Bonds Still MVP? No Question

Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, the debate over who should be National League MVP is not a debate. Or at least it shouldn’t be. Outside of an unlikely collapse in the final month of the season, this “debate” is really just another Barry Bonds coronation.Perhaps the sports journalism community is feeling that lull in the season where we know there’s going to be a great race for the playoffs coming up in the next few weeks, but outside of the Olympics there’s not a whole lot to write about. Or maybe it’s just about trying to stir up another compelling who-should-be MVP argument because readers love that stuff (I know I always have).

I’m going to say this now, and I’m sure I’ll have to say this at least a dozen more times between now and early November when MLB hands out the big award: NL MVP Barry Bonds — that’s it. His seventh (seventh!) of his career and fourth in a row.

No matter how you look at the statistics, or even attempt to contemplate the vague concept of leading a team and providing an indeterminable value, Bonds is still in his own league.

Just like last year. And the year before. And the year before.

Look, those three guys in St. Louis are all great ballplayers and any team would be lucky to have any one of them. Scott Rolen has really come into his own this season, Jim Edmonds has emerged as the absolute premiere center fielder in baseball, and Albert Pujols is going to destroy records left and right if he can keep this up. Once Bonds retires, it’s a pretty safe bet that Pujols will collect a few (or several) MVP awards himself. He’d already have two if Bonds didn’t exist. Pujols is a young player to be admired and appreciated, but let’s not be ridiculous and take what Bonds is doing for granted.

I can hear the Bonds-hating devil’s advocates now. But Jay, you were born and raised in the Bay Area so of course you’re going to say Bonds should be MVP. This is interesting because it’s both true and completely incorrect. Allow me to elaborate…

As a Giants fan, I’m more likely to assert Bonds’ superiority because I understand something that the average baseball fan does not: Bonds is even better than you think. I’m not kidding. Since 2000, it’s realistic to say that I’ve probably seen at least 70% of Bonds’ at-bats and a much higher percentage if you count highlights. The guy has a presence and effect on the game like no one else in history, not even Babe Ruth. And I’m not talking about the superficial things like the “shift” that defenses employ against him (as they did against the great Ted Williams). I’m talking about how his presence is always felt; even if he’s not in the game, the possibility of number 25 coming out to pinch hit lingers in the mind of the opposing team. You can feel it. We know it, they know it, and they know we know it.

On the other hand, baseball has always been about statistics, and this is my obvious rebuttal to any suggestion that I’m a biased Giants fan. You look at Bonds’ numbers this year, and they’re gaudy. Then you stack his numbers up against the other great players in the league and they’re even more incredible. As of the end of August 22nd, here’s how Bonds compares next to Pujols, Rolen, Edmonds, and the Dodger’s Adrian Beltre…

There’s no denying that all five of these players are putting up some impressive numbers. Side by side, can you really argue against the stance that Bonds towers above the others? I’ve always felt that OPS is the best stat in baseball, because it combines the key elements to a good offensive player, accounting for driving in runs and simply getting on base. Bonds leads them all by nearly 400 points! Furthermore, the fact that Bonds gets on base almost 20% more often than the next best player is astonishing. Let that sink in for a minute.

The only category in which another player has a significant lead is Rolen’s 110 RBIs against Bonds’ 79 — a notable difference of 31. The rub is, Rolen has 146 more official at-bats. Without even factoring in that Bonds’ supporting line-up in San Francisco is hardly as opportunistic as St. Louis, if he were to match Rolen’s 432 at-bats at his current rate of production, he’d have 119 RBIs. He’d also have just shy of 53 home runs with over a month left to go in the season. You’d better believe that if given the chance, he’d deliver. This is why opposing teams have been walking him at a record pace, and is also why it is unlikely that another hitter will ever win the triple crown (unless of course Bonds gets traded to the Cardinals next season).

Even though he had already proven himself as one of the all-time greats, I’ll never forget the moment when it really hit me that Bonds was beyond special. You may remember the highlights. It was July of 2003 during an important division game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the same day Bonds turned 39 years old.

In a 2-2 ballgame in the top of the ninth inning with two outs, Giants’ reliever Tim Worrell allows a single to left field, presumably scoring Craig Counsell from second for the go-ahead run. Bonds, who has won eight gold gloves but admitted himself he doesn’t have the best arm, scoops up the ball and delivers a perfect one-hopper to the plate. The crowd at Pac Bell obviously went wild. And as Bonds jogged confidently back into the Giants’ dugout, only then did we realize that he was set to lead off the bottom of the ninth. My girlfriend turned to me as we stood, still applauding, and said what 42,000 other people in that stadium were all thinking, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if he sent us home now?”

What do you think happened on the first pitch?

I felt like I was twelve-years-old again. Look, the point is, what Bonds has been doing since the spring of 2001 is something we’re all going to remember and as baseball fans should be thankful that we were lucky enough to witness such a remarkable display of talent. My grandchildren will be jealous. Let’s not take him for granted. Deep down, we all know who baseball’s most valuable player is, statistics or not.