Barry's last chance?
10/31/2002
Codding Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
You could probably list a couple dozen names off the top of your head.
Chris Carter, Ernie Banks, Charles Barkley, Jim Kelly, Karl Malone, Alex Rodriguez, Dan Marino, Phil Mickelson, Tony Gwynn, Barry Sanders, John Stockton, Don Mattingly, O.J. Simpson, Patrick Ewing, Ted Williams, Thurman Thomas and Harmon Killebrew, for starters.
With a little research, that list would probably reach triple digits.
Following the World Series Championship for the Anaheim Angels and the subsequent World Series defeat for the San Francisco Giants, Barry Bonds reluctantly finds himself back on this list. And at age 38, he may now be a lifelong resident.
Because Barry Bonds is a great player, much like the 17 men I identified above. But also like those 17 men, Bonds is a great player who's never won a championship, and sometimes the second part of that equation seems more important than the first.
If that weren't true, then Chris Carter would still be working for HBO and the Miami Dolphins would still be looking for another receiver.
Before I go any further I should inform you that I am not now nor have I ever been a Barry Bonds fan. His arrogance is maddening and would someone please tell him that he looks foolish with that earring dangling from his left lobe.
But I am a fan of excellence, and I've always felt it's a shame when an athlete's postseason deficiency tarnishes his regular season greatness. Alex Rodriguez could hit .350 with 74 homers and 192 RBI while playing Gold Glove-caliber shortstop, but it wouldn't be enough to win the MVP in some voters' minds if the Texas Rangers again missed out on the playoffs. Jim Kelly's not known as the quarterback who led the Buffalo Bills to four-straight Super Bowls.
He's known as the quarterback who led the Buffalo Bills to four-straight Super Bowl losses.
And then there's Bonds and his 613 career home runs, perhaps the finest player to ever trot out to left field, and the first four-time MVP in baseball history with a fifth quite possibly on the way. Heading into this year's playoffs, though, the talk wasn't about his league-leading .370 average, his 46 homers, his 47 strikeouts, or his record-setting .582 on-base percentage, 1.381 OPS and 198 walks, 68 of which were intentional.
Instead, everybody focused on his .196 career postseason average and that one measly playoff home run in 1992. Before this year, Bonds had reached the postseason five times -- 1990-1992 with Pittsburgh, and 1997 and 2000 with the Giants -- and he'd never once gotten out of the first round.
Against the Braves, Cardinals and Angels, though, Bonds smashed that dismal playoff history to pieces with his ash bat, hitting .294 with three homers in the Division Series, .273 with six RBI and 10 walks in the NLCS, and then .471 with four home runs and 13 walks in the World Series.
The final line is ridiculous: .356, 8 HR, 16 RBI, 18 runs, 27 BB, 6 SO, .581 OB%, .978 slug%. Simply put, it was one of the greatest postseason displays of all time, a performance that immediately catapulted Bonds' one-time pathetic career playoff stats at least into the realm of respectability: .246, 9 HR, 22 RBI and a .420 OB%.
But the Giants lost, so none of that matters. Through the seventh inning of game six, Bonds was the unanimous MVP, a man whose past would be buried for good the moment he lifted that World Series trophy high above his bald head.
Instead, the Giants lifted their jaws off the dugout floor after watching first Tim Worrell and then bulletproof closer Robb Nen implode in those final two innings of game six. The next night, it was all over.
The real kicker about all of this is that performance on the postseason stage is a valid factor when trying to decipher a player's significance to his team and, on a grander scale, his respective sport. Oftentimes, though, that performance assumes too much value in the overall equation, negating some otherwise remarkable career achievements rather than simply enhancing the overall picture. That relationship is even more unfortunate in baseball, where opposing pitchers can minimize your impact on the game by merely walking you whenever you're presented with the chance to make something happen, an option not available on the football field or the basketball court.
Obviously, Bonds isn't the only preeminent athlete walking the streets without a championship ring on his finger, and he certainly won't be the last. Ken Griffey Jr., Sammy Sosa, Tim Brown, Gary Payton and Curtis Martin are just a few of the supremely talented and ringless athletes who are slowly running out of time to change their fortunes.
And don't think for a second that they don't realize that. And have nightmares about it.
Sir Charles publicly stated on several occasions that he hung around the NBA for his final few years in hopes that, somehow, he'd accomplish what so many of his contemporaries had already accomplished, in some cases two, three or even six times over. How badly do you think Tony Gwynn, a .338 lifetime hitter, wanted to beat the Yankees in the 1998 World Series? Dan Marino may forever be known as the greatest quarterback to never win a Super Bowl.
Not exactly something you want to put on your business card.
Having a "no championships" label stapled to your forehead can undoubtedly be degrading at times, but for those who get to shed that label, tear it up into tiny pieces, douse it in gasoline and then burn it to a crisp during a post-game victory celebration, the champagne tastes even sweeter. Remember that look of pure relief on Randy Johnson's face after the Diamondbacks knocked off the Yankees last season? Or how about that perpetual smile plastered on David Duval's mug as he walked up the 18th fairway with a four-stroke lead in last year's British Open, just moments away from claiming his first Major title? I don't know if I've ever seen a happier 40 year old than Ray Borque after the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2001, his first championship in what had been, up until that moment, an impressive but incomplete 23-year career.
And don't forget about John Elway, who seemed destined to travel the same road as fellow 1983 rookie quarterbacks Kelly and Marino. He and the Broncos failed in three separate trips to the Super Bowl: 1986 against the Giants, 1987 versus Washington and 1989 against the 49ers. Several years later, he seemed doomed to forever carry with him the burden of losing those three pivotal games.
Then, the Broncos beat Green Bay 31-24 in the 1997 Super Bowl... and a year later they trounced the Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII. All was forgiven. Elway retired a champion despite owning a 2-3 record in the five biggest games of his career.
As for Bonds, this last chance may have been his final chance. Jeff Kent already filed for free agency and the last National League team to appear in back-to-back World Series was Atlanta in 1995 and 1996. I'm not saying a repeat is out of the question but it seems improbable, which likely makes the bullpen collapse late in game six that much more painful for Bonds, realizing that he may never again be so agonizingly close to the ultimate victory.
Of course, it's not like this latest failed championship effort is going to keep #25 out of Cooperstown -- some regular-season numbers are just too extraordinary to ignore. But it will cause plenty of insular fans to deprive Bonds of the respect his stat sheet deserves, arguing that he's an overrated bum who's incapable of winning the big game. And while I'm not suggesting that Barry is necessarily concerned with what Joe Fan has to say about him, a player of his magnitude and with his substantial ego certainly cares about his historical status within the game. And that's something that those ringless fingers surely could influence.
Just ask Jim Kelly.
In the Bullz-Eye
The New York Yankees. With the new Collective Bargaining Agreement in effect, George Steinbrenner now finds himself in a tough situation. With his current roster, Georgie Boy could end up paying an additional $8 million to $9 million in payroll taxes next year plus another $15 million for a revenue sharing payout. Even after buying out the final year of Roger Clemens' deal, the Yankees have several long-term, high-dollar contracts on the books right now, including Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Mike Mussina, Bernie Williams, Raul Mondesi and Jorge Posada, all of which points to possible salary dumping this winter in the Bronx. My question: Does anybody feel sorry for Steinbrenner...? I didn't think so.
b>Questions/comments? Send all e-mails to jcodding@bullz-eye.com.