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73 Homers!
by David Fleitz |
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Barry Bonds' first Topps baseball card, from the 1986 Traded series. After Barry Bonds broke Babe Ruth's 80-year-old record of 170 walks in a season, it was interesting to read this quote: "When I go up against an ordinary pitcher, one I can hit with my eyes shut, he passes me if there is anyone on the bases. So, the only chance I have to get any hits is when no one is on or when one of the star pitchers of the league is in the box. I think the big leagues ought to pass a rule either forbidding the passing of a batter purposely or to let each runner on the sacks advance a base. That would prevent their passing me with a runner on third."
Who said that? Barry Bonds in 2001? No, Shoeless Joe Jackson said this to a Cleveland paper in June of 1913.
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Now that Barry Bonds' amazing 73-homer season is finished, let's look at some of the details of that unprecedented offensive campaign. Bonds hit 36 home runs on the road and 37 at home. The final breakdown of homers with men on base: None on: 46 One on: 21 Two on: 4 Three on: 2 Total: 73 All of his last 9 home runs, and 17 of his last 20, were solo shots. Other teams simply panicked and walked Bonds if anyone was on base, especially later in the season. This is what kept Bonds from driving in a larger number of runs. Bonds hit home runs off 58 different pitchers. Bonds hit three homers each off Chan Ho Park (Dodgers), Curt Schilling (D-backs), and Jason Middlebrook (Padres). He hit two each off nine different pitchers and one each off 46 others. Mark McGwire, however, hit his 70 homers off 65 different pitchers in 1998. Bonds hit at least one home run against every National League team. He also homered against three American League teams in interleague play, meaning that he homered against 18 different ballclubs. He hit 11 home runs against the Padres, 10 against the Rockies, and 9 against the Diamondbacks. He hit only one each against the Expos and Cardinals. The only team that Bonds failed to homer against was the Texas Rangers, who held him off the board in an interleague series on July 15-16-17 in Texas. Home runs by month: April: 11 May: 17 June: 11 July: 6 August: 12 September: 12 October: 4 Bonds' longest homer came against Scott Elarton of the Rockies on September 9 in the thin air of Denver. It traveled 488 feet, and was the first of three he hit that day. His second-longest homer of the season was the record-tying 70th, against Houston's Wilfredo Rodriguez. It carried 480 feet at Enron Field in Houston. McGwire hit longer homers than Bonds. Five of McGwire's 70 shots in 1998 traveled over 500 feet, with a 545-footer as his longest blast that year. 47 of Bonds' 73 home runs traveled 400 feet or more, as did 47 of the 70 hit by McGwire three years ago. Bonds hit three off 21-game winner Curt Schilling and two off Oakland's 20-game winner Mark Mulder, but failed to hit any off other outstanding pitchers like Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, or Tom Glavine. McGwire likewise failed to connect off Johnson, Maddux, or Glavine in 1998. So, what does this teach us? I used to think that McGwire's record of 70 would stand for a long time, but I'm not so sure about Bonds and his mark of 73. If a player hit 12-15 homers a month, every month of the season, he could hit 80 or so. Bonds could have hit nearly 80 homers if he hadn't slumped in July. Someone may hit that many, so I'm not going to bet against that happening some day, maybe sooner than later. |
