@@theslickrips5904 wrong, look for context, bonds was the most walked player in mlb history, the only good pitches he got to hit were on mistakes by pitchers. Those other two guys struck out more than they walked. Not to mention homers is just a small part of who bonds was as a ball player. 40/40 club, 8x gold glove, 2x batting champ. Those guys weren’t half as good as bonds.
Biggest overlooked fact: Bonds would only get 1 maybe 2 pitches over the plate(they just didn't throw strikes at him) and he was disciplined and patient enough to wait on those 1 or 2 strikes to swing and still connected .
that's not really a fact because it can't be proven. That said, the reason they didn't throw to him all that often is that he literally crowded and leaned over the plate forcing pitchers to either hit him or throw outside to the barrel of his bat. It isn't rocket science why he was so good during his roid era.
@@scottb3034 ha ha ha .....literally every bat he ever had(including all the years in Pittsburgh) was filmed live so there goes your lame argument. Also it is well known and has been talked about many times by announcers/former players/analysts. Maybe you shoulda picked someone who played before TV. Total facts about Bonds only getting 1 or 2 strikes during any game on average. Thanks for playing......next
@@alanoranday4448 Uh....yeah. Because pitchers are unwilling to pitch batters inside and don't want/can't brush hitters off the plate anymore. So Bonds controls the strike zone/where pitchers will pitch. They either throw it in the outside half of zone to the barrel or they pitch out of the zone where he can't square it up (not that he will swing at it). If he didn't consciously seek to control the strikezone by cutting off the inside half and getting fat barrel plate coverage on the outside half then pitchers would have attacked him more aggressively. That willingness to control the zone and dare pitchers to throw inside is a hallmark of dominant hitters (and a hallmark of dominant pitchers is their willingness to retake the inside and regain command of the zone from the hitter). Ownership of the plate is rule number 1 to being a good hitter or a crap hitter, and the difference between pitchers pitching to you or not.
People always forget that Bonds had a HOF caliber career with Pitssburgh BEFORE he went to SF... he had already won 2 MVP, was a 30/30/.300 hitter with 100 walks every year BEFORE he went to SF
Barry Bonds even demostrated what he was talking about once. Made so much sense. He starts with a glove on and gets in his batting stance, then the pitcher pitches he catches it with a swing of his arm. Then he replaces the glove with a bat.
He did, the greatest eye of any batter was Ted Williams, his eye was so good, he said he was able to see the seems on the baseballs coming out of the pitchers hand! It got to the point, if Ted didn't swing, the umpires called it a ball
@@whoneedstoknowPEDs do not enhance hand to eye coordination nor does it increase the ability to track a pitch. Plus, of all the accusations, there has never been a positive test linked to Bonds nor has there been an admission. So save the rhetorical speculation
He had a professional hitter as a father. Great genetics, grew up in MLB clubhouses, and s tremendous work ethic. He was on pace to Cooperstown long before the cream and clear. Hell of a fielder too.
My Dad was on track to be a great father and husband until he started banging the neighbor's wife. Once he did that it nullified everything he did before. Same thing as what happened once Bonds started using "the clear"
But he cheated so none of it matters truly. The babe and Hank just needed a bat and some dirt. Them are what ya call true legends this dude shoulda just stayed off the juice and it woulda been a easy Cooperstown trip but in a world full of what ifs I’d definitely wanna be Barry bonds lol
@@derrickkorstick8984 Yes. They have it as in being born with it or working really hard to attain that skill. Just like those who have "it" to succeed in the real world. Some have that innate ability to move up the ladder while others have to continuously practice honing the skills of networking or ingratiating themselves.
People will forget that Barry was a legit hall of famer before steroids. One of the best ever before steroids. So what he rounded up a little as he got older. He’s still an all time great
Leftys have a natural upswing! One of my boys was a lefty and he was a hitting machine in little league, but he was powered by too many hotdogs and ice cream cones! Not steroids🤣
His hand-eye coordination, anticipation, and spatial awareness word probably some of the best we’ve ever seen in major league baseball. That’s why he not only hit so many home runs, but walked so much.
