Is Barry Bonds going to hit .400 next year? (1 Viewer)

[Patrick_S]

3. Rampant steroid use is helping destroy many of baseball's sacred records.

One of the things I don't like about your original post is that you assume far too much. Although I'm not a huge Bonds fan I'd like to know if you have any proof other then your instincts that Bonds uses steroids. The guilt you imply in your original post is just poor form.
If it is ever proven that he uses steroids then you can release the hounds and have at it.

 

[Brian Perry]

Although I'm not a huge Bonds fan I'd like to know if you have any proof other then your instincts that Bonds uses steroids.

No proof other than the enormous leap in performance over the past two years (which cannot be dismissed as statistically insignificant), and that Bonds hasn't denied using them. As another poster mentioned, it's not the ballpark -- PacBell is neutral and Bonds actually hits more homers on the road. Maybe the armor he wears is giving him an unfair fearlessness and letting him crowd the plate, but I think that in this case, the burden of proof is on the players. When former ballplayers (MVPs and superstars to boot) suggest 50-85% of ballplayers are using steroids, and there is virtually no denial from the rank and file, I don't think the suggestion that Bonds is one of the perpetrators is too much of a stretch.

 

[Patrick_S]

No proof other than the enormous leap in performance over the past two years (which cannot be dismissed as statistically insignificant), and that Bonds hasn't denied using them.

He has denied using them and it's rather self-serving to say the burden of proof is on him rather then you.

Some of the other posts have given just as creditable suggestions, poor pitching and lively baseballs, for the jump in stats.

Here's another suggestion, perhaps Bonds like so many players before him trained harder for the 2001 season because he was heading into a free agent year. (He did change his training regiment in the off-season before 2001.) He wouldn't be the first player to post a great season in hopes of another big payday. It happens all the time.

Oh well, just my two cents on the subject.

 

[MichaelG]

If it is ever proven that he uses steroids then you can release the hounds and have at it.

Well of course this will never happen because MLB will never hold any of them accountable with drug testing. The only guys that are admitting that they used steroids are retired, and I doubt that Bonds will ever admit he is/was using (if infact he is) since he set the home run record. There is no way that guy is going to tarnish any record with his name on it.
Besides the possibility of steroid use, there are too many teams (meaning not enough pitching talent), and a small strike zone. Of course the guys are bigger these days, and it seems the ball parks keep getting smaller (to sell tickets with more home runs?), but if they had better pitching things would be different. Look at the better pitchers in the, they still have good ERA's, but the middle relief sucks. Go back to 26 teams and I bet that the scoring goes down.
Oh, and like I said in my first post, the reason Bonds won't hit .400 next year is because of the high likelyhood that these overpaid babies (not all mind you, but enough to gripe about) will strike before the end of the season.
baseball

 

[Marvin]

Why shorten the season back to 154 games? With three tiers of playoffs now, the season is just too damn long.

I'd rather see them get rid of, at least, one tier of playoffs. They make the season less meaningful.

In any case, get rid of both the DH and interleague play. If God had intended the Yankees to play the Giants during the regular season, he would have put them in the same league.

 

[Grant B]

he only gets the chance to hit once a game, that's the bizarre part.
O well I got tickets to see him Weds and Friday so I hope he is in good streak
Grant

 

[Christopher P]

I tried to draw a distinction between Clemens head-hunting of Piazza and his hitting Bonds in his protected arm. Hitting Piazza was horrible, but pitching inside has always been part of the game, though it's role has been diminishing. There's nothing that says Clemens has to pitch over the plate 100% of the time, sometimes you throw off the plate either way depending on pitch sequence, who's batting, etc...That pitch wouldn't have hit 99% of the players in the league, just those who wear protection against it (or idiots like Fernando Vena who lean in to inside pitches to get on base). At least Bonds didn't complain about it. He knew it was coming as much as anyone.

Chris

 

[Ashley Seymour]

The thread hints at a discussion of whether Barry will followup his record home run year of 2001 and add to that by hitting .400, and then the discussion centers on homeruns. Is there a pattern here? The main things fans want to see is still the home run, and that is what basebal is producing. Are we in a high home run era? Yes. Are we in a high run era? No, not compared to the 1930's when baseball was producing both absurd run totals and high home runs totals.

Is it realistic for Barry to hit for more power as he gets older or a higher average? Older players hit for power. Not the kind that he produced last year with record home runs and slugging percentage, but Barry was the best player in baseball for the 90's. If we should be surprised about these numbers, we can exclude Barry.

Baseball purists seem to want to take the era from 1947 to 1994 as the yardstick to measure every statistic. If this period is nirvana, then no other period will be held in as high regard.

For all the talk about steroids, juiced balls and small parks, the one common thread I hear from current and past players centers on pitchers reluctance to pitch inside. One theory is that since most players come out of college and that aluminum bats are used there. College pitchers dont go inside because the bats don't break and even a jammed batter can get a dink hit over short. So college pitchers don't know how to pitch inside.

Clemens gets a lot of press about pitching inside, but how many other pitchers are regarded as headhunters. Obviously the good ones are. Would any sane batter ever think of digging in against Randy?

Dig in against Bob Gibson? He once decked an on deck hitter who got too close and was trying to time Bob's warm up pitches. Don Drysdale was once instructed to give an intentional walk to Frank Robinson. Frank went down four times in inside fastballs. - and was awarded first base.

And Barry comes to bat looking like an Imperial Storm Trooper in body armour. Maybe that is why he went to that maple bat so it wont break off on inside pitches.