(low orchestral music) - Barry Bonds was basically
perfect at hitting baseballs. The son and godson of MLB greats, Bonds wielded jaw-dropping
coordination and bat speed. Plus a borderline paranormal
ability to read pitchers and predict what they'd throw. In the '90s, Bonds
developed into an elite, multi-tool player. He hit hard, ran fast, and, after moving to left field, learned how to defend pretty well, too. Around the turn of the millennium, Bonds seemed to discover the joys of performance-enhancing drugs. He condensed his five tools
into one godly sledgehammer. An aging Bonds did nothing
but slug in the 2000s and he did it better than anyone ever has. Those two discrete eras
give Bonds a striking list of achievements and accolades. A run of Gold Gloves in the '90s plus a 40-40 season in '96. In the 2000s, the all-time
single season records for home runs, slugging
percentage and walks. For that, Bonds earned
14 All-Star selections and a record seven NL MVP awards, including one at age 26 and one at 40. And Bonds holds some
monumental career records including the most homers
and walks ever produced. Bonds had his number 25
retired by the Giants and he'd already be a Hall
of Famer if people didn't think of him as a cheater. Despite unparalleled
production and acclaim, Bonds left baseball wearing
zero World Series rings. What exactly made that so? How did two good teams with
Earth's most dominant hitter fall short of a championship? How did Barry Bonds
end up without a title? First, some acknowledgements. One is the caveat that we're
talking about baseball, which puts a hard ceiling on any individual player's influence. You are restricted to
one ninth of the at-bats and you can only field
the balls hit your way. Technically, Bonds could have batted 1.000 for his whole career and never won a game, let alone a World Series, if pitching and the rest of the lineup didn't produce. But there is a caveat to that caveat we must also acknowledge up front. Barry Bonds could be
a pretty bad teammate. Bonds had famous blowups
and dugout brawls. He generated some grim
off-field headlines. And on top of all that, he
was just plain old cruel to a lot of the people around him. This is well-documented and
Bonds himself admits it. Baseball is as much a standup board game as it is a team sport, but insofar as bad vibes can hamper baseball's success, Bonds' vibe-spoiling must be considered. So, bearing that in mind, let's see what happened on the field. Bonds debuted in 1986 for
the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team with new ownership, a
new manager in Jim Leyland, and a rebuilding reputation
after the infamous Pittsburgh drug trials
and threats of relocation the prior year. Bonds was a very good rookie and by 1990, he had fully developed into
a beast in the batter's box, on the base paths and in left field. He made his first All-Star team, won his first Gold Glove, and was named NL MVP for the first time. With Barry as their anchor, Bobby Bonilla raking ahead of him and contributions from
vets like Andy Van Slyke and Sid Bream, the Pirates hit very well and supported a strong pitching staff headlined by 1990 Cy
Young winner, Doug Drabek. The Pirates won the NL
East three seasons in a row in an era when winning your
division sent you straight to the NLCS. But each of these three seasons, Pittsburgh failed to
reach the World Series. In 1990, Bonds carried a
season-ending slump into his first post-season, recording six walks but just three singles the whole series. With other stars also
struggling, the Pirates fell in six games against the
eventual World Champion Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates got a little closer in 1991, taking a 3-2 series lead
against the Atlanta Braves. But the potential clincher
game six in Pittsburgh was a pitcher's duel between
Drabek and Steve Avery and only Avery got a modicum of support to win a 1-0 shutout. The heart of Pittsburgh's batting order, Bonilla, Bonds and Van Slyke,
couldn't must a single hit between them and hardly did
better against John Smoltz in a game seven defeat. Bonds was quoted during
the '91 NLCS saying, "Baseball teams can't
depend on one person." And for the second-straight
