ESPN.com - Major League Baseball - ESPN analysts weigh in on Bonds

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Wednesday, April 18
ESPN analysts weigh in on Bonds

ESPN.com

ESPN baseball analysts Dave Campbell, Rob Dibble and Tom Candiotti weigh in on Barry Bonds following his 500th career home run:

Dave Campbell

Barry Bonds, like most power hitters, hits in streaks. Going against him, pitchers know they have to "box score" him -- which means they have to look at the box scores to see how he's been doing before facing him. If Bonds is in a slump, a pitcher can go with quality pitches and know they have a good shot of getting him out. But when Bonds is hot, he's locked in at the plate, and there is very little a pitcher can do to stop him. Bonds is a tremendous athlete, he has great skills and stands next to the great Willie Mays with the best combination of speed and power baseball has ever seen.

Rob Dibble

One of the toughest things about Barry Bonds is he won't be intimidated at the plate. Whether you throw 100 mph, left-handed or right-handed, he stands in and battles on every pitch. He is a relentless hitter. The thing I respect the most about him is he gives a pitcher his best at-bat every time. He never cheats himself.

As a pitcher I gave every outing everything I possibly could. I never went out there, even if my arm was killing me, and tried to just get by a hitter. Barry approaches hitting the same way. Whether he strikes out, gets a base hit or hits it out, he battles. He's a perfectionist. He could have rested on his MVP awards and his great statistics but he's worked harder over the last half dozen years than he ever did. He's hired a personal trainer and watched his physical condition closely and he's tinkered with his swing to improve.

Against me, Barry was 2-for-5 with one home run. But facing him was the type of battle I looked forward to when I was playing. Kirk Gibson and Tony Gwynn were the same way. His book on opposing pitchers is tremendous. He has worked very hard to accumulate knowledge of the guys he'll be facing. He's so in tune with what he's doing and so informed about who he's facing that he's very difficult to pitch to.

I also want to stress this point: As good a hitter as he is, he's just as good defensively. There's no facet of his game that's weak. Bonds can hit for average, he can hit for power, he can steal bases and he plays a mean left field. He can do just about whatever he wants. The only thing missing from his resume now is a World Championship. He wants that more now than even the 500-500 record (if he stays around a few more years I truly believe he could go 600-600). Barry Bonds is one of the greatest players who ever played baseball. It was a pleasure facing him and, even now, it's a pleasure as a broadcaster to watch him excel as he gets older.

Tom Candiotti
Barry Bonds is like a good wine. He just seems to get better with age. He has the ability to hit to all fields, hit for average, hit for power, and get the big hit with the game on the line. Opposing pitchers always know where Barry is in the lineup and would rather avoid facing him unless forced to. That's what separates Barry from many other great hitters. Barry knows that pitchers will never give into him.

Early in his career he could do anything that was asked of him in the lineup. He could bat anywhere from leadoff to the cleanup spot and do it as wall as any All-Star could. Now I see a man driven to help his team win. I did not see that early in his career.

Barry stands as close to the plate as a hitter can possibly get. His hands are actually over the top of the plate. He chokes up slightly on the bat, which is almost unheard of in this day and age. His hands are so quick that he turns on an inside fastball better than anyone I have ever pitched to.

He mostly drives the ball. He will not be remembered for any long majestic home runs, only for hitting the ball as hard as anyone really can. To me, he will always be remembered as someone who was going to beat you any way he could.

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ESPN's Dave Campbell sees Barry Bonds as one of the greatest left fielders of all-time.
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