MVP Profile: Barry Bonds, 2003

Outfielder, San Francisco Giants

Age:  39 (July 24)

11^th season with Giants

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 185 

Prior to 2003:

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 criticized 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, 59 RBIs, and a .261 batting average. The numbers continued to rise over the next two seasons until he broke through with an MVP year in 1990 as Pittsburgh won the NL East. 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 title and lost once more in the NLCS. In three NLCS appearances with the Pirates, 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. 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 (who homered 37 times that year) 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 homers in 2001. In addition, in 2001, he batted .328 and led the NL in OBP (.515), slugging (.863), and walks drawn (177) and was voted Most Valuable Player for an unprecedented fourth time. In the offseason, Bonds was signed to a five-year $90 million deal by the Giants despite being 37 years old. Bonds batted a league-leading .370 in 2002 and also led the NL in walks drawn (198), OBP (.582), and slugging percentage (.799), while also hitting 46 home runs and compiling 110 RBIs. The Giants reached the postseason and he finally got to play in a World Series and hit .471 with four home runs in a losing cause against the Angels.

2003 Season Summary

Appeared in 130 games

LF – 123, DH – 6, PH – 2

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 550

At Bats – 390

Runs – 111 [5, tied with Jim Thome]

Hits – 133

Doubles – 22

Triples – 1

Home Runs – 45 [2, tied with Richie Sexson]

RBI – 90

Bases on Balls – 148 [1]

Int. BB – 61 [1]

Strikeouts – 58

Stolen Bases – 7

Caught Stealing – 0

Average - .341 [3]

OBP - .529 [1]

Slugging Pct. - .749 [1]

Total Bases – 292 [15]

GDP – 7

Hit by Pitches – 10 [14, tied with nine others]

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 2

League-leading bases on balls drawn were +37 ahead of runners-up Jim Thome & Todd Helton

League-leading int. bases on balls drawn were +39 ahead of runner-up Vladimir Guerrero

League-leading OBP was +.071 ahead of runner-up Todd Helton

League-leading slugging pct was +.082 ahead of runner-up Albert Pujols

Midseason snapshot: HR – 30, RBI - 63, AVG - .316, SLG - .719, OBP - .496

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Most hits, game – 3 on five occasions

Longest hitting streak – 11 games

HR at home – 23

HR on road – 22

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 4 AB) vs. Chi. Cubs 4/30, (in 3 AB) at St. Louis 7/2, (in 4 AB) at NY Mets 8/12

Multi-HR games – 3

Most RBIs, game – 4 at Colorado 7/9

Pinch-hitting – 0 for 1 (.000) with 1 BB

Fielding

Chances - 243

Put Outs – 236

Assists – 5

Errors – 2

DP – 2

Pct. - .992

Postseason Batting: 4 G (NLDS vs. Florida)

PA – 18, AB – 9, R – 3, H – 2, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 2, BB – 8, IBB – 6, SO – 0, SB – 1, CS – 0, AVG - .222, OBP - .556, SLG - .333, TB – 3, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 1

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: BBWAA

Silver Slugger

All-Star (started for NL at DH)

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Barry Bonds, SF: 426 points - 28 of 32 first place votes, 95% share

Albert Pujols, StL.: 303 points – 3 first place votes, 68% share

Gary Sheffield, Atl.: 247 points – 1 first place vote, 55% share

Jim Thome, Phila.: 203 points – 45% share

Javy Lopez, Atl.:159 points – 35% share

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Giants went 100-61 to finish first in the NL Western Division by 15.5 games over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants got off to a 19-7 start to build a 4.5-game lead atop the NL West at the end of April and rolled on to the division title. Lost NLDS to the Florida Marlins, 3 games to 1.

Aftermath of 2003:

Bonds went on to be the NL MVP a total of seven times, winning again in 2004, when he batted a league-leading .362 with 45 home runs and 101 RBIs. His 232 total walks and 120 intentional walks also set all-time records and he further compiled a .609 OBP and .812 slugging percentage. 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. 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.