Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazyhorse1
You forget to mention that Bonds has nobody hitting in front of him to drive him in and nobody in front of him to get on base. Neither is his fault or a reflection on his play.
You might also mention that he has five stolen bases and has only 271 at bats, which means that his 24 HRS means he hits one about every eleven at bats. Also, his 56 RBIs mean he gets one about ever five at bats in spite of the fact that the Giants are famous for not putting a man on base ahead of him and the fact that the opposition usually walks him when men are on base.
Projected to 542 at bats, which most batters expect over a year, Bonds comes in with 48 dingers and 112 RBIs, Hall of Fame numbers.
The Shaq analogy doesn't hold. Shaq misses his free throws, Bonds scores from second. Nobody walks him because they think he can't score if put on base. They walk him because he's too dangerous to pitch to and because the batters batting behind him are much less productive than he is.
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I'm not arguing his home run numbers. The man is still biochemically a hulk. Of course a roid head can hit home runs.
You can try to slice it and dice it any way you want, but there is a reason that rumors say he won't get a contract with the Giants again, and that's not cause he's a top hitter like you suggest. My numbers prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is no longer a top tier hitter. How about this for numbers, Bonds has 160 total bases. Good for 3rd on the TEAM! That's right, even with all his walks, he is still only 3rd on the team...and almost 4th, the CATCHER Molina is only 7 behind him.
And while they do walk him because he's a danger of hitting a home run, it's also because he is not a threat on the paths. 3 people on his own team have more RBI than he does.
Please don't use the 5 steals to try to prove that he is still a threat. He is not. Look at Albert Pujols (SLOW GUY) he had 16 stolen bases in 05, and 7 in 06. He also had 5 in 03 and 04. Prince freakin Fielder had 7 steals last year. Also, keep in mind that Bonds had about 100 more at bats last year and had only 3 steals all season. The man can't run anymore. He's a liability on the paths and on the field. So for you to say he is still an elite player (or TOP player in baseball) is beyond reason. I've watched a few Giants games, and they held Bonds on 3rd when others would have been waived in and likely scored.