Player Profile: Barry Bonds

I have 138 cards of Barry Bonds. This one is from 1990 Donruss. 

Playing career: If not for steroids, people would probably consider Barry Bonds the greatest hitter of all time. He holds the career record for home runs, 762, and single season record, 73 in 2001 (the only year he hit 50 or more HR). His walk totals are off-the-charts, in large part because his batting eye was so good you couldn’t throw him a strike (and no-one has ever explained how steroids help your battin eye). It’s a shame that his legacy is tainted by his use of a drug whose impact on his numbers can only be guessed at, but not explained.

My memories: I never had the visceral hatred of Barry Bonds that seemed to swirl around him even before he joined the Giants. He was just a really good hitter, by the end of his career so good that it was really hard to believe that it was all natural.

Where he is now: Bonds returned to the Giants as a spring training instructor earlier this year. He is also currently appealing his obstruction-of-justice convicition relating to the federal investigation into steroids in baseball.

Google Autocomplete results: He is third when you type Barr, between Barron’s, the financial newspaper, and Barrio Chino, a restaurant on the Lower East Side. There do not appear to be any other prominent Barry Bondses.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Bobby Bonds.