post-season, he backed that up. So, that's '90 and '91. The 1992 NLCS was different in a few ways. By '92, the Pirates were a sinking ship. To cut costs, they let
Bonilla walk to the Mets, and traded away All-Star
pitcher John Smiley. It was a foregone conclusion
that Bonds would leave in free agency at season's end. And he almost left earlier. Bonds could have been the
other side of that series. In the spring of '92,
Pittsburgh agreed to trade him to the Braves but Leyland,
exasperated by his crumbling roster, threw such an
explosive fit that Pittsburgh backed out of the trade
the day it was supposed to go public. Even depleted, the Pirates kept winning. Van Slyke played one of his best seasons, and Bonds won his second MVP. Yet, in games one through
four of an NLCS rematch with the team that almost acquired him, Bonds looked like his
usual post-season self. The man one writer
nicknamed "Mr. Noctober," like Reggie Jackson but, you know, not, had just one hit and zero
RBI as Pittsburgh fell behind 3-1 in the series. Game five, though, was kind
of a playoff breakthrough for Bonds. Stirred by a pep talk in
which Leyland was like, hey man, no matter what, you're
about to become a free agent and get paid a lot, so just have fun. Bonds produced. He had two hits, including this RBI double in the middle of a huge first inning. Then he made this all-out
fourth inning catch to stop Ron Gant from driving in a run. Bonds stayed hot in game
six, swatting his first post-season home run off
Tom Glavine to lead off the second inning of a
13-4 Pittsburgh victory. - [Announcer] Deep to right
field, way back and gone. - [Seth] That set up another
game seven in Atlanta and through eight innings,
the Pirates looked like they'd get their revenge. Bonds didn't do much with his bat, but Drabek was splendid on the mound. Pittsburgh entered the
bottom of the ninth up 2-0, three outs away from the World Series. Drabek didn't get any of those outs. First, Atlanta star
Terry Pendleton cracked a lead-off double. Then, Gold Glover Jose Lind
did something incredibly rare, mishandling David
Justice's grounder to allow a man on first and third. - [Announcer] A man who
has made only six errors during the regular season. - [Seth] Drabek walked
former Pirate Sid Bream on four pitches, another rare
event for a master of control. With the bases loaded,
Leyland opted to pull Drabek and mobilize closer Stan Belinda, who immediately surrendered
a sac fly to Ron Gant. Then another walk on a tough call. - [Announcer] He wanted it. He thought it was a strike. - [Seth] But after Brian
Hunter's unthreatening bases-loaded pop-out,
all the Pirates had to do was take care of little used pinch hitter, Francisco Cabrera, who
had no career playoff hits and hardly any playoff
at-bats at that point. On a 2-1 count, Cabrera made good contact and here's where our friend Barry came in. Andy Van Slyke claims
that before that pitch, he suggested Bonds move in. Bonds flashed him a peace
sign and didn't budge. Well, Cabrera's base hit scored
Justice easily from third to tie the game, and as Bonds took an extra
long run from deep left to collect it, the
oldish, weak-kneed Bream rounded third. A perfect throw could have picked off Barry's old teammate and
sent the game to extras, but this throw was far from perfect. Game over. Series over. - [Announcer] Safe! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! - [Seth] Barry's expression
epitomized the feelings of a team that fell just
short of a World Series for the third year in a row. This time, they'd tumbled
from the very precipice of victory. There was little doubt Bonds
would leave in free agency. The only question was whether
the '92 MVP's attitude and history of playoff mediocrity would hurt his market value. It did not. The Giants, the team of
Barry's father and godfather, had come close to leaving for Tampa Bay, but new ownership kept
them in San Francisco and promptly gave Bonds
the richest contract in baseball history to that point. Under new manager Dusty
Baker, Bonds and the Giants had their best season in decades. They entered September
'93 with a healthy lead in the NL West. But they lagged soon thereafter while the second-place Braves rallied. On the last morning of the season, the two teams were tied and
