Barry Bonds, OF, San Francisco Giants

May 9, 2007 @ 16:00:00

By David Wysocki
Edited by Ryan Dodson

The only thing that doesn't change is change itself. As copious baseball fans begin to remove their blindfolds in the wake of the BALCO scandal and the exhausting stories of our drug tainted "pastime," fans are beginning to accept that San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds will be the all-time home run champion. With Bonds' 2007 start, it has been impossible to keep the anti-Bonds movement's backs turned. 

Bonds, who will turn 43 years old in July, is hitting .338 with 11 home runs and 23 runs batted in. He couples that line with a 1.312 on-base-plus-slugging in just 28 games. Following two seasons where he has struggled to stay on the field thanks to knee problems and consequent surgery, Bonds has surged out of the gates. He has quieted the hopeful skeptics that believed the lack of cartilage in his knees would hinder his chances at Hammerin' Hank's place in history. He has 745 career home runs in 22 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Giants, just 10 short of Hank Aaron's 755.

Bonds is not moving around like the 40-40 guy he once was, however. He runs like a man with casts on his legs and has to leave many games in the late innings because of the defensively liability in his lack of range. He often takes day games off following night games. Between 2004 and 2005 he managed to get only 540 plate appearances. But he still remains the most feared hitter in the game, even as a "gimpy old man."

The seven-time Most Valuable Player has received mixed reviews from fantasy owners during the past three years. The fantasy player generally can put rivalries and moral disagreements aside as long as the player they have is producing. The risk of injury sometimes isn't worth the almost guaranteed production out of an imperative power position on most fantasy rosters in the outfield. The result: there's always a fantasy owner that has drafted a power-deprived lineup and picks up a Bonds or a Texas Rangers designated hitter Sammy Sosa type in hopes they will be a shadow of their All-Star selves. Bonds, so far, has paid off big time even with his occasional game off.

Table: Barry Bonds' Statistics 2004-2007

Year	Team	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	AVG	OPS
2004	SF	373	129	45	101	232	.362	1.421
2005	SF	42	8	5	10	9	.286	1.071
2006	SF	367	74	26	77	115	.270	.999
2007	SF	74	23	10	22	30	.338	1.312

The Giants lineup is not a very strong one this season. Outfielders Randy Winn and Dave Roberts are not producing thus far up to expectations, and they are getting mediocre production from the infield. Thanks to Bonds' presence in the lineup, the Giants have kept a relative pace with the National League West powerhouses like the two-time defending champion San Diego Padres, the Wild Card winning Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Bonds is one of only a handful in which the supporting cast just doesn't seem to effect his bottom line.

With the rigors a major leaguer must endure throughout a 162-game season with travel and shear duration, Bonds will surely get into some kind of injury trouble. With little more to report than soreness so far in 2007, maybe it is wise to be a little more optimistic. His career is at a point similar to former Padres great Tony Gwynn when his knees began to give way. If it hasn't been beaten over your head yet, he is a huge risk. If he can find his way on the field, you will surely see dividends and the occasional day off shouldn't be worrisome. He is capable of home run totals in the mid-to-high 30s. If an itchy owner has Bonds, you may be able to pry him away cheaply. Bonds looks to be back in the fantasy radar, so pat yourself on the back if you drafted him in the middle rounds of your draft.

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David Wysocki

David has been a KFFL writer since 2005. He is a San Diego native and a History and Geography student at California State University-Chico. He has a writing background and has appeared in, and helped produce, various local newsletters and magazines on sports and music. He also pitched for the No. 2 nationally ranked Rancho Buena Vista Longhorns his senior year of high school in 2002.

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