You know how good you have to be at hitting a baseball for the other team to decide it is smarter to simply let you walk to first base? Barry Bonds became so dangerous that pitching to him was eventually viewed as the bigger risk.
Over his career, Bonds was intentionally walked 688 times, by far the most in MLB history. Albert Pujols is second with 316. Bonds was intentionally walked more than twice as many times as anyone else who has ever played the game.
That might be the best way to describe Barry Bonds. Pitchers didn’t just struggle to get him out. Sometimes they didn’t even want to try.
Great Before San Francisco
Before Bonds became the home run machine most people remember, he was already one of the best all around players in baseball. Bonds debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986 and quickly developed into a player who could do just about everything. He could hit for power, steal bases, get on base and play elite defense in left field.
By 1990, he had become a superstar. Bonds hit .301 with 33 home runs, 114 RBIs and 52 stolen bases while winning his first National League MVP. Two years later, he won another MVP after hitting .311 with 34 home runs, 103 RBIs and 39 stolen bases.
He helped Pittsburgh reach three consecutive National League Championship Series from 1990 through 1992. By the time Bonds left Pittsburgh, he wasn’t some talented player waiting to become great. He was already a two time MVP.
Coming Home to San Francisco
In 1993, Bonds signed with the San Francisco Giants, the same organization his father, Bobby Bonds, had played for. His first season was ridiculous.
Bonds hit 46 home runs, drove in 123 runs, batted .336 and posted a 1.136 OPS. He won his third MVP award and immediately established himself as the centerpiece of the Giants.
But one of the coolest accomplishments of his career came a few years later. In 1996, Bonds hit 42 home runs and stole 40 bases, becoming only the second player in MLB history at the time to join the 40/40 club.
Think about how unusual that combination is. Home run hitters usually aren’t stealing 40 bases. Players stealing 40 bases usually aren’t hitting 40 home runs. Barry Bonds could do both.
And eventually he would create a club that belonged entirely to him.
The Only Member of the 500/500 Club
On April 17, 2001, Bonds stole the 500th base of his career. That made him the first and still the only player in MLB history with 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases.
Nobody else has done it. Not Willie Mays. Not Hank Aaron. Not Alex Rodriguez. Nobody.
Bonds eventually finished his career with 762 home runs and 514 stolen bases. When people remember the later version of Bonds, it is easy to forget just how complete a baseball player he had been throughout his career.
He wasn’t simply standing at the plate waiting to hit home runs. In his prime, Barry Bonds could beat you almost anywhere on a baseball field.
73
Then came 2001, and baseball watched one of the greatest power hitting seasons it had ever seen.
Bonds hit 73 home runs, breaking Mark McGwire’s single season record of 70. Seventy three home runs in 153 games. He also walked 177 times, posted a .515 on base percentage and slugged .863.
By this point, opposing teams were beginning to understand the problem. If you gave Bonds something he could hit, there was a very real chance the baseball wasn’t coming back.
And pitchers were about to become even more cautious.
Just Put Him on First
The numbers surrounding Bonds’ intentional walks almost sound fake. He was intentionally walked 688 times during his career, but nothing illustrates the fear surrounding him better than 2004.
Bonds was intentionally walked 120 times in one season.
One hundred and twenty.
There are good hitters who don’t receive 120 intentional walks over their entire careers. Bonds got that many in a single year.
And one of the craziest examples came against the Arizona Diamondbacks in May 1998. With the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning, Arizona intentionally walked Bonds.
With the bases loaded.
That meant willingly allowing a run to score rather than giving Barry Bonds an opportunity to swing the bat. San Francisco was trailing 8 to 6. The walk made it 8 to 7, and Arizona decided that was still preferable to pitching to Bonds.
Imagine being so dangerous that the opposing manager looks at a bases loaded situation and decides: Giving away a run is the safer option.
That is fear.
2004 Was Almost Impossible
And the crazy thing is that all those walks still couldn’t stop him. In 2004, Bonds hit .362 with 45 home runs. His on base percentage was .609, which remains the highest single season on base percentage in MLB history. His 1.422 OPS was also an MLB record.
Bonds walked 232 times that season, another record, because teams had essentially decided that putting him on base was better than finding out what happened if they actually challenged him.
He won his fourth consecutive National League MVP that year. From 2001 through 2004, Bonds won four straight MVP awards. Nobody else in MLB history has done that.
Seven MVPs
By the end of his career, Bonds had won the National League MVP award seven times. No other player has won more than three.
Bonds also won eight Gold Gloves, showing just how much more there was to his career than hitting baseballs into the seats. He finished with 2,558 career walks and 688 intentional walks, both MLB records.
And eventually, there was one record left that everyone knew he was chasing.
756
Hank Aaron’s career record of 755 home runs had stood since 1976.
On August 7, 2007, Bonds stepped to the plate in San Francisco against Washington Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik and launched the ball into the right center field seats.
Home run number 756.
The all time record belonged to Barry Bonds.
He eventually finished his career with 762 home runs, a number that still sits at the top of MLB’s career leaderboard. Seven hundred sixty two home runs. Seven MVP awards. Eight Gold Gloves. More than 500 stolen bases. More walks and intentional walks than anybody in MLB history.
It is difficult to find another résumé quite like it.
October 2002
And when Bonds got his opportunity on baseball’s biggest stage, he delivered.
During the 2002 postseason, Bonds hit eight home runs in 17 games. Four of them came in the World Series against the Anaheim Angels. He batted .471 in the series, reached base at an incredible rate and produced an OPS over 1.900.
One of the defining moments of that series came when Bonds launched a massive home run in Game 2. Angels pitcher Troy Percival turned around to watch it disappear before reacting to just how far Bonds had hit the ball.
Even on the biggest stage of his career, Bonds remained exactly what he had been for years: terrifying to pitch to.
The Most Feared Hitter Baseball Has Ever Seen
There have been incredible hitters throughout baseball history, but I don’t know if another hitter has ever created the kind of fear Barry Bonds created when he stepped into the batter’s box.
688 intentional walks. 120 in one season. Intentionally walked with the bases loaded.
Eventually, opposing teams came to the same conclusion over and over again. Sometimes the smartest way to pitch to Barry Bonds was not to pitch to Barry Bonds at all.
He finished with 762 home runs, 514 stolen bases, seven MVPs and eight Gold Gloves. He remains the only member of the 500/500 club and owns some of the most ridiculous offensive records baseball has ever seen.
But maybe the greatest compliment to Barry Bonds isn’t found on the back of a baseball card. It is found in what his opponents did when he walked toward the plate.
They gave him first base because they were afraid of what might happen if they didn’t.
That is how good Barry Bonds was.
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