setting a record that will never be broken. This home run chase also made the Giants the second most watched team in baseball that year despite them missing the playoffs. MLB's attendance record exploded, and baseball was saved.
So why is Bonds a villain? Well, frankly, Barry Bonds was a cheater and hated the media. Bonds took steroids, there is no evidence showing the contrary. He cheated, no if and or but. This leads to the obvious question of why? Why would a man who had won three MVPs, multiple awards and had a massive contract given to him by the Giants cheat? Bonds cheated so he could catch the guys who were cheating. Bonds couldn't beat McGuire and Sosa, who both took steroids, so Bonds did what he thought was right for him.
I’m not defending Barry Bond's use of steroids, nor was I saying he had any justification to cheat. However, Bonds had his reasonings and it is not my place to judge him for them.
Barry Bonds didn't make the Hall of Fame. While he can still be put in later, as of 2023, Bonds is not in the Hall of Fame because of steroid use, despite never failing a steroid test. David Ortiz, a man loved by everyone, failed a steroid test, Bartolo Colon failed a test. So why are these legends forgiven when Bonds is vilified. I don't know. All I know is that Bonds was the best baseball player of all time. He saved baseball and was hated more than any athlete ever for it. Barry Bonds broke baseball like no athlete has ever have. His legacy will never be perfect, but his legend will always be remembered.