I once saw a picture of every ball Bond's hit for a homerun the season he hit 72 homeruns. In every single picture the pitch was in his sweet spot within the strike zone. Pitchers so feared him they made mistakes and he was a master at hitting their mistakes. He didn't miss when given a pitch to hit.
People forget he also set the MLB record for walks that year too. He really did make the most out of how little he was given. I’m so glad I was able to watch most of his games during that stretch. It’s hard to explain how amazing it was to watch live.
Well, I could agree with the HOF with Baroid, but, if he goes in, & there's a great argument he should, then if he goes- Pete Rose & 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson 1000% have to go!!!
excellent hand eye coordination, his swing was always perfect when making contact. You need to have that in order to hit for power and for base hits and only swing at strikes.
I'm 38. Played a good amount of organized baseball. Never once heard that. I always heard of cutting the ball in half. Like if the bat was a samurai sword and I was chopping the ball in half. For some reason that makes way more sense than catching the ball. That implies to me that you're not hitting it hard. Just making sure the barrel touches the ball. All that being said... I've said stuff my 7 year old but he is still having issues so I'm going to try to see if the catching thing works for him.
@@donaldcatlett5850 how do you know? And David Ortiz was accused so who cares. It's either you got talent or not. Roids isn't a super drug to make you a Hof player if you suck ass. Dee Gordon got caught and he hit what 2 home runs with .250avg. Roids don't give you super powers. I think you're lacking what some people call common sense. Or knowledge about the game. If I was a terrible baseball player coming up in minors and decided to take roids is that a guarantee I'ma yoke 40+ hr a year win gold gloves and MVPs while accumulating the best eye in all of baseball? Lmao kick rocks dork
They kept him out of the HOF because the media hated him. He dissed the media because all they asked him about was his father and his divorce in the 90s. Absolute injustice in my book. He was a five tool player for the longest time and he continued to do it when everyone else was juicing as well. I talked to him at a gas station once and all he was ever concerned about was getting a ring. Actually a very cool dude. I wish he could’ve got his ring. #BarryBonds . I was there for #756 🙌🏼
Bonds spent his career making enemies, including the people who vote on HOF'ers. He was intensely disliked by his teammates, the press, his exes, fans, etc.
I still remember when he hit 756 man that night was incredible, me, my dad and sister watched it together screaming our lungs off lol stayed home from church that night, one of my favorite ball players ever
Not only was he great at 'bat meets ball', but he also had the best eye of all time. He could recognize where the pitch was going faster than any hitter I've ever seen. So he picked the right pitches to swing at.
True. He did and you are correct on many other hitters using heavy bats but Bat speed is only part of the equation. Without sufficient mass the ball won’t travel as fast. This is kinda geeky, but 83 mph exit velocity from the bat at +25 degrees launch angle will go over the fence. Without sufficient mass behind the ball it won’t go as far because of bat deflection.
@bone-snypa I don’t completely disagree think you’re confusing timing with bat speed. Without sufficient bat speed you have less power. Granted. Contact style hitters need less but they still need sufficient bat speed to clear the IF.
@@rodneysmith247 Pete Rose is probably number 1. As bad as taking steroids is nothing is worse than messing with white people's money. Even being white won't save you.
Greatest hitter of all time. You guys honestly forget (or were too young) to know what he did. He was so good, he was intentionally walked 2-3x a game sometimes and hit a HR on the one pitch he got in his 4th AB.
Steroids increases everything----power, strength, speed and reaction time. Bonds cheated and he has zero eligibility left for the HOF. Aaron is the real HR king.
I always heard he had very fast hands so he could swing fractionally later than most batters which allowed him that much longer to see what a pitch was gonna do
I think the most overlooked secret to his success was the plate of armor he wore on his right elbow that allowed him to crowd the plate and not be worried that much about getting plunked.
Catchers know what pitch and where it's gonna go. If the catcher had no idea what was coming they would miss a lot more balls. There is a reason why it is usually pretty apparent when the catcher and pitcher have a mix up.
@@kylerey09 After the 98 season when McGwire and Sosa had their historic seasons. There's a story of how Griffey and Bonds were having dinner discussing their careers after that season and Bonds was saying they should do it too. Obviously one chose to do it and one did not.
