Barry Bonds

**Barry Bonds** was a left fielder for the San Francisco Giants, widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. His dominance of the game has been clouded by his involvement in the baseball steroid scandal of 2002.

Ben admits in Episode 2012 that if the podcast had existed when Barry Bonds was playing, "probably this would have been just a daily Barry Bonds podcast, because he just broke baseball to a degree that it really has not been broken before."

## Stats

The podcast hosts will look at Bonds's Baseball Reference page and marvel at his batting stats. He holds the records for career home runs, walks, and intentional walks, and is second in lifetime position player WAR behind Babe Ruth. He drew 120 intentional walks in 2004!

* Episode 369: What's the most impressive/insane Barry Bonds stat/fact?
* Episode 594: Are Barry Bonds's career walk and intentional walk records unbreakable?
* Episode 762: An entire episode devoted to Barry Bonds facts. In this episode, Sam reveals his bike lock combination.
* Episode 764: Who could beat Barry Bonds's record for most home runs hit into McCovey Cove?
* Episode 1026: Barry Bonds was intentionally walked 5 times as an inning's leadoff hitter.
* Episode 1062: Barry Bonds's OBP in 2002 was higher than Neifi Pérez's OPS.
* Episode 1199: How long does it take for the last batter each season to fall below Bonds's 2004 season OPS?
* Episode 1231: Barry Bonds may be undervalued because bWAR does not take IBB into account. His WPA just from IBB was over 10!
* Episode 1252: Barry Bonds had 102 games with a stolen base *and* a home run.
* Episode 1493: We repeat: Barry Bonds was intentionally walked 5 times as an inning's leadoff hitter.

## Hall of Fame

Bonds's involvement with performance-enhancing drugs was a perennial talking point each time the Hall of Fame ballot came up, often in conjunction with Roger Clemens, another outstanding but problematic player.

* Episode 114: Both Ben and Sam put Barry Bonds on their hypothetical Hall of Fame ballots.
* Episode 115: If repopulating the Hall of Fame from scratch, Sam would put Barry Bonds among the first ten players he'd induct.
* Episode 369: Ben and Same are forced to choose between Pete Rose and Barry Bonds as Hall of Fame inductees. (Spoiler alert: No surprise. They pick Barry Bonds.)
* Episode 596: The obligatory discussion of Bonds's failure to be elected to the Hall of Fame, again.
* Episode 792: Another obligatory discussion of Bonds's failure to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
* Episode 1008: Yup, obligatory discussion of Bonds's failure to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
* Episode 1154: C. Trent Rosecrans shares his Hall of Fame ballot, which includes a vote for Barry Bonds.
* Episode 1300: Jay Jaffe previews the Hall of Fame ballot.
* Episode 1326: Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens failed to make progress in the most recent Hall of Fame ballot.
* Episode 1463: Once again, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are on the Hall of Fame ballot.
* Episode 1490: Once again, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens fail to gain support.
* Episode 1636: Jay Jaffe predicts the Hall of Fame results.
* Episode 1785: Guest Dr. Sally Yerkovich discusses the Hall of Fame character clause.
* Episode 1802: Bonds falls short in his last year of eligibility. Ben hoped that this would be the end of Hall of Fame discussion before realizing that Bonds becomes eligible for consideration by the "Modern Game" committee in December 2022, so the saga will resume after a break of less than a year.

## Hypotheticals

* Episode 120: How many home runs would Barry Bonds have hit if he hadn't taken performance-enhancing drugs?
* Episode 212: What would Bonds's slash line be if he were playing today at age 48?
* Episode 364: What would Bonds hit today (2014) as DH?
* Episode 409: What would Bonds hit today (2014)?
* Episode 679: What would Bonds's slash line be if he were playing today at age 50?
* Episode 944: How many clones of Barry Bonds would it take to elevate a team of replacement players, and how would you use them?
* Episode 1006: What if the league didn't collude against Barry Bonds and he played in 2008?
* Episode 1044: What if Ken Griffey, Jr., Barry Bonds, and Derek Jeter were teammates?
* Episode 1233: How good would Barry Bonds have been if pitchers and catchers didn't know they were pitching to Barry Bonds?
* Episode 1975: How many home runs could Barry Bonds hit if he were playing today at age 58?
* Episode 2012: What if Barry Bonds had to use a 30-inch bat instead of his usual 34-inch bat?

## Comparison with other players

Barry Bonds is the yardstick by which other players are measured.

* Episode 642: Hypothetical Roger Clemens vs. Barry Bonds plate appearance.
* Episode 424: Ben and Sam are forced to choose between today's Mike Trout or 2001 Barry Bonds.
* Episode 642: Barry Bonds vs. Roger Clemens player comparison.
* Episode 933: Could Mike Trout beat Barry Bonds's walk record?
* Episode 1064: The hosts once again compare Mike Trout and Barry Bonds.
* Episode 1222: Barry Bonds vs. Mookie Betts.

## Alex Rodriguez

A recurring theme in the early years of the podcast was whether Alex Rodriguez could reach Bonds's home run record. (Spoiler alert: He did not. Bonds hit 762 career home runs; Rodriguez only 696.)

* Episode 113: Ben names Rodriguez as the player with the best chance of beating the record.
* Episode 252: Guest Andy McCullough put the odds at 1000:1. Sam sets 30:1. Andy agrees to stake Sam's $1 bet at 30:1.
* Episode 363: Andy McCullough offers Sam a 90 cent buyout on their $1 bet.
* Episode 665: Comparing Alex Rodriguez's home run production to Barry Bonds.

## Pitching to Barry Bonds

Guests often talk about their experience pitching to Barry Bonds. Some were more successful than others.

* Episode 1005: Dan Haren talks about pitching to Barry Bonds.
* Episode 1092: Dave Bush struck out Barry Bonds 33% of the time.
* Episode 1205: Baseball on the Brain: Bob Tewksbury allowed only three home runs to Barry Bonds.
* Episode 1236: Ron Darling talks about facing Barry Bonds.
* Episode 1238: Randy Johnson talks about facing Barry Bonds.

Occasionally, a teammate will be a guest.

* Episode 1294: F.P. Santangelo talks about playing with Barry Bonds.

## Other significant episodes

* Episode 679: Barry Bonds alleges that MLB colluded to keep him out of the game in 2008.
* Episode 786: A listener asks for advice on how to convince his dad that Barry Bonds was a great baseball player who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. The question is revisited in Episode 983 and Episode 1008.
* Episode 794: How long will Barry Bonds last as the Miami Marlins hitting coach? With follow-ups in Episode 795, Episode 868, and Episode 869 (in which a 51-year-old Barry Bonds hits a home run off a pitching machine on his first swing).
* Episode 929: Sam would get Barry Bonds's slash line as his first baseball tattoo.
* Episode 962: Bonds will not return as Marlins hitting coach.
* Episode 1001: Ben and Grant Brisbee just talk about Barry Bonds.
* Episode 1044: Ben and Jeff consider a line from *Seinfeld* in which George (as potential Yankees Assistant GM) suggests trading for Barry Bonds.
* Episode 1400: Bud Selig talks about Barry Bonds and steroid testing.
* Episode 1523: The Barry Bonds curse. Since releasing Barry Bonds, the Giants haven't had the same left fielder two opening days in a row.
* Episode 1537: Two Bonds-related artifacts were mentioned in the Hall of Fame artifact draft.
* Episode 1551: AJ Schnack talks about interviewing Barry Bonds for his *30 for 30* documentary on the 1998 home run race.
* Episode 1687: Frequent Stat Blast contributor Adam Ott talks about Barry Bonds, among other things.