Last time we had a 9-1 win for 1962. Skipping past the multi-photo subsets in '62, lands us at the titanic battle at #320.
Hank Aaron is pictured at Milwaukee County Stadium. Henry Aaron was one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived. He was an excellent right fielder who won three Gold Gloves. He was a real speed threat, stealing 240 bases despite playing much of his career in an era where the stolen base was seldom used. He was a marvelous hitter, with a .305 lifetime average and winning two batting titles. He walked more than he struck out for his career. But of course, Hammerin' Hank is best known for his power. He broke Babe Ruth's career record with 755 over 23 seasons, a record that stood for decades, and is considered by many to be the real home run king. The record was achieved not by a few unreal seasons, but by amazing consistency - he hit at least 20 home runs a year for 20 years (1955 to 1974), topping 30 home runs in 15 of those seasons. To this day he is the all-time leader with 2,297 RBI and 6,858 total bases. Unfortunately he was not surrounded by a lot of talent during his career, but the three times he made the postseason he continued his greatness, hitting over .300 in each series, and hitting .362 with 6 HR and 16 RBI in 17 total games. After his career, he took on a front office role with the Braves, and owned chains of restaurants and car dealerships. He died in 2021.
Barry Bonds follows through at Shea Stadium. Foul ball? Popup? In six day games at Shea in '86, Bonds went 2-for-20, with both hits being singles. 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. Bonds has been a Giants special instructor since 2014, and the Barry Bonds Family Foundation has operated since 1993.
Wow, now that's a match up! Aaron all the way!
ReplyDeleteboth cards have really blurry backgrounds, so I must go with Hank!
ReplyDeleteAaron.
ReplyDeleteAaron hands down
ReplyDelete87
ReplyDeleteI have lingering sentiment for Bonds, even at his worst [or at his best] - but Aaron is my pick to click.
ReplyDeleteGoing with Aaron, I've seen that Bonds card way too many times.
ReplyDeleteWhoa. Pretty cool that these two guys ended up receiving the same number in their respective sets. Although I'd rather have one of these Aarons over 50 copies of the Bonds rookie... based on looks... my vote goes to Barry. I have always loved the look of this card.
ReplyDeleteAaron all the way. Not that the Bonds isn't great, but the Aaron is greater all around.
ReplyDeleteTough call. The Bonds is so familiar it's like family. It's also obtained (well, at last if I wanted another copy). The Aaron is likely something I won't ever see in my collection. I can't go against, ultimately, 1987 because it was such a part of my formative years in collecting.
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