NJ: Barry Bonds

Notes and Judgments

Barry Bonds is considered by many to be a cheater. Regardless of whether that accusation is accurate, though, consider his importance to the preservation and rebirth of one of baseball's proudest franchises in one of America's most interesting cities. In Candlestick Park, the Giants drew poorly in 1992. Many considered the team's days in San Francisco numbered. When Barry Bonds returned to the team in 1993 after a stint with the Pirates, average attendance jumped 13,000 per game. And when San Francisco opened Pacific Bell Park in 2000, the Giants sustained attendance over 40,000 per game for their first five years in the park after having drawn barely 20,000 per game their final five years at Candlestick, or 3Comm Park as it was known in its later days. Why? Certainly there was the allure of a new ballpark, but the fact that the Giants won at least 90 games each of those first five years at the new park certainly contributed too. They made three playoff appearances and made the World Series in 2002. Consider the 2003 Giants for example. They finished 100-61, but other than Bonds had just one player bat .300, and while Bonds got on base 53 percent of the time, no one else on that team reached base more than 39% of the time. And while Bonds slugged .749, the next closest total on the team was .468. On base percentage plus slugging average is a good indicator of a team's run production, and other than Bonds their OPS totals were average. Due to Bonds, whose OPS was 131% over the league average, the Giants had one of the most fearsome offenses in the league. And at Pacific Bell Park, Bonds' towering home runs into McCovey Cove made Giants games fun to watch on television. The Giants organization, for several years, amassed teams mainly of aging, average players, who, when combined with Bonds, formed a playoff-quality team. That success allowed the Giants once again to become a top draw in the Bay area, and perhaps saved their existence in San Francisco.