Barry Bonds: Not Many RBIs

by David Fleitz
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P.S.  Sammy Sosa hit his 50th and 51st homers on Sunday.  Sosa has 133 RBI so far this season, 25 more than Bonds with four fewer home runs.

When Barry Bonds hit his 50th home run of the season last week, I was surprised to see that he only had 98 runs batted in.

Since 50 of those 98 RBI came from Bonds driving in himself on home runs, that means that he managed to drive in only 48 of his teammates.

So, I went to the database to find out if anyone had ever hit more than 10 homers and drove in less than twice as many runs as his total of homers.  Here's what I found:

                      Year       HR    RBI  RBI per HR
Gross, Wayne          1985       11     18     1.63 
Aguayo, Luis          1987       12     21     1.75 
Schroeder, Bill       1984       14     25     1.78 
Hill, Glenallen       2000       16     29     1.81 
Burks, Ellis          1994       13     24     1.84 
Gant, Ron             2000       20     38     1.90 
Maas, Kevin           1990       21     41     1.95 
Bonds, Barry          2001       55    108     1.96
Hoiles, Chris         1992       20     40     2.00 
Deer, Rob             1992       32     64     2.00 
Balboni, Steve        1990       17     34     2.00 

Most of these guys, like Deer and Balboni, were big, hard-swinging guys who had low batting averages and struck out a lot.  Bonds, who now has 55 homers and 108 RBI, sticks out like a sore thumb on this list.

My next question was: how many RBI did all the 50-homer hitters drive in?

                       Year    HR     RBI  RBI per HR

Foxx        Jimmie     1938    50     175    3.50 
Wilson      Hack       1930    56     191    3.41 
Foxx        Jimmie     1932    58     169    2.91 
Ruth        Babe       1921    59     171    2.89 
Foster      George     1977    52     149    2.86 
Sosa        Sammy      2000    50     138    2.76 
Ruth        Babe       1927    60     164    2.73 
Mize        Johnny     1947    51     138    2.70 
Ruth        Babe       1928    54     142    2.62 
Griffey Jr. Ken        1997    56     147    2.62 
Griffey Jr. Ken        1998    56     146    2.60 
Fielder     Cecil      1990    51     132    2.58 
Ruth        Babe       1920    54     137    2.53 
Belle       Albert     1995    50     126    2.52 
Greenberg   Hank       1938    58     146    2.51 
Mantle      Mickey     1956    52     130    2.50 
Kiner       Ralph      1947    51     127    2.49 
Mays        Willie     1955    51     127    2.49 
Sosa        Sammy      1998    66     158    2.39 
Vaughn      Greg       1998    50     119    2.38 
Mantle      Mickey     1961    54     128    2.37 
Kiner       Ralph      1949    54     127    2.35 
Maris       Roger      1961    61     142    2.32 
McGwire     Mark       1999    65     147    2.26 
Sosa        Sammy      1999    63     141    2.23 
Anderson    Brady      1996    50     110    2.20 
McGwire     Mark       1996    52     113    2.17 
Mays        Willie     1965    52     112    2.15
McGwire     Mark       1997    58     123    2.12 
McGwire     Mark       1998    70     147    2.10 
Bonds       Barry      2001    55     108    1.96

Wow.  Hack Wilson, in 1930, hit only one more homer than Bonds has now, and drove in 191 runs!

So, why doesn't Bonds have more RBI to his credit? 

Does he hit poorly in the clutch?  Does he hit poorly with runners on base?  Are the Giants not getting runners on base in front of him?  Are other Giants driving in all the runners before Bonds gets up to bat?  Or, is Bonds simply hitting a lot of bases-empty homers?

Every other 50-homer man has driven in more runs per homer than Barry Bonds.  There's probably a good reason, though I don't know what it is.  I'll look at the Giants and their run production and try to find a few answers.

In the meantime, I find it incredible that Pie Traynor of the Pirates drove in 124 runs in 1928, and hit only three home runs.  An even more amazing line of stats was turned in by Lave Cross of the A's in 1902.  Cross drove in 108 runs with no homers at all!

.I'll bet Pie Traynor and Lave Cross hit well with runners on base.