Barry's squad would once again have to inch past Atlanta to go anywhere. The Braves handled the expansion Rockies in their afternoon game, so San Francisco would have to beat the Dodgers to trigger a one-game playoff versus Atlanta. They did not. Rookie pitcher Salomon
Torres fell behind early and Bonds went silent in a
12-1 season-ending defeat. Well, silent with his bat at least. After the loss, Bonds called
Torres all kinds of names, and this from a dude who'd
hit 0-4 with two strikeouts. Still, Bonds was MVP again
and Baker Manager of the Year. Baseball in San Francisco had been saved and things were looking up for the Giants, and then they kinda weren't. In a new era with an additional
divisional playoff round, the Giants didn't win
a single playoff game for the rest of the '90s. They made the post=season in '97, but lost in three games to a Marlins team managed by Barry's old
friend, Jim Leyland, and led at the plate by his
old friend, Bobby Bonilla. After sweeping the Giants,
those Marlins would go on to win the World Series. San Francisco could have
gone back to the playoffs again in '98. To do so, they had to win a
one-game, wildcard tiebreaker against Sammy Sosa and the Chicago Cubs. They fell behind in that one,
but Bonds had opportunities to get them back in it. Down 4-0 in the top of
the seventh, Bonds batted with the bases loaded and
failed for the fourth time that night to get the
ball out of the infield. Down 5-1 in the top of the
ninth, Bonds again batted with the bases loaded and
finally made good contact but right to Sosa. At least that brought in a run. The whole middle of the lineup was cold and couldn't quite rally that inning. All told, the Giants left
11 men on base to lose 5-3, surrendering the wildcard. They missed the post-season again in '99. Bonds showed up that season
looking larger than before. Then he suffered a succession of injuries that limited his availability. 2000 would be the first
season of Bonds' second, equally ringless career. He turned 36 but hit a
career-high 49 homers, a small hint of what was to come. The Giants were in a new ballpark and they contended because
Bonds had some help. San Francisco finally had
a solid pitching staff and Bonds finally had
a friend in the lineup, if not in real life. Bonds and Jeff Kent hated each other. But Kent just about kept
pace with Bonds at the plate. Actually beat him out 2000 NL MVP and stayed hot in the playoffs. Those Giants faced the
New York Mets in an NLDS and took an early series lead,
thanks to a stellar game one start from Levon Hernandez
and a big third inning that featured a three-run
Ellis Burks homer and a Bonds' RBI triple. But in the next two games of that series, Bonds looked more like the Mr.
Noctober of the early '90s. He had one big moment in game two. San Francisco was down 4-1
in the bottom of the ninth, but Bonds doubled. Kent followed with a tough single and pinch hitter J.T.
Snow drove them both in with a heroic homer to tie the game. But the Giants promptly fell behind again because of a dubious decision from Baker. Reliever Felix Rodriguez had
struggled in the ninth inning, but he stayed out for the
tenth and struggled again, surrendering a two-out
RBI single to Jay Payton. - [Announcer] And the
first pitch to Jay Payton. Lined into center field, a base hit. Hamilton being waved around. He will score on a
two-out single by Payton. - [Seth] In the bottom
of that tenth inning, some bad base running hurt the Giants. - [Announcer] Well, you have
to wonder what in the world Armando Rios is thinking about there. - [Seth] That left Bonds
in a do-or-die scenario. Down one run with two
outs and a man on first. Bonds worked a 2-0 count
against John Franco, then had himself a big
ol' cut and whiffed. He took strike two. Then with a full count
took an iffy strike three to end the game. Game three was longer and just as painful. Bonds went hitless including
a strikeout against Franco that ended the top of the ninth tied with a man left on first. After Bonds left men on base again to exit the top of 13th still tied, cult hero Benny Agbayani
walked the thing off. San Francisco didn't even
compete in the decisive game four thanks to none other than
