April 13, 2006
Astros Pitch to Bonds
Kudos to the Houston Astros for challenging Barry Bonds. In his first two at bats he drove the ball to the wall in right, but each time it was caught. Barry thought they were gone both times and hardly moved from the plate. He might not have made it to second base if the ball hit the wall above the fielder.
In his third at bat, he came up with two out and runners on first and third. Taylor Buchholz induced a pop out to the third baseman to end the inning. Bonds is now batting .133 with a .200 slugging percentage. Go Astros!
Posted by David Pinto at
05:04 PM
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If the Astros keep this up, I might turn into an Astros fan!
long fly ball outs, alou crushed that pitch into left field today
If Bonds' bat suddenly returns to warning track power, he's finished as a player. He's far too one-dimentional to be an effective hitter if he can't hit home runs anymore.
"If Bonds' bat suddenly returns to warning track power"
when was this?
I think Charles meant to emphasize the "returns" aspect of things. When was Bonds ever just warning track power? Even before his, uh, breakout, he was still on pace for 500 career home runs.
Good point, Charles. However before his incredible HR binge, Bonds was not just a power hitter, but along with Ken Griffy Jr. the best baseball player in the game. His speed was a big part of his game. Now that his speed is no more, and his fielding is no more, what he has left is his batting eye and power. I contend that if Bonds loses his power, his batting eye will not be enough to overcome his immobility.
Consider 2001, when he belted 73 HRs. If half of those HRs were instead warning track outs, well, his batting average is suddenly only about .250. Likewise, his OBP will drop off the table without all the walks he garners because of his power.
But what do I know?
