Barry Bonds hacked off at Hank Aaron.

With the name BT Express, I should've guessed that you were old enough to remember. We'll agree to disagree on this point. OK

 

I went back and checked...I have to agree with you, Oop. Bonds was a better hitter--comparing their first ten years--well superior in OBP and power numbers. I was aware about the steals and the arm, and figured those were balancing factors. Obviously I'm no sabremetrician, so I won't attempt to correct for their respective eras. And, as you've acknowledged in passing, I never intended to compare them as personalities.

I'll stand with my overarching point; in fact, this confirms it. Bonds was an exceptional player without the juice.

 

As they love you for your unique grammatical style..

 

The most logical, underrated poster on this board.

Man knows the shit.

 

On that last part, we agree. I just see them as very different players.

 

In 1974, Aaron was coming off a year in which he hit 40 home runs in 392 at-bats. That's one every 9.8 at-bats.

He also hit No. 714 in the first game of the 1974 season, on his first swing. There was no reason to think he wouldn't hit 715 in the first game at Atlanta.

If anything, you could say the biggest reason he only hit 18 homers the rest of that year was because he no longer had the proper motivation. He no longer had any major statistical benchmarks worth chasing. He probably already knew he would never catch Ty Cobb or reach 4,000 hits.

 

You could also argue that with the pressure finally off, he should have been able to relax and have a monster season.

Hank was a true professional. He played on terrible team after terrible team yet still had plenty of motivation.

I think the reason for his decline was simple: He was 40 years old. It happens suddenly sometimes.

 

BT, hank was at the end of the trail. All the bullshit had worn him down. Yet, he was still my man Hank. Barry will never get that place. Kids don't talk about him the way they talked about Hank. Do you remember his Wheaties comercial. "Henry, ya didn't eat your Wheaties!"

 

Thanks boots! This is the difference between Hank and Barry. Barry don't take bullshit. He doles it out. If I had to compare and contrast between these personalities. I'd take Barry's any day.

 

He has better armor than 95 percent of the troops in Iraq.

 

That's fitting, since Barry may have a personality that's even more abrasive than yours. I don't mean that as a compliment, by the way.

 

Unless you're on the juice/clear/HGH, of course.