As baseball players, should we really compare Barry Bonds to Hank Aaron?
Question:If i am not mistaken, Hank Aaron actually played during the games rather than just be a DH. There's a big difference in hitting homeruns as a DH, and hitting homeruns and playing the field. What do you think?
Answers:
Second, to the guy w/ the "tainted vs. pure" statement...that's rubbish!
As much bad-mouthing as is taking place over Bonds he has NEVER tested positive for ANYTHING illegal. I don't understand this witch-hunt taking place after Bonds...it seems like everyone is out to get the guy & deem his accomplishments "tainted" when he's produced at this same level throughout his entire career. The guy is a 7 time MVP...and should have 9 (in '92 Barry Larkin won the award with nowhere near the caliber of numbers Bonds had put up and in the year Bonds' teammate Jeff Kent won he wouldn't have put up nearly the numbers without Bonds in the lineup next to him-not to mention the easily comparable numbers between the two). Even early in his career when Bonds was putting up 25-35 homers a year it was at a time when the league leaders were finishing up with 35-40 homers at best...Bonds was always putting up, at bare minimum, home run numbers at or near the top of the league.
Third, the "cream" and the "clear"...there are so many people out there that either refuse to hear or don't know the real story of these substances. Bonds was feeling his age a bit around 2000 and his childhood friend/trainer Greg Anderson offered up these two substances to alleviate some of Bonds' ailments. He told Bonds the "clear" was flaxseed oil that would alleviate some issues he was having. The "cream" he was told was a topical ointment to alleviate stiffness in his joints...much like a Ben-Gay type deal. Bonds admits using both substances for a period of 3-4 months in the offseason, wasn't feeling any effect from the substances and discontinued their use. How 3-4 months of using something that he found out LATER was these "questionable" substances can effect, or negate, Bonds' career accomplichments is beyond me. Also, both of these substances WERE NOT ILLEGAL IN BASEBALL AT THE TIME!
To summarize, he has consistantly been among the greatest producers in the game for his entire career. He has NEVER tested positive for ANY illegal substances. The 2 substances that have been questioned he has admitted taking although they were NOT illegal at the time of the usage.
What part of all this does the average sports fan NOT get?!?
Say what you will...Bonds is certainly to be considered, not only with Hank Aaron, but with ANY of the all-time greats in the game. Hell, you have to consider him...he may be the greatest ever!
NUMBERS DON'T LIE!
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No way. Tainted vs. Pure.Can i use cooking oil to break in baseball glove?
Hank Aaron is in a class of his own. Bonds is just a no account juiced up dude.If you could come up with a new type of pitch in baseball, what would you want it to do?
Bonds admitted to taking both "the cream" and "the clear". We now know both of these were designer steroids.I don't care if he lies about whether or not he knew what they were...the man is a cheater.
He couldn't stand watching McGuire and Sosa cheating and hitting all those home runs, so the spoiled 5 year old had to do the same.
I can't wait for him to disappear. I will never refer to him as anything other than a cheater.
Barry Bonds doesn't play DH unless it is an inter-league game(at most 20 games a year). He plays LF and has 8 gold gloves. However he is a juiced up arrogant prick.
Why would the Red Sox wear those?
I agree with that, but that's one of the things about comparing players from different eras. You always will have to take things like that into account in your analysis. If you want to be positive, that's also one of the things that makes such debates and comparisons more interesting. Also, think of it this way-what if Aaron played when weight training was common? Would he have hit more home runs? Or would he have "muscled up" too much, gotten injured more frequently and not played as much? Questions, questions...What two hitters won back to back triple crowns?
Bonds *was* a better player before 2000. Better fielder, better baserunner, slightly better hitter. That said I'd much rather have Aaron as a teammate. I don't know what to make of Bonds post-2000.They both played in the NL so there is no DH, so I'm not sure where you are going with that. But even if a full time DH were to break the record it wouldn't make a difference to me. Batting records are for hitting and doesn't pay any attention to fielding. That's why a player such as David Ortiz might win a HR title, but it would be difficult for him to win the MVP. As far as Bonds taking steroids, I consider him a cheater, but you can't take his stats away and say they don't count. Steroids were part of baseball for a long time because the MLB refused to do any testing.
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I think it's hard to compare them, and not just because of steroids. The newer ballparks are smaller with 360 foot power alleys( Owners, fans, and chicks dig the long ball), bats are lighter and harder, the strike zone keeps shrinking, the ball may or may not be juiced. If Aaron played today he would have hit over 800 home runs with these conditions. And yes, Bonds has never DH'ed on a regular basis. But how did Barry get such a big head AFTER he stopped growing as an adult(chronologically)?Has anyone ever struck out 5 in a inning?
Of course we should compare them. Hank Aaron hit 22 of his career home runs as a DH while playing in 1975 and 1976 for the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League. The American League adopted the DH rule in 1973. The National League has never used the DH rule in intra-league play. Barry Bonds has played all of career in the National League (Pirates and Giants). The only times in his career that Bonds could DH has been since the major leagues started inter-league play and then only if the game were played in an American League Ballpark. When the games are played in a National League park the DH is not permitted. I don't have the breakdown as to whether Bonds has batted as a DH - if he has then it couldn't be many at bats because each team only plays about 20 inter-league games in a season (split between home and away). Their are a lot of good points on each side of the pro's and con's argument about the DH rule. Pro DH'ers use the argument that it's difficult for a player to bat after he has had to sit on the bench so long between at bats. Anti-DH'ers say that the rule detracts from the strategy of the game (i.e. when to pull a pitcher for a pinch hitter). My thought is that it really doesn't matter whether a batter is a DH or a position player - big league pitching is hard for anyone to hit. I don't like the DH rule because I'm a National League fan and I like the way that not having a DH rule makes the managers play the game with strategy. All the DH rule did was give Aaron two more seasons in the bigs and 22 more homeruns at the end of his career. Homeruns that he probably would not have had if he had finished out in the National League. Bonds will probably retire at the end of the season and I think he has too much pride to go out as DH in the American League. Aaron and Bonds have had super careers. Both were super outfielders with strong arms for much of their career and Bonds can still flash the glove out there from time to time. I watched Bonds as a young player with the Pirates and everyone could see that he was a special ballplayer. He hit balls just as hard then as now. "Blackjack" McDowell (who was a pretty fair major league pitcher) once said that the longest and hardest ball anyone ever hit off of him was Bonds when he pitched against him in college) He is a better hitter now because he is really a great student of the art of hitting. Aaron had those great wrists (just like Ernie Banks) where he could wait on a pitch and hit it at the last moment. That great snap in his wrists was the source of his power. Aaron was quite and unassuming throughout his career while Bonds has always been cocky and outspoken. Aaron came out of Mobile. Alabama and started in the minors as a shortstop and batted crosshanded (left hand above the right). After they got his batting straighted out and moved him into the outfield there was no stopping him. Bonds on the other hand had spent most his growing up years in a major league clubhouse with his dad and his god-father Willie Mays. He was an all-american selectee in college and played on the Olympic team. Steroid issue aside, personality has probably hurt Bonds most in his comparisons with Aaron. Both had super careers but if they are looked at objectively I have to think that Bonds has been the best of the two. .More Questions & Answers...