Another Bonds Rant.

Barry Bonds in 2004 is having one of the best seasons ever in baseball history. A team whose second-best everyday player is Marquis Freakin' Grissom is challenging for the NL wild card solely because of Barry Bonds. He is not only the MVP of the NL in 2004, he might be having the most valuable season a player has ever had in the history of baseball.

I didn't think I'd live to see a .500 on-base% for a season. Boggs gave it a go in the mid-'80s, but I didn't think it would ever happen in my lifetime. Not only has Bonds achieved the highest on-base% ever last season with .582, he's about to go over .500 for the fourth-straight season. In fact, as of today, he's well over .600, at .612. Completely historical, unprecedented, unbelievable, mindboggling, game-altering. Don't tell me Rolen is a better fielder. Rolen would have to do something similarly historical -- bat .400, 57-game hitting streak, 190 rbis -- before he can enter the MVP discussion with Bonds.

Plus, just in case nobody noticed, Bonds also hits for power. 35 hrs and a slugging% of .822 in 286 official at-bats ... 286 times the opponent actually pitched to him rather than just walk him.

So what gets me going this morning? The Daily Quickie at espn.com (the link probably won't last long, since it's updated daily and quickly).


Guy tries to make a case for Adrian Beltre, of all people:

"Then there's Adrian Beltre: Who deserves it more than any of them and will get some pub after becoming the first to 40 HRs. Let's review his criteria:

He's got the stats (.334, 40 HR, 94 RBI); his team is up in the standings (Dodgers lead NL West by 5); he gets the "Breakout Bounce" that happens in a player's first monster year."


Before you get carried away with Adrian Beltre or any other player not named "Barry Bonds," let me direct your attention to Barry's staggering situational stats which are often used to determine "clutch" performance.

Barry Bonds is batting .398 with runners on base, .386 with runners in scoring position, and .429 with runners in scoring position and two outs.

I know he has already won six MVP awards and we can all get a bit jaded by his excellence, but let those numbers sink in for a minute. Then tell me that Adrian Beltre "deserves it more."