Heard this on the radio this morning and the other thread on Griffey Jr. made me think of it.
Griffey Jr. made the All-Century team (Barry Bonds did not) and Junior was named the Player of the Decade for the 1990s, which you can't argue to much.
However, I didn't realize that Barry Bonds AVERAGED a 30-homer, 30-steal season for EVERY YEAR of the 1990s. That's incredible. The 30-30 list of guys who have done it ONCE is fairly small but to average that type of season for 10 years straight...wow.
PS - I'm really not a Bonds shill...but that stat blew me away.
At least some day maybe I'll understand why some day maybe you never can. Or something like that.
Not even a fetus - Bonds managed to STILL outshine the now famous Yankee club of 1929...
It's hard to argue against Griffey being player of the 90's, even though Bonds cleaned up. When I think back to 90's baseball, Bonds isn't exactly the poster boy. I think of Griffey's rise in Seattle (peaking with the run he scored from first base to end the 1995 ALDS against the Yankees, completing the comeback). From there, you can't ignore the annoying early 90's Blue Jays squads, Atlanta's pitching, the longball, Albert Belle as one of the most hated and talked about players in the league, etc.
Bonds has always been the quiet type, and nobody thought twice about the guy so long as he was stringing along 30/30. 73 will be the death of the poor guy. :-)
Originally posted by cfgbIt's hard to argue against Griffey being player of the 90's, even though Bonds cleaned up. When I think back to 90's baseball, Bonds isn't exactly the poster boy. I think of Griffey's rise in Seattle (peaking with the run he scored from first base to end the 1995 ALDS against the Yankees, completing the comeback).
Bonds has always been the quiet type, and nobody thought twice about the guy so long as he was stringing along 30/30. 73 will be the death of the poor guy. :-)
If you ignore hype and focus on statistics, then it's much harder to argue FOR Griffey as player of the 90's. odessasteps already pointed out the MVPs and win shares. Griffey did get 10 Gold Gloves, but Bonds had 8 and his defense was less hyped but pretty outstanding. Griffey had a few more HRs (382 vs. 361 for Bonds) and RBIs (1091 vs. 1076). But, Bonds had more runs (1091 for Bonds vs. 1002 for Griffey), many more steals (343 vs. 151; in fact Bonds ran more AND was caught less, in percentage terms), a higher OBP, higher slugging and (obviously) a higher OPS.
Look, I hate/despise Bonds. I think he's a jerk, and I boo him everytime I go to the park. But, he is the best player of the 90s and easily the best player of the last 20 years (probably the best player since Willie Mays in his prime). Just because there is a common misperception that Griffey was superior doesn't make it true. And, the stats reflect that.
I have no doubt that unless the Jays are in contention, Delgado will be wearing another uniform by August. I have faith in Riccardi to get something good, however....unlike Beane (who I think is a horribly overrated GM)