5 Best Hitters in Baseball

#76
#76
Bonds without any type of help, would he still have over 600 homeruns?

You know it!

Of course we all know that Bond's greatest achievement in life was a guest role on In Living Color.
 
#77
#77
JZVOL said:
7 out of 22 times? That must be why was so bad once he got to the postseason- he was so tired from carrying his team there.
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and he never gets any real pitches to hit. Why would a manager elect to throw to Bonds. Few ever have.

Many of the "stars" struggle in the post season while their less talented brethren shine. Often because the horses aren't being pitched to in the the post-season.
 
#78
#78
JZVOL said:
7 out of 22 times? That must be why was so bad once he got to the postseason- he was so tired from carrying his team there.
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He certainly never got anything to hit. I don't think the Braves feared Jeff King much when he was in Pittsburgh and I don't think the JT Snows and Benito Santiagos of the world created terror among the Marlins.
 
#79
#79
OrangeEmpire said:
1.) B. Bonds, he has about 23-24 inches of wood to make contact with, scary!
2.) Vlad the Impaler
3.) T. Helton
4.) M. Ordonez
5.) M. Ramirez
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Helton's tough at this point. I'm not sure he has the pop any more to strike fear into opposing pitchers. He's still an OBP machine, but RBIs and slugging are way off.
 
#80
#80
I do see what both of you are saying. However he had bad postseasons 6 out of 7 times. He also wasn't feared like he is now when he was in Pittsburgh yet he still didn't bat over 265 in his three postseasons with the Pirates.
 
#81
#81
JZVOL said:
I do see what both of you are saying. However he had bad postseasons 6 out of 7 times. He also wasn't feared like he is now when he was in Pittsburgh yet he still didn't bat over 265 in his three postseasons with the Pirates.
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Inexplicably, he wasn't the masher in Pitt that he has been in SF
 
#82
#82
BigPapaVol said:
Tony Gwynn was a great hitter, if you're looking for batting crowns. He's not a hitter that opposing teams game plan around. Ditto Carew, Rose, etc.
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That's fair. Some guys are easier to keep in the park. Some guys are easier to get out.
 
#83
#83
JZVOL said:
I do see what both of you are saying. However he had bad postseasons 6 out of 7 times. He also wasn't feared like he is now when he was in Pittsburgh yet he still didn't bat over 265 in his three postseasons with the Pirates.
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Yes, he was. Everyone knew that if Bonds didn't beat you Jay Bell, Jeff King, and Andy Van Slyke certainly weren't going to do so. Barry just finally quit trying to hit bad pitches and started taking 2 walks a night.
 
#86
#86
hatvol96 said:
Look where Bonds has played and who he's played with over the years. He could have behaved like Roger Clemens and jumped to the Yankees or Braves to bandwagon his way to a ring. Instead he's tried to do it on his own. How many times have the Pirates been to the postseason since he left? How many times had the Giants been in the postseason since moving to the Bay before he arrived? The fact that the three best players Bonds has ever played with are Bobby Bonilla, Matt Williams, and Jeff Kent makes what he and the teams he has played on even more amazing.
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Just to clarify the pt about the Braves, John S. was on the tube last week talking about the deal for Bonds in 94, I believe, that many thought was a done deal. John S. said he didn't have the $$ to sign Maddux and Bonds, so he signed Maddux. I think Bonds was ready to go there with the hopes of joining a franchise where he could win a ring.
 
#87
#87
Lexvol said:
:detective: It is not exactly inexplicable.

Of all the hitters mentioned, if I were a pitcher I would fear Vlad the the most.
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Really? I think Vlad would be the easiest to throw to, given that he'll swing at anything and never walks.
 
#88
#88
wbarron said:
Just to clarify the pt about the Braves, John S. was on the tube last week talking about the deal for Bonds in 94, I believe, that many thought was a done deal. John S. said he didn't have the $$ to sign Maddux and Bonds, so he signed Maddux. I think Bonds was ready to go there with the hopes of joining a franchise where he could win a ring.
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Even if that's accurate, which I have good reason to doubt it is, Bonds has been a free agent multiple times since then and never jumped to one of the payroll behemoths. Also, he's never demanded to be traded to a contender in the few seasons the Giants weren't competitive.
 
#89
#89
BigPapaVol said:
Really? I think Vlad would be the easiest to throw to, given that he'll swing at anything and never walks.
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I thought about that before I posted, because the converse is also true. You can never make the perfect pitch just inside/outside the strike zone. He will rarely watch strike 3.
 
#90
#90
hatvol96 said:
Yes, he was. Everyone knew that if Bonds didn't beat you Jay Bell, Jeff King, and Andy Van Slyke certainly weren't going to do so. Barry just finally quit trying to hit bad pitches and started taking 2 walks a night.
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That's fine but out the pitches he swung at he still didn't hit. His OBP was only .309 until his only good postseason in 2002. Also until 2002 he had more k's (20) than walks (17).
 
#91
#91
Lexvol said:
I thought about that before I posted, but the converse is also true. You can never make the perfect pitch just inside/outside the strike zone. He will rarely watch strike 3.
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my thought there is that he's a free swinger and still bats north of 300 with power every year. That means he's most often hitting the pitcher's pitch and hammering it. Lot's of guys can hit at 2-1 or 3-1, but Vlad's always pounding it from a hole.

I'd still rather pitch to him than a Bonds type who's going to force you to be exact or walk him.
 
#92
#92
hatvol96 said:
Even if that's accurate, which I have good reason to doubt it is, Bonds has been a free agent multiple times since then and never jumped to one of the payroll behemoths. Also, he's never demanded to be traded to a contender in the few seasons the Giants weren't competitive.
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I think that I heard Scherholtz allude to the same deal on national television. It sounded like the Braves were in the hunt, but wanted to keep their pitching staff together.

Bonds has been very content on the West Coast. Yes, the media has been a consistent bother, but it would be much worse in the eastern time zone.
 
#94
#94
I have a question. What makes a closer a closer and a starter a starter. J Papplbaun(SP)? is a good closer but why does he only close? Is it because his arm is not good to go over a certain amount of innings? Why dont pitchers rotate starting and closing?
 
#95
#95
The amount of stress put on the arm either going long or short.

Boston's thought was that Jonathan Papelbon's arm would tire out throwing short innings and hard.

Danny Graves is a classic example of what will/can go wrong by moving a pitcher around.

John Smoltz is an example of a world class talent!
 
#96
#96
Fine Vol said:
I have a question. What makes a closer a closer and a starter a starter. J Papplbaun(SP)? is a good closer but why does he only close? Is it because his arm is not good to go over a certain amount of innings? Why dont pitchers rotate starting and closing?
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It's as much mental as physical. There is a very different mental approach to each role. Closers also need to allow very low WHIP. While all pitchers need to keep WHIP as low as possible, it's especially important for closers. Some guys can give up loads of baserunners and still make it work over the course of 7-8 innings (a la Glavine), but closers in that mold have the lifespan of a dog chasing cars.
 
#98
#98
Vlad hits a lot of bad pitches out of the park.

Prince Fielder looks like he will be a hell of a player.

Renteria seems to get the bat on the ball a lot.
 
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