The Futility Infielder

The Barry Bonds Walkathon

I had the pleasure of attending Sunday's Yankees-Giants matchup, the one which was somewhat overbilled as Clemens vs. Bonds. It didn't exactly live up to the hype in terms of classic showdowns, but it generated more than its share of heat, and a great ball game nonetheless. This even though Bonds never got an official at-bat despite five plate appearances. Anyway, the write-up is here.

I had very mixed emotions about the whole Clemens vs. Bonds thing. Never a card-carrying member of the Rocket's fan club, I was disappointed when in the first inning, with two outs and nobody on, he didn't go after Bonds with his best stuff and instead "un"-intentionally walked him. Worst case scenario, if Bonds connects it's only 1-0. Instead, prolonging the inning bit Clemens on the ass as Santiago doubled and Barry scored on a wild pitch.

The HBP in the third, well, we all know Roger hides behind the DH anyway. But he's 100% correct about the body-armor issue; it's ridiculous. No way Bonds hits 73 homers with an ungodly OBP without being so protected physically that he's got no fear regarding the inside pitch. That doesn't mean Clemens was right to hit him, but it wasn't surprising either. FWIW, the Giants pitcher, Russ Ortiz, essentially got two cracks at making up for it, first with a throw at Giambi that drew a warning to both sides, then later with actually hitting Jeter without any recourse. (I should add that I didn't see either pitch from the TV angles so I don't know how "intentional" either of those pitches were.)

In the other ABs the Yanks' strategy made more sense:

* 5th inning, with one out, a man on 2nd and first base open (Giants leading 2-1), walking Bonds was clearly the right call

* 7th with 2 out and the same runner situation, no issue

* 9th inning, representing the tying run (the Yanks had taken the lead), Karsay going at Bonds brought a buzz to the ballpark. But after he fell behind in the count, Karsay intentionally put the tying run on, which is a measure of the respect Bonds deserves these days, and again, one that's tough to disagree with.

Torre's thought process (fans preferring a win to a marquee confrontation) and strategy were to do what's best for the team. I felt a bit deprived because he let the air out of the matchup, but that's why they pay him the big dollars. I was pretty elated to see the Yanks escape with the come-from-behind win.

A final thought: Bonds' OBP is .569, which means that somebody's getting the guy out. It's down at .516 when you take out the intentional walks. As Bill James showed in the New Bill James Historical Basebal Abstract,, Babe Ruth comment (pages 784-785): "there's no such thing as a hitter so good that he should be routinely walked."