Met him once in LA at a sporting goods store. He was in the Golf area. I heard the sound of golf balls being CRUSHED. I walk around the corner. Barry Bonds. It was just a different level. Amazing and awesome.
I remember reading something at one point about them writing words and numbers on balls during practice and Barry could read them as they were going by him at the plate...that vision, if true, was a major contributing factor.
@@thisisisabella3634 162.8 WAR, 762 Homeruns, career 1.051 OPS, 688 IBB, 7 MVPS. Everyone was on something back then, Including pitchers. He's the GOAT
@@thisisisabella3634 Steroids cannot make you hit the ball, dumbass. It doesn't matter how much you juice a guy like me up. I still would lack the coordination, reaction time, eye, etc.
It just made the ball go farther.. Dumbass. He used excellent eye coordination and made contact with the ball and roids didn’t help with either of those. Roids just made the ball go farther that’s all
@@amirmartin5026 Yeah, he had pop early on but his elite power developed gradually. He didn't hit a crazy amount of HRs in his Pirates days, but that was the 1980s and early 1990s and HRs were generally down (except the spike in 1987). I can't imagine many people in 1990, when Bonds won his first MVP, figured he'd eclipse 600 HRs, let alone break Aaron's mark.
Just wanted to say, this production level is insane for 30k subs. You’re genuinely on of the best baseball RU-vidrs. Good luck with anything and everything!
I hate when people say steroids make you hot the ball farther😂 It is about recovering from injury faster and staying healthy longer so you can maximize the amount of games you play in. Strength is a bi-product of taking steroids and lifting regularly, but you still have to have the bat speed and hand-eye coordination to hit a home run or even hit a ball at all.
Guys he already mentioned the steroids we get it. BUT he also mentioned that you still need to hit the damn ball. Steroids don’t improve your hand eye coordination
Mentioning the steroids doesn't absolve the fact he and that forehead turn a bunch of doubles and flyouts into moonshot home runs by sticking Roids up his butt
I’ll never understand why people are so quick to say “such a shame he took steroids. He was a great ball player.” Bonds is the greatest hitter of all time, pure and simple. I can take steroids and it won’t do a dang thing in my ability to hit a baseball.
He ain’t hitting half those dingers if he wasn’t juicing… and take a look when he came into the league and when he left… he was triple the size. Cheating is cheating
he isn't the greatest hitter of all-time roids or not. Williams, Ruth, Gehrig, Mays and Aaron all have great claims. Heck tony gwynn does and he willingly chose to not be a power hitter.
BS! 3% of MLB pitchers juiced. All records were beaten by Juicers. Bonds, Sosa, Mcquire, Canceco, Clemons & a few more. Not! 97% of the heros who were clean.
Dude had a career batting average of .298, steroids can't do that for you. People wave off all his accomplishments because of roids, but you can't take away the fact that at least half of his success is because of is because of the man himself, not the stuff he put inside him.
Heres the thing. When you know you got power, you dont really have to focus on adjusting your stength to get a home run. He just needs to focus on the ball and bam! Home run!
I just heard a bonds stat today that blew my mind: If you take away all of his numbers from his 7 MVP seasons he would still have over 400 home runs+350 steals
Catching a ball with a glove is easy because your glove is in front of you and you have instant and continuous feedback about where the glove is in relation to the ball coming in. When hitting though, the bat us behind you, it’s totally different. The only way to hit and “catch” the ball with the bat as you do with the glove is by bunting. Bonds ability to catch the ball with the bat in a full swing as with a glove was an amazing feat. Ted Williams might have been the only other person ever to relate to this and have it be more than just an idea.
Bonds steroid use wasn't broken because it made him strong. It let him combine a decade of professional experience, with the body of a man a decade younger.
