Barry Bonds: A trip down memory lane – Part 1
Barry Bonds is a tremendous Major League Baseball player that started his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and later joined the San Francisco Giants where he stayed till he stopped playing in 2007. He is known for his powerful hitting and breaking many
records in MLB.
He has won many awards and has achieved great things including breaking the all time home-run record of 762 and having the highest number of walks with 2558 and intentional walks of 688. He has won the Gold Glove award eight times and has been a 14 time
All Star.
However, with his tremendous performances, he has also had his fair share of controversies, which include the possible use of steroids during his illustrious career. Most fans have mixed reactions when discussing Bonds, as he is considered one of the greatest
baseball players in the modern era of the MLB.
If we focus on just his time on the field it has been one of the best in recent times. Bonds started off with the Pirates in 1986 where he topped the National League with 16 home-runs, 36 stolen bases, 65 walks and 48 RBIs.
When Bonds first started off with the Pirates they had a very small fan base, less than 10,000 fans attended their games but Bonds changed that and since his arrival the number of fans kept on increasing and a record setting 50,000 plus fans attended the
1987 home opener. Bonds stepped up his game in 1989 with 24 home-runs and .283 hitting. He finished off 1989 with 19 home-runs and 58 RBIs which put him in the second position in all of the National League.
1990 started off with him hitting .301 with 33 home-runs and 114 RBIs, these statistics led him to win his first MVP Award and later a Gold Glover and Silver Slugger Award as well. With Bonds on the team, the Pirates finally won the NL East title which they
had not done since 1979. He won his second Gold Glove and Silver Slugger after he put up great numbers which included him hitting 25 home-runs and 116 runs. He once again led the Pirates to another division title and won another MVP after 34 homers and 103
RBIs.
The San Francisco Giants signed Bonds on for a then-record setting $43.75 million, which was at the time the largest deal in baseball history. He lived up to expectations when he hit .336 and led the league with 46 home-runs and 123 RBIs which won him his
second consecutive MVP Award.
Bonds career with the Giants was just beginning to take shape. He was turning out to be a tremendous striker of the ball and was able to hit with ease. Most pitchers feared his strength and intentionally walked him to avoid a massive hit over the fence.
Bonds was showing signs of greatness with the Giants and the fans were taking notice of this brilliant player. Little did anyone know that this was the beginning of a new era for the Giants with Bonds at the helm they were seemingly unstoppable as this truly
amazing player was taking on all the records and creating chances for the team to become one of the greats in MLB.
Continued in Part 2
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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