I've changed my mind. Bonds breaking McGwire's HR record would be great.

If America needs anything right now, it sure as hell is not Barry Bonds.

 

I, for one, am all for Bonds breaking McGwire's record. I think McGwire is one of the best players on the field today and, if Bonds can best the HR record, he will truely accomplish a great feat.
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IMO, Barry Bonds is a big-time jerk and primo donna...just ask his teammates, I sure that they would agree for the most part. Like the old saying goes, there is no "I" in team. Although he is definately one of the best players in baseball, he may also be the biggest jerk in sports today.
Just my opinion, of course. YMMV.
Dave

 

quote: The main reason players are hitting more home runs is that they are bigger, stronger and quicker then the players of the past.[/quote]
Not true. You think Luis Gonzalez is stronger than Mickey Mantle? Quicker than Willie Mays? If it were just a matter of players being stronger, shouldn't pitchers be stronger (and better) as well?
In addition to the horrendous pitching we are seeing these days, there are many aspects of ballpark design contributing to obscene offensive numbers. Smaller overall dimensions, more parks at high altitudes, and a big loss of foul territory all factor into advantages for the hitter.
Remember, Barry Bonds has been around awhile and has never neared this type of production. His slugging percentage this year is 255 points (!) or almost 50% above his career numbers and is threatening Babe Ruth's all-time record. There's a clear explanation for it, and it's called Pac Bell Park.
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Home Theater Pictures
[Edited last by Brian Perry on September 21, 2001 at 07:32 AM]

 

I could really care less. The way homers have been flying the last few years, I think they have become devalued. It was exciting when McGwire and Sosa were chasing the record because it hadn't been glimpsed in a long time. Now it seems like a challenger rises every year. Clemens' 20-1 record is more impressive to me than some of this season's home run totals.
Plus, Bonds has singlehandedly helped kick my a** in fantasy baseball.
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Brian-
you're way off base with your attribution of Bonds' power surge to PacBell Park.
PacBell may be the ONLY fair park built in the past 10+ years (fair as in it's pitching and hitting neutral) - ALL the other new parks - Coors, Enron, etc. are hitters' parks, except Comerica, which is a pitchers' park.
I have Giants season tickets, and I can assure you, those HRs Barry has hit at PacBell have NOT been cheapies - most of 'em land in McCovey Cove, which is at least 400 ft. in RF. In fact, the DEEPEST part of the park is right-center, which is 421 ft. - that's deeper than all but one or two MLB parks, I believe. (It is only 309 ft. down the RF line at PacBell, but Barry has hit no more than one or two screaming line drives all season that took advantage of that - and the wall is about 20 ft. high there, so it's no cheapie to hit one that actually clears that wall.) Let's put it this way - there have been 16 HRs hit into McCovey Cove on the fly out of PacBell in 2 seasons. 15 of those 16 have been hit by Barry. If PacBell were so damn easy to hit HRs out of - wouldn't Barry's percentage be more like 40-50%, rather than 94%??
After all that disagreement about PacBell, I will agree that OTHER ballparks are more hitter-friendly, on balance, in the last decade's new design. Expansion has also diluted the pitching. It also seems more young pitchers with great stuff "learn" to pitch at the MLB baseball level, instead of in the minors. The ball probably is juiced from pre-'94, as well - that's why 60+ HR now is what 50+ used to be, IMHO.
I could also write an essay about Barry as a player and person, but I'll save that for another time .

 

quote: In addition to the horrendous pitching we are seeing these days, there are many aspects of ballpark design contributing to obscene offensive numbers. Smaller overall dimensions, more parks at high altitudes, and a big loss of foul territory all factor into advantages for the hitter.[/quote]
A swing and a MISS! Sorry could not help avoid the baseball reference.
Brain you need to do some research. If you compare the vast majority of ballparks that Ruth played in to the newer parks being built today you would find that pre-multipurpose parks also had very small foul territories. As for the over all dimensions they are pretty much the same.
So in fact, today’s new parks are getting back to baseball's roots.
Also your comparison of Luis Gonzalez to Mantle and Mays is a straw man argument. You picked two out of the thousands who have played and compared them Luis. To be more accurate if you were to compare Gonzalez to the majority of players that played in the fifties and sixties you would find that Luis is indeed stronger and better conditioned then most. By the way when I was talking about speed I was referring to bat speed.
I will say this, which almost every baseball will agree with: Is Gonzalez in better over all condition then Mantle and Mays? YES. While Mantle and Mays were great players, they like must players in their times didn't work that hard on conditioning.
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[Edited last by Patrick_S on September 21, 2001 at 12:25 PM]

 

quote: As for the over all dimensions they are pretty much the same.[/quote]
I'll have to do some more research, but I doubt that is true. Practically all stadiums today have a center field wall at or near the minimum permitted by the rules, which is 400 feet. Yankee Stadium was an absolute cavern in left and center field before they brought in the fences. Most changes aren't as dramatic, but a change of even five feet makes a big difference. There are virtually no recent examples of fences being moved farther out.
quote: I will say this, which almost every baseball will agree with: Is Gonzalez in better over all condition then Mantle and Mays? YES. While Mantle and Mays were great players, they like must players in their times didn't work that hard on conditioning.[/quote]
How are you measuring overall condition? If you think that Gonzalez is stronger, or faster, or has a quicker bat than Mantle had, you're crazy. Mantle hit the ball farther than anyone EVER and was the fastest player in baseball (until his knees gave out). Maybe Gonzalez has less body fat, but for baseball-related skills, there is no comparison.
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Home Theater Pictures
[Edited last by Brian Perry on September 21, 2001 at 01:47 PM]

 

Remember; McGwire had to make his record hitting playing home games in Busch Stadium and road games in big parks like the Astrodome and Pac Bell Park. If McGwire played his home games in San Fran and had a few more games in the far-too-small Enron Field his record would have been 75 or 80.
Bonds record will not mean as much because of the new smaller baseball stadiums.