MVP Profile: Barry Bonds, 1993

Outfielder, San Francisco Giants

Age:  29 (July 24)

1^st season with Giants

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 185

Prior to 1993:

The son of major league outfielder Bobby Bonds was born in Riverside, California and hit .476 with 14 home runs as a senior at Junipero Serra High School where he also played football and basketball. Initially he was drafted as an amateur by the Giants in 1982 but rejected a $70,000 offer and instead attended Arizona State where he was criricized for being a rule-breaker with a poor attitude as well as lauded for outstanding all-around ability. Bonds was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round of the 1985 amateur draft. He batted .299 with 13 home runs for Prince William of the Carolina League in ’85, moved up to Hawaii in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in 1986 but was called up to the Pirates after 44 games. He was inserted in center field and batted only.223 but showed flashes of future greatness with 16 home runs, 36 stolen bases, and 48 RBIs in 113 games. Bonds was shifted to left field in 1987 and improved to 25 home runs, 32 stolen bases, and 59 RBIs, and a .261 batting average. The numbers continued to rise over the next two seasons until he broke through with a MVP year in 1990 as Pittsburgh won the NL Eastern Division. Bonds batted .301 with 33 home runs, 52, stolen bases, and a .301 batting average to go with his league-leading .565 slugging percentage. He was also selected to his first All-Star Game and received a Gold Glove for his play in left field. He finished second in NL MVP voting in 1991 following a season in which he batted .292 with 25 home runs, 43 stolen bases, and 116 RBIs. Pittsburgh again topped the NL East and fell in the NLCS while Bonds hit only .148. It was a similar situation in 1992 as Bonds batted .311 with 34 home runs, 39 stolen bases, and 103 RBIs in his final year with the Pirates. The club won a third straight NL East pennant and lost once more in the NLCS. In three NLCS appearances Bonds hit only .191 in 20 games with one home run. Having garnered his second NL MVP award in three years he left the Pirates as a free agent and signed a six-year $43 million contract with the Giants.

1993 Season Summary

Appeared in 159 games

LF – 157, PH – 3

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 674 [12]

At Bats – 539

Runs – 129 [2]

Hits – 181 [7, tied with Brett Butler]

Doubles – 38 [8]

Triples – 4

Home Runs – 46 [1]

RBI – 123 [1]

Bases on Balls – 126 [2]

Int. BB – 43 [1]

Strikeouts – 79

Stolen Bases – 29 [15, tied with Larry Walker]

Caught Stealing – 12 [11, tied with Lenny Dykstra]

Average - .336 [4]

OBP - .458 [1]

Slugging Pct. - .677 [1]

Total Bases – 365 [1]

GDP – 11

Hit by Pitches – 2

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 7 [20, tied with eleven others]

League-leading home runs were +6 ahead of runner-up David Justice

League-leading RBIs were +3 ahead of runner-up David Justice

League-leading intentional bases on balls were +23 ahead of runner-up Larry Walker

League-leading OBP was +.028 ahead of runner-up John Kruk

League-leading slugging percentage was +.075 ahead of runner-up Andres Galarraga

League-leading total bases were +40 ahead of runner-up Matt Williams

Midseason snapshot: HR – 24, RBI - 71, AVG - .348, SLG PCT - .696

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) vs. Atlanta 4/18 – 11 innings, (in 4 AB) vs. Philadelphia 5/5, (in 5 AB) at Pittsburgh 8/18, (in 4 AB) at Atlanta 8/31

Longest hitting streak – 11 games

HR at home – 21

HR on road – 25

Most home runs, game – 2 on seven occasions

Multi-HR games – 7

Most RBIs, game – 7 at LA Dodgers 10/1

Pinch-hitting – 0 of 3 (.000)

Fielding

Chances – 322

Put Outs – 310

Assists – 7

Errors – 5

DP – 0

Pct. - .984

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: BBWAA

Gold Glove

Silver Slugger

All-Star (started for NL in LF)

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Barry Bonds, SF: 372 pts. - 24 of 28 first place votes, 95% share

Lenny Dykstra, Phila.: 267 pts. – 4 first place votes, 68% share

David Justice, Atl.: 183 pts. – 47% share

Fred McGriff, SD/Atl.: 177 pts. – 45% share

Ron Gant, Atl.: 176 pts. – 45% share

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Giants went 103-59 to finish second in the NL Western Division, 1 game behind the division-winning Atlanta Braves while leading the league in batting (.276) and slugging (.427). The Giants, in first from May 10 to September 10, were as much as 10 games in the lead in July but were derailed in September by an 8-game losing streak that put them 3.5 games behind Atlanta who clinched the title on the season’s last day.    

Aftermath of ‘93:

Bonds continued to be a strong performer, gaining seven consecutive All-Star selections from 1992 through ’98 and six Gold Gloves during the same time span. The Giants reached the postseason only once during that period. Bonds became the second player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season in 1996 and regularly led the NL in walks and intentional walks. Following a 1998 season in which the home run race between Mark McGwire of St. Louis and Sammy Sosa of the Cubs drew headlines, Bonds apparently turned to steroid use to improve his already impressive power-hitting. Initially this was problematic in that his 1999 season was limited to 102 games due to a torn triceps that required surgery. He came back with a 49-home run season in 2000 and broke McGwire’s single-season record of 70 with 73 home runs in 2001. He was voted NL Most Valuable Player for an unprecedented fourth time and was signed to a five-year $90 million deal by the Giants despite being 37 years old. Bonds finally got to play in a World Series in 2002 and hit .471 with four home runs in a losing cause. He was the NL MVP a total of seven times, the last in 2004. His career, which became plagued by injuries in its late stages finally came to an end in 2007. Overall, Bonds hit a major league record 762 home runs, 586 of which were compiled as a member of the Giants. He stole 514 bases, 263 with San Francisco, and knocked in 1996 runs, 1440 as a Giant, and batted .298, .312 with San Francisco. He walked 2558 times, 688 intentionally, which are all-time major league records, as well as his single-season highs of 232 total walks and 120 intentional walks in 2004. A 14-time All-Star, the lingering suspicions regarding performance enhancing drugs have thus far kept him from election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.