Mets pitcher Bobby Jones. Bonds flew out to conclude
Jones' legendary one-hit, series-clinching complete
game, triggering a huge celebration at Shea Stadium. San Francisco slipped back
out of the playoffs in 2001 but not because Bonds
fell short in big moments. '01 was the year a 37-year-old
Bonds won his first of four straight NL MVPs. And of course, it was
the year Bonds surpassed the single season home
run record Mark McGuire had set as a 34-year-old. It's amazing what you can do
when you're past your prime if you just eat right
and believe in yourself. Anyway, two of Barry's
record 73 homers came in an October game versus the
Dodgers that San Francisco desperately needed to
catch the division-leading Diamondbacks. Number 71 to pass McGuire. Then number 72 just for some extra drama. But despite those clutch
and historic dingers, despite the celebration afterward, the Giants actually dropped
that epic game 11-10. They missed the playoffs while Arizona took their division win all the way to a championship. The Giants finished behind
Arizona again in 2002 but slipped into the
playoffs as a wildcard. Well, first Baker had to
break up a mid-season dugout fight between Bonds and Kent. Then the Giants rallied. Then they won the wildcard. In Bonds' career-long quest for a ring, that '02 run would come
closer and crash harder than any of his teams before or since. Bonds, at last, provided
clutch, consistent hitting throughout that playoff run. He hit three homers to
finally get past the Braves in a five-game NLDS. And in the NLCS, on the
rare occasions the Cardinals didn't walk him, Bonds stayed productive. He was hitless in the decisive game five of that series, but mustered
an eighth-inning sac fly to drive in veteran Kenny
Lofton for the tying run. Then watched Lofton hit
the series-winning walk-off in the ninth. - [Announcer] Field a base hit. The throw by Drew to the plate. The Giants are going to the World Series. - [Seth] At last, after
logging 2,439 career games, 38-year-old Barry Bonds
would play in his first-ever World Series against the Anaheim Angels. And he opened it with a bang, homering in his first-ever
World Series at-bat to kick off a 4-3 Giants
victory on the road. Game two was a dramatic
back-and-forth slugfest. But the Giants cooled off
against Anaheim reliever Francisco Rodriguez
while Tim Salmon's dinger put the Angels up 11-9. Bonds chipped at the
deficit, capping a night mostly spent walking to first
with a thunderous solo shot in the ninth. But that was all the Giants had and the series headed to
San Francisco tied one-all. In game three, the Angels
took a big bite out of Levon Hernandez and a
Giants rally fell way short despite Bonds' third homer of the series. In game four, the Angels
dealt Bonds almost nothing but intentional walks,
while the rest of the Giants woke up and rallied to win
the game and tie the series. In game five, the Angels for
some reason, cut down their intentional walking,
giving both Kent and Bonds pitches to hit. And they hit them. Bonds knocked an RBI double. Kent homered twice in a 16-4 romp. - [Announcer] Did he do it again? Yes, he did! Jeff Kent with his second
two-run homer of this game. - [Seth] The only real drama of that game was Dusty Baker's
3-year-old son and bat boy narrowly escaping a home plate collision, thanks to J.T. Snow's quick hands. That win put the Giants
up 3-2 in the series, on the verge of winning it all. And by the seventh inning of game six, they could practically
taste the champagne. Shawon Dunston had
smacked a two-run homer. Bonds had absolutely
obliterated a pitch from K-Rod. Kent had come through a couple times. Russ Ortiz was dominating on the mound and San Francisco led 5-0. Ortiz allowed a couple hits in seventh which prompted Baker to call
the night for his starter. Amid the transaction, Baker
slipped Ortiz the game ball as a keepsake. Kind of a faux pas but
relatively unpresumptuous given that the Commissioner's
Trophy was already getting nude for the Giants. In any event, the Angels
noticed the thing with the ball, got super mad and, coincidence
or not, began to rally immediately after that
breach of an unwritten rule. Felix Rodriguez took
the mound and promptly surrendered a three-run
