What Gets to Me About Bonds...

[Bubbles]

I just finished listening to my "And The Crowd Goes Wild" CD. One of the topics was about Mark McGwire's HR record. And then I got to thinking (BTW, thinking hurts, that's why some people never do it ;)).

Why aren't pitchers pitching to Bonds when they pitched to McGwire?

McGwire was caught with andro, and had nobody hitting behind him. Bonds MAY have used steriods, and has nobody hitting behind him. Granted, McGwire was more of a hit-or-miss guy (In his record-breaking season, he hit 70 homers and 61 singles), but when he connected, that ball went into orbit.

Has anyone else thought about this, and if so, what were the conclusions arrived at?

[Lance]

Bubbles,

This is an interesting question. I will make some guesses. First, I don't think you need to mention Andro and steroids in the context of your question. The effect of these substances would already be reflected in the performances of these two players. Thus, I think you are double counting their effect. Due to stance, eye, etc., Bonds could be getting more accidental walks than McGwire did. Change in umpires' strike zones could also possibly come into play. The players hitting ahead of Bonds could be more likely to set up walk situations for Bonds than the players hitting ahead of McGwire did for him. These are just wild guesses. But I think you have already touched on the most important reason: Bonds is a much better hitter than McGwire. Walking Bonds makes more sense because Bonds is more likely to do damage than McGwire was-the type of damage that advances runners. Bonds is also much more likely to get on base if you don't walk him, which adds further incentive to walk him.

[sq764]

What I don't get is if you are going to walk him anyway, why not just drill him in the ribs instead.. Much more fun.