Cluck cluck... your lineup sucks
- Wade
First, read this (then come back.)
San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds (you may have heard of him) is on pace to draw 225 walks this year, 120 of which would be intentional. The total walks number, if he stays on pace, would break his own record, which he set in 2002 (when he broke his own record that he set in 2001.) The intentional walks number would also break his own record. Of 68. In 2002. That's right, Bonds is on pace to have 76% more intentional walks than the current record. Which is also his.
So, naturally there's outrage. Giants fans cry foul, or, according to the story above, fowl. It's unfair, they whine, that opposing pitchers take the bat out of his hands. He's the greatest home run hitter on the juice since Mark McGwire! How dare other teams not let Barry show off his chemically enhanced biceps. Even the normally starched Jayson Stark has caught the bug, discussing rule changes to mitigate the number of IBBs handed out to baseball's giant-headed home run king.
While the ideas Stark brings up are interesting, I've got another one. It's straightforward, and the Giants front office doesn't even have to depend on the Commissioner's office for it. You ready?
GET ANOTHER HITTER.
That's it. Get someone else who can hit behind Bonds. Make the other teams think twice before automatically putting him on base. You won't get anyone with Bonds' slugging ability, but you can certainly do better than you have so far. Let's look at the hitters that the Giants have put in their lineup to protect Bonds.
2003
Bonds 1.278 OPS
Gallaraga .841 OPS
Durham .807 OPS
2002
Bonds 1.381 OPS
Kent .933 OPS
Sanders .779 OPS
2001
Bonds 1.378 OPS
Aurilia .941 OPS
Kent .876 OPS
Kent and Aurilia are gone, and Aurilia had a fluke year. But we're talking about this year:
2004
Bonds 1.405 OPS
Tucker .851 OPS
Grissom .840 OPS
Michael Tucker? Isn't he in those Jackie Chan movies?
My belabored point is: don't change the rules of baseball to get rid of these walks. And the sale of thousands of rubber chickens seems like a clever distractions by the Giants front office. Concentrate on the chicken, not the dead meat that follows Bonds in the lineup.
What do you think? Drop us a line at webmaster@simpleprop.com and give us some
feedback. Maybe we'll even run your letters in future Gambits. 'The Daily Gambit' is updated every weekday.
