barry bonds at 600 and beyond?

[jefhatfield]

will barry catch hank aaron at 755? or the babe at 714? or even willie mays at 660?

remember, he is 38

what do you think?

[Rower_CPU]

He's got a shot if he stays consistent.

One of the things he used to have a problem with is slumping, or just plain mental breakdowns when he gets off track.

[MacAztec]

I think he will end up in the high 600s and probly retire, maybe get to 700

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
He's got a shot if he stays consistent.

One of the things he used to have a problem with is slumping, or just plain mental breakdowns when he gets off track.

and now that he is already 38 (or just about there), he doesn't have a lot of time for slumps or injuries

i can possibly see him being willie stargell like or cal ripken like and playing until he is 41 or 42 but that's it

i see him getting into the high 600s (660s-690s) before he retires or loses his home run hitting ability

if he hit 700, i would be amazed and happy for him...but 755? no way in this lifetime

hank aaron was a one of a kind phenomenon that will not be repeated any time soon...ken griffey jr. and sammy sosa are possibilities in my book but aaron put the bar up very high

if bonds somehow retires with most home runs (most coveted us sports record) in one season and most home runs ever, the press will deem him the greatest ball player ever

i give that title to ty cobb or ted williams but if ichiro has another five seasons like he did last season...super highly unlikely here...and then retires, he will be on that short list

and if ichiro retires then and somehow has several al batting titles and retires from american baseball with an over .400 average, then he will be the greatest ever...he did get best rookie of the year (and not being super young) and got the al batting title with a lot of hits and not a bad average to boot along with his great fielding skills (and his team racked up a lot of wins)

any player who can repeat that long term (for five or more years) is the greatest of their generation and perhaps of all time

williams and cobb did not collect lots of world series titles like some of the yankees, but they ended up individually the best baseball players of all time...cobb is a great movie, but what an a-hole he was if tommy lee jones' depiction of him was even half true...yikes:p

[jelloshotsrule]

if bonds plays til he's 41 or 42 like you said he might. without huge injuries... then i think it's likely he'll do it. if he's 38. and probably has another 15+ homers in him in this season (i'm guessing that's a low estimate)... then he just needs about 45/year to do it. now, don't get me wrong, that's not easy. but this is assuming he holds on to something close to current form. not too likely.

also, no way ichiro will retire with 400 plus b.a. he probably won't even top 400 in a single year..

if he did, there'd be something to talk about for sure.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by jelloshotsrule
if bonds plays til he's 41 or 42 like you said he might. without huge injuries... then i think it's likely he'll do it. if he's 38. and probably has another 15+ homers in him in this season (i'm guessing that's a low estimate)... then he just needs about 45/year to do it. now, don't get me wrong, that's not easy. but this is assuming he holds on to something close to current form. not too likely.

also, no way ichiro will retire with 400 plus b.a. he probably won't even top 400 in a single year..

if he did, there'd be something to talk about for sure.

a small man even by japanese baseball standards, it would be amazing to see ichiro hit .400 even once in the american major leagues

he had a late start, so he would have to do that more than once, win another couple of titles, and perhaps finish above ty cobb's .367 lifetime to be called the greatest ever

hey, if he gets .400 once and gets one more batting title, never having even started his career in us, he makes my list

there is a huge myth around ichiro as this strange thing of nature in the press, but he will come back down to earth off his high, and if he can fall, and pick himself up, and fall, and rise again, and do those above mentioned things, then he will be great long term as well as putting together a great season last year

we will see though i would like to see that many games won by my giants...he he

barry at 600+ with a giants uniform on will do wonders for sf's morale

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
…
we will see though i would like to see that many games won by my giants...he he

barry at 600+ with a giants uniform on will do wonders for sf's morale

Hell, yeah! I'm a Giants fan, too (49ers, too). Since I'm from far NorCal, that's the closest big city with pro teams.

The Giants are doing well, but damn Arizona is just too tough.:mad:

[jelloshotsrule]

baseball is just so dang boring....

it's really only the single players that keep it at all intersting...

[jefhatfield]

i like the movement of football more, but nothing reaches the excitement when barry was going for #71

what in football matches that and makes the whole stadium light up in flashbulbs? the single regular season home run record is the biggest american record in sports

the 100 meter is also up there as is having the most olympic gold medals or most super bowl wins, but nothing matches the instant recognition and gratification of watching a baseball player do one up on the single season home run record

one day ken griffey jr. or sammy sosa may hit #74, but if it's not them, i can't imagine who it will be...it may be a very long wait

and the thing about steroids? bah humbug...gives you strength, running speed, swimming speed, and aggression but does not improve hand to eye contact and bat finesse...golfers would then be using them

it's barry's talent which makes him do what he does...many weaker batters let the ball fly over the fence, too... but barry's eye for the ball and timing is his gift

now if barry was a bodybuilder or weight lifter, i would not be happy if he used steroids...it would be unfair