shot to the next batter, Scott Spiezio. 5-3 Giants. Bonds wouldn't get another chance to bat but he did influence
the outcome on defense. Darin Erstad homered to make it 5-4 Giants in the bottom of the eighth. Then with Chone Figgins on first base, Garrett Anderson popped up
to left and made Bonds look every bit of 38-years-old. This slapstick routine allowed the runners to reach second and third. Troy Glaus doubled over Bonds'
head to bring both men home and the Angels led 6-5,
completing a comeback the Giants couldn't undo. It was the largest-ever
comeback in a World Series elimination game, shifting
all the momentum to Anaheim for the decisive battle. Bonds' World Series excellence
didn't carry into game seven and Giants, as a whole, fell flat. Anaheim attacked Hernandez
again with a third-inning barrage that won them
the 2002 World Series. For Bonds and the Giants,
this was a devastating tumble from the brink of glory. Kenny Lofton says with that
late five-run lead in game six, he could feel the ring on his finger. After that ring slipped
away, Bonds would never again get close. The '03 Giants improved to 100 wins as Bonds won yet another MVP. But he lost his father Bobby that year and began to feel the
heat of the developing BALCO steroid investigation. Bonds didn't do much in San
Francisco's 2003 NLDS loss to the eventual champion
Marlins, which turned on some narrow, sickening defeats. With the series tied one-all,
the Giants took an 11th inning lead in game three on the road. But Jose Cruz's inexplicable error in the bottom of the
inning opened the door for a Marlins rally. Pudge Rodriguez slapped a
walk-off, two-run single right through that open door. The series ended in game
four, with the not especially fleet of foot J.T. Snow trying
to beat a throw to home plate and failing. This is the point at which
my friend Grant Risby would like me to tell you
that the Giants employed one of the fastest players
in baseball, Eric Young, who could've pinch-run in that scenario, except he didn't make
the post-season roster because they decided to
take two lefty relievers instead, even though the Marlins had almost no left-handed hitters. So, yeah, it was an
upset and it was tough. Bonds wasn't done raking
but he would never again reach the playoffs. After the 2007 season, the
Giants hustled Bonds out the door under a cloud of controversies
stemming from his alleged steroid use and investigation for perjury. He missed out on San
Francisco's run of even-year championships in the 2010s
and never caught on elsewhere as a free agent. So, Barry Bonds retired without a ring, despite a handful of chances. Barry's titanic production disappeared in his early playoff runs. And when the post-season
bat finally arrived, his arm couldn't deliver
in a do-or-die moment. Bonds played brilliantly
in his only World Series and got inches away from winning it all before one of history's most
heart-rending collapses. Still, despite falling
short, despite a reputation for juicing, and despite
making a whole lot of enemies, Bonds left baseball with an
astounding individual legacy. Nothing can take away the
experience of watching him hit. No asterisk can eclipse the sheer magnitude of his production. And no one can deny that
Barry Bonds helped pull two great baseball cities
out of the doldrums.
I mean in 2002 it was the Angels. But also there was that time on the Pirates where they lost the NLCS because his teammate told Bonds to play more shallow in the outfield and Bonds told him to go fuck himself. The game winning hit later landed a few feet in front of Bonds.
SB Nation puts out some good shit man.
Scott Spiezio was a major reason.
BAH GAWD, THAT'S CHART PARTY'S MUSIC!
Can’t watch just now, is it 21 minutes of the Rally Monkey loop? Cause it should really be 21 minutes of the Rally monkey loop.
Monkey. A monkey left him empty handed. Along with a Speez head, a K Rod, and a manager who gave his SP the game ball in game 6
This new SB Nation series has me hoping and praying that I never see an "Untitled: Clayton Kershaw"
Nice that we finally have one of those that don’t make Phoenix Suns fans depressed
I never knew Dusty Baker gave Russ Ortiz the game ball in Game 6 when he took him out. Big, big yikes right there, Dusty.