@@cheyenne11114 yeah his speed declined but not to a degree any greater than typical power speed guys as they get older. The thing is Barry was a master of having a good eye at the plate. It doesn't matter if every time you make contact its a 600ft swamp donkey. If you only connect with 1/10 you aren't gonna make a baseball team. Bonds took years of experience and practice and gave himself the kind of body that just wasn't usual to develop into. I'm not saying the strength boost wasn't helping. I'm saying it gave him the ability to turn a late in their career wily veteran with great discipline and eyes into a guy with the body of a much younger man without losing the brains he developed.
@@ladybuzzkillington2072 first of all, he went from stealing 50 bases, to stealing seven bases. He went from being an elite outfielder to a semi-liability in left field. These were a direct result of extended steroid use. And I'm not arguing that he didn't have a great eye. He hit for great contact and damn good power early in his career. I am saying that the Barry bonds we are talkin about, the complete freak show that managers would intentionally walk even with the bases loaded, is an absolute and undeniable product of cheating. He was a major league baseball player that had great bat speed and hit over 300 multiple times prior 2 going on the juice. The roids turned him into the guy that some call an all-time great though. He couldn't live with just being a run-of-the-mill excellent hall-of-famer. And I use the term "run of the mill" as respectfully as I can because just reaching that status is glory in baseball. He's part of the reason that the aura of this game disappeared. For that reason I will never ever be a fan and will never stop pointing out the cheating. We shouldn't be acting like it was no big deal
Wish I would have heard this advice 20 years ago lol. Definitely going to be giving this advice to my son early on. Such simple advice but it makes so much sense.
You hold a glove in front of the ball and can wait for the ball to come to it. Slight movement to make it work. Timing a swing adds another huge variable. Plus, it essentially adds another axis. Catching a pitch is essentially X (left and right) and Y (up and down) axis. Hitting adds the Z (fore and aft) axis since bay angle relative to the plate is also a thing. If anything, bunting is like catching. Hitting the ball with a swing is more like throwing your glove at the ball.
It's his swing trajectory, like a windmill instead of horizontal...he never push swings and his hand speed is crazy. Torque in his back leg with most of his bodyweight mixed with a stretch of his lats, back creates a natural fast swing which allows him to "catch" the ball later than a push swinger
That is why I believe he belongs in the Hall of Fame. There have been other cheaters that didn’t do even half as well in hitting home runs. His talent is unbelievable. Sure it wasn’t right to cheat. I admit I was a fan since before he came to the Giants and I loved seeing the numbers change every time he hit it into the bay. Or every time they put a chicken up when he walked. That made it more amazing because he didn’t even see many pitches to hit. I’m a Barry Bonds fan for life.
I remember watching a game as a kid where the opposing team (can't remember which) intentionally walked Bonds. The bases were loaded at the time. As a lifelong Giants fan, I've never seen a hitter as feared as he was during his campaign for the HR record.
I was disappointed when I was like 11 and 12 when I was getting into baseball though looking back I don’t think “cheating” came to all to them. I feel like they should let them all in the hall of fame roids or not there’s players who are not well know who took roids and some that sucked I don’t think it would of made a difference
2001 -late 00s ichiro he actually would hit all homeruns in batting practice he chooses to be a more contact hitter. Both him and bonds are among the best hitters not only is bonds a good home run he’s got a pretty good batting average for a power hitter throughout his career better then most power hitters who just only strikeout and hit homeruns lol
I used to employ mind games like that as a skater. It totally worked. It’s good for helping you work past bad habits that hold you back. I mainly used it to make sure my body positioning and mechanics were correct to do the trick right. It’s easy to see how that would translate into batting where posture, positioning, and mechanics are crucial.
Ever wonder what the greatest baseball player who ever lived could do if juiced? Look no further than Barry Bonds. Folks we will never see something like that again. Put that Man in the Hall!
Yeah that’s not how juice works lol. He was an all star before the steroids. Hall of fame worthy. So what he took steroids. They all were at that time. He’s the best hitter ever just get over it
@@craftgarrett1 😂😂😂 someone needs to stop 🐓ridin juice head Bonds . Roger, Mark, Sammy, and all those guys should be banned for life for juicing because that was the only reason they can even play in there 30’s
@@rppoker8541 every player right now is using something not on the list but they're still PEDS. Just like every person that said they got their muscles naturally and not using gear. Lol! What a joke!
