MVP Profile: Barry Bonds, 1992

 Outfielder, Pittsburgh Pirates

Prior to 1992:

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 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 rose to .283 with 24 home runs, 17 stolen bases, and 58 RBIs in 1988 but fell off to .248 with 19 home runs, 32 stolen bases, and 58 RBIs in 1989. The disappointed Pirates sought to deal him in the offseason but were unable to work out a trade. Pittsburgh won the NL East in 1990 and 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. Bonds 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.

 

1992 Season Summary

Appeared in 140 games

LF – 139, PH – 2

 

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

 

Batting

Plate Appearances – 612 [18]

At Bats – 473

Runs – 109 [1]

Hits – 147

Doubles – 36 [9, tied with Jay Bell]

Triples – 5

Home Runs – 34 [2]

RBI – 103 [4]

Bases on Balls – 127 [1]

Int. BB – 32 [1]

Strikeouts – 69

Stolen Bases – 39 [9]

Caught Stealing – 8 [20, tied with five others]

Average - .311 [6, tied with Terry Pendleton]

OBP - .456 [1]

Slugging Pct. - .624 [1]

Total Bases – 295 [5, tied with Fred McGriff]

GDP – 9

Hit by Pitches – 5 [15, tied with seven others]

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 7 [8, tied with eight others]

 

League-leading runs scored were +5 ahead of runner-up Dave Hollins

League-leading bases on balls were +31 ahead of runner-up Fred McGriff

League-leading intentional bases on balls were +9 ahead of runners-up Fred McGriff & Will Clark

League-leading OBP was +.033 ahead of runner-up John Kruk

League-leading slugging percentage was +.044 ahead of runner-up Gary Sheffield

 

Midseason snapshot: HR – 15, RBI - 49, AVG - .303, SLG – .588

 

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) at San Diego 5/16, (in 5 AB) vs. Montreal 9/17 – 13 innings

Longest hitting streak – 15 games

HR at home – 15

HR on road – 19

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 5 AB) vs. San Diego 5/16

Multi-HR games – 1

Most RBIs, game – 6 vs. San Diego 5/16

Pinch-hitting – 0 of 2 (.000)

 

Fielding

Chances – 317

Put Outs – 310

Assists – 4

Errors – 3

DP – 0

Pct. - .991

 

Postseason: 7 G (NLCS vs. Atlanta)

PA – 30, AB – 23, R – 5, H – 6, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 2, BB – 6, IBB – 1, SO – 4, SB – 1, CS – 0, AVG - .261, OBP - .433, SLG - .435, TB – 10, GDP – 0, HBP – 1, SH – 0, SF – 0

 

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: BBWAA

Gold Glove

Silver Slugger

All-Star (Started for NL in LF)

 

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Barry Bonds, Pitt.: 304 pts. - 18 of 24 first place votes, 90% share

Terry Pendleton, Atl.: 232 pts. – 4 first place votes, 69% share

Gary Sheffield, SD: 204 pts. – 2 first place votes, 61% share

Andy Van Slyke, Pitt.: 145 pts. – 43% share

Larry Walker, Mon.: 111 pts. – 33% share

 

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Pirates went 96-66 to finish first in the NL Eastern Division by 9 games over the Montreal Expos, for their third straight division title while leading the league in runs scored (693), triples (54), and RBIs (656). Tailing off after a 14-3 start, Pittsburgh, rode an 11-game July/August winning streak that spurred a 43-18 finish propelling the club past the Expos. Lost NLCS to the Atlanta Braves, 4 games to 3, as Bonds hit only .261, his third consecutive disappointing postseason performance.

 

Aftermath of ‘92:

Having garnered his second NL MVP award in three years Bonds left the Pirates as a free agent and signed a six-year $43 million contract with the San Francisco Giants. Bonds won his third MVP award in 1993 as the Giants contended and he led the NL with 46 home runs, 123 RBIs, a .458 on-base percentage, .677 slugging percentage, and 365 total bases to go along with a .336 batting average and 29 stolen bases. He 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, 176 of which were compiled as a member of the Pirates. He stole 514 bases, 251 with Pittsburgh, and compiled 1996 RBIs, 556 as a Pirate, and batted .298, .275 with Pittsburgh. 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 concerns regarding performance enhancing drugs have thus far kept him from election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but his #25 has been retired by the Giants.

 

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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.