July 20, 2007
View From Lodi, CA: Barry Bonds: Will He “Walk”
Into The Hall of Fame?
By Joe Guzzardi
Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giant left fielder,
future home run king and, despite the steroid
controversy that swirls around him, a
Hall of Fame lock, broke out of his deep 0-21 slump
Thursday by hitting two home runs—career numbers 752 and
753
But
Bonds’ aging Giant teammates still
can’t do anything right. The weekend after the
All-Star Game, the Giants were swept by their hated
rivals, the
Los Angeles Dodgers, and then lost three of four
games to the
Chicago Cubs. The Giants are solidly in last place
with little hope of escaping
Watching Bonds and the Giants can be painful. Bonds will
pass
Hank Aaron’s career home run total sooner rather
than later. But his record will be kind of like hoofing
it from
Lodi to
Seattle. If I were to start my journey today, I’d
get there eventually. But it would hardly be stirring.
The
Giants are going nowhere in the Western divisional race.
Their mounting losses are boring.
Since Bonds gets so many intentional bases on balls in
key game situations, I would like to offer a suggestion
that might make watching the Giants—and Bonds’ at
bats—much more exciting.
When Bonds is about to get an intentional walk—which he
knows is coming when he sees the opposing manager hold
up four fingers—he should swing at the first two
pitches.
The
count then would be 0-2. Now what will the opposing
manager do? Will he still be afraid to pitch to Bonds
even though the count is well in his pitcher’s favor?
And
for Bonds a 0-2 count would mean the next pitches should
be in the strike zone. Good pitches mean more home runs
for Bonds.
If
Bonds, or any other slugger, waves at the first two
pitches, a moment of truth would be created that would
immediately catch the fans fancy.
Nothing in sports bores fans more than an intentional
walk. By comparison, football’s fourth down punt is
thrilling. At least during a punt, several things can
happen that might turn the game around: a bad snap from
center; a muffed catch by the punter; a blocked kick; or
a roughing the kicker penalty that means lost yardage
and a first down for the kicking team.
As
could be expected with a hitter who generates so much
fear among pitchers, Bonds was involved in a unique
situation regarding the intentional bases on balls
strategy.
On May 28, 1998,
Arizona Diamondback manager Buck Showalter ordered Bonds
walked in the top of the ninth inning even though the
bases were loaded. With the Diamondbacks clinging to an
8-6 lead, the walk narrowed the margin to 8-7 with the
bases still loaded.
Luckily for
Showalter, the Diamondbacks held on.
Bonds, a home run
threat every time he steps to the plate, holds every
record for intentional walks. In 2004, Bonds once
received four intentional passes in a nine-inning game,
and 120 during the season.
In his
career, Bonds as of July 19th has been
walked an all-time high 2,615 times. Bonds averages
about 500 at bats per season.
Stated another way,
pitchers have walked Bonds the equivalent of five years
worth of at bats.
No
baseball fan can discuss Bonds without
speculating how history will judge him. Is Bonds a
surly,
steroid-abusing player who doesn’t deserve the Hall
of Fame? Or is he one of the greatest players ever to
don a uniform?
Here’s how Bill
James,
baseball’s keenest mind, sees it. In his Historical Baseball Abstract,
James
ranks Bonds as the game’s third-best all-around left
fielder behind
Ted Williams and
Stan Musial, and its best fielder.
Bonds is, concluded
James, baseball’s “most unappreciated superstar.”
Joe Guzzardi [email
him], an instructor in English
at the Lodi Adult School, has been writing a weekly
column since 1988. It currently appears in the
Lodi News-Sentinel.
