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Barry
Lamar Bonds
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Barry Lamar
Bonds was born July on 24, 1964 in Riverside, California. He is
considered among the greatest players of all time and plays for
the San Francisco Giants. The son of former all-star Bobby Bonds
came to the majors with talents similar to those of his father.
He graduated in 1982 from Serra High School after playing
extremely well in baseball, basketball and football. Due to his
exceptionally good playing skills he was promptly signed by the
San Francisco Giants in the second round of the 1982 free-agent
draft. But he decided to attend college first, playing baseball
and earning a degree at Arizona State. In 1986 he made his major
league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates and in 1993 came back
to California to join the San Francisco Giants. His rapidity and
command over the game recalled his father's capabilities. He was
acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round sixth
overall of the 1985 free-agent draft. Shuttling between batting
third and leadoff, Bonds led all 1986 NL rookies with 16 homers,
36 steals, 48 RBIs and 65 walks in only 113 games. In 1987 he
became second 20-homer, 20-steal Pirate player ever. In 1989 he
and Bobby took over the father-son home run designation from
Yogi Berra and Dale Berra |
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1990s saw him winning three MVP accolades and appreciation of
being the best all-round player of the decade. Bonds had his
first spectacular season in 1990 when he won the first of
his three MVP honor with 33 homers, 114 RBIs, 52 stolen
bases and a league-leading .565 slugging average. His
statistical data was virtually identical in 1997 and
included a league-leading 109 runs scored and .624 slugging
average. His preeminent season came in 1993, indeed the
first great season after signing a mega-deal with the
Giants. He led the league with career highs in homers (46),
RBI (123) and slugging average (.677), fetched his fourth of
five consecutive Gold Glove award and became the foremost
vote achiever for the All-Star game. Bonds added his third
30-30 (33 homers-31steals) season in 1995 and was again
placed amongst the top six in every major offensive
category. The following season he marked his fourth 30-30
and first NL’s 40-40 (42 homers-40 steals), finishing once
again near the top in every offensive category. |
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Bonds did not prove to be productive in 1997. Though he hit
homers, stole bases but didn’t make it to the league leaders
category. The same season led the league in walks with 145 and
recorded his fifth 30-30 season. He along with team mates Jeff
Kent and J.T. Snow formed the first trio of Giants to drive in
at least 100 runs. In 1998 he became the first player in the
history to add 400 homer and 400 steals. By the end of his
career became the only player to accomplish the
never-anticipated 500-500 level (500 homer, 500steals). He is a
perfect blend of power, average and speed. Late in the season he
improved his statistical scores and took the Giants into the
postseason for the first time nearly after a decade. In 1999
elbow and wrist injuries forced Bonds to move on to the disabled
list for the second time in twelve seasons. After playing fairly
well he assured to be more promising in 2000. He focused on his
flexibility and became one of the top hitters in the league. He
set career highs in homers (49) and slugging percentage (.688),
Sabermetricians (those who conduct statistical analysis of
baseball data) considered him to be an all-time top-third player
after Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. He always anticipated
surpassing his godfather’s scores. On
April 17, 2001 he received the opportunity when he exploded his 500th
dinger off Terry Adams of Los Angeles Dodgers. |
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