Taking Time to Appreciate Barry Bonds' Insane 2001-04 Dominance
I know this period comes with asterisks for some people, but that doesn't mean we still can't appreciate how ridiculous it was.
Talking about Barry Bonds’ big-league career — especially the latter portion when he went on an incredible power binge — is a hot topic. But I’m going to do it anyway because I can.
Performance-enhancing drugs undoubtedly played a role in his winning four straight National League MVP Awards from 2001-04. However, it’s hard for me to look at this period and not gawk at his insane production.
That’s why I’m going to do just that (while also providing a reminder of just how good he was before his accelerated late-career surge helped him overtake Hank Aaron on the all-time home run leaderboard).
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Bonds’ 2001-2004 Was Unreal… Any Way You Slice It
It’s easy to look at the accolades Bonds won during this period as a way to quantify just how ridiculous his production was. He won four straight NL MVP Awards while appearing in four All-Star Games and taking home four Silver Slugger Awards.
But the actual numbers just don’t seem real:
- 2001: .328/.515/.863 with 73 homers, 32 doubles, 137 RBI, 129 runs scored, and 177 walks
- 2002: .370/.582/.799 with 46 homers, 31 doubles, 110 RBI, 117 runs scored, and 198 walks
- 2003: .341/.529/.749 with 45 homers, 22 doubles, 90 RBI, 111 runs scored, and 148 walks
- 2004: .362/.609/.812 with 45 homers, 27 doubles, 101 RBI, 129 runs scored, and 232 (!!) walks
For those keeping track at home, an average year for Bonds between 2001-2004 included a .349/.559/.809 line with 52 homers, 28 doubles, 110 RBI, 148 runs scored, and 189 walks.
Even for someone who received some “extra help” by way of PEDs, there were many nights when Bonds only saw a pitch or two that he could swing at. And as we can see, he had the discipline to wait for his pitch and capitalize better than anyone else could.
Comparing This Production to the Rest of Baseball
In a vacuum, the above numbers are mind-blowing. That’s the kind of production I would get from dudes while playing Triple Play ‘98 on Rookie mode (real ones remember). It gets even more ridiculous when you compare some of these numbers with the rest of the league.
Bonds’ performance was worth an astounding 47.3 WAR between 2001-04. That was easily the best in baseball — Alex Rodriguez checked in at second with 33.6 WAR during the same period.
His 209 homers also beat A-Rod (192). While Bonds came up short in the runs scored (fourth) and RBI departments (12th), he dominated in plenty of other categories. Bonds ranked first in batting average (.349), on-base percentage (.559), slugging percentage (.809), and OPS (1.368).
Todd Helton ranked second behind him in all those categories, slashing .343/.447/.609 from 2001-2004, which resulted in a 1.076 OPS.
Bonds’ .531 wOBA also beat Helton’s by a healthy margin (.446), while his 232 walks in 2004 dwarfed what Albert Pujols produced (84).
Bonds Was Elite Before This Run, Too
Did Bonds take things into overdrive during the latter portion of his career? Oh, yes—100%. Was this solely because of PEDs? I mean, it certainly helped — Bonds put together one of the best four-year stretches we’ve ever seen while playing in his late 30s.
We all know that’s not a typical career arc. But simply taking PEDs doesn’t help someone square up a baseball like Bonds did (at least, that’s my opinion). That’s how it all came together. Bonds was an eight-time All-Star, three-time MVP, eight-time Gold Glove winner, and seven-time Silver Slugger winner before the 2000 season even started.
His cumulative numbers up to that point included a .288/.409/.559 line with 445 home runs, 423 doubles, 1,299 RBI, 1,455 runs scored, and 460 steals. If his career had ended after his age-34 campaign, he probably still would’ve been a Hall of Famer.
Instead of cementing his Hall of Fame case during the final years of his career, he’s on the outside looking in for the foreseeable future — at least for now.
Do you think Barry Bonds deserves to be in the Hall of Fame?
Yes Bonds is a HOFer!
It all stemmed from jealousy of the love McGwire and Sosa got during their late '90s runs. He knew what and why, saw they were celebrated for it, so he followed suit. Unfortunately, he was kinda jerky before and kinda jerky after, and people calling him a cheater didn't help that.
Great writeup, Matt -- those stats BEFORE 2000 are insane. He's definitely a HOFer, without a doubt, as is A-Rod. Did some players get robbed because they didn't use PEDs? Yes. Take that up with Bud Selig. Meanwhile, these players were the best of a generation -- time to honor them.