Even before people accused him of using steroids, Bonds accomplished things on the baseball field that most can only dream of.
Bonds started his career in the National League in 1986, as a member of the Pittsburg Pirates.
His first four years in the League started slow and his numbers were very average for an every-day MLB player.
From then on out, there was nothing average about Bonds’ career.
Throughout the next 10 years, from 1990-1999, Bonds’ numbers increased dramatically across the board.
He eclipsed 140 hits and 90 walks 8 out of 10 years. The exceptions were the 1994 and ’99 season, in which he only played 112 and 102 games respectively, due to injury. His average on base percentage for those 10 seasons was .432. This means over this 10 year span Bonds got on base over 43% of the time he came to bat. For those of you who don’t …show more content…
From 1990-1999, Bonds stole over 30 bases 6 out of 10 seasons and never committed more than 6 errors in a single season.
Barry Bonds is most-known for his ability to hit home runs. Hitting more than 25 ten out of ten times and more than 40 three times throughout this 10 year period, Bonds was one of the most prolific home run hitters of his time, even before the steroid accusations started to pile up. Although he was very good at it, hitting home runs clearly wasn’t his only ability. Bonds should be remembered for his overall ability as a baseball player rather than just hitting home runs.
This becomes most apparent when one views his wide variety of end of season awards.
During this 10 year span I’ve been referring to, Bonds finished in the top 5 in MVP voting 7 out of 10 years, winning it 3 times. He won the Gold Glove for his position 8 times, the Silver Slugger 6 times and was elected to the MLB All-Star game 8