Monday, June 18, 2007

Take Your Pick: Who Can a Fan Like Me Start to Root For?

So, Barry Bonds hit his 748th career homer putting him 7 shy of Hank Aaron for what is probably the most heralded record in all of sports. I hate Barry Bonds and if you are a repeat reader you probably know that already. Anyways, I am starting to come to the realization that this is probably going to happen and instead of killing myself when it does I decided that I need a guy to root for. I need to find the next player who is going to beat Barry's steroid-injected ass (pun intended) in the HR standings. So take your pick and help me figure out who is the going to be the best guy to take the record away from Barry.

Personally Arod is my guy. You have Arod at 492 having hit his 27th HR of the season tonight against the Mets. Arod currently ranks 24th all-time but in my opinion probably has the best foreseeable chance to surpass Bonds of all current players. He is 32 years-old right now and if you disregard this year's 27 HRs he needs 8 seasons with a rough average of 36 dingers a season. Now I think it will take him even less than that because he is obviously going to hi more than 36 this year. So, really at the most I think he would have to play until he was 40. If he can stay healthy and stay with the Yanks so he can DH as he gets older I think he can do it.

This is so sick and perverted but I'm going to have to start cheering for a Yankee...Arod no less. I've always thought of him as a bit of a sell-out (think of him going to Texas completely for the $$) and is now noticed as a cheating bastard. However, I think he's my guy. Now, I'm not by any means going to go get myself an Arod jersey. I'm just rooting for him to bring Major League Baseball -along with myself- out of a state of misery as fast as he can.

My second choice is Albert Pujols. He's only got 266 right now but is only 27. If he can continue to hit his average of 42 HRs a year he could be at 770 when he is 39. So he's got a good shot, but I'm still taking Arod over him. Some goes for him. If he can get away from the Cardinals and onto a team where he can do some DHing down the road that will increase his chances as well.

Active players ranked above Arod in HRs are Sammy Sosa, Frank Thomas, and Ken Griffey Jr. In my opinion both are just way too old to be considered a serious threat to surpass Bonds someday. No way for those 3.

Also, guys who I think can be overlooked include , Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Gary Sheffield, and Chipper Jones. Manny is ranked 25th with 480 but is 3 years older than A-Rod so he's not my pick....plus he doesn't even care. Basically the lowdown on everybody else is that I think they are just too old. They are high on the list but there's just no way they can play long enough with their production to be seriously considered.

If I wouldn't take Arod or Pujols I would rather take my chance with a young kid like Prince Fielder or Miguel Cabrera. They are so young though that it is just a real risky pick. There are too many intangibles to consider to try and accurately project if and when they could be in position to pass Bonds.

My Picks
1. Arod
2. Pujols
3. Someone young like Prince Fielder or Miguel Cabrera

Agree with my Picks? Who is your pick to surpass Bonds on the all-time HR list (however many that may end up being)?

9 comments:

twins15 said...

IF they can both stay relatively healthy throughout their whole careers (and if Pujols is the age he says he is), then I think A-Rod will break Bonds' record, and then Pujols will break A-Rod's record.

Kevin Hayward said...

I think you're right that A-Rod's the guy, if he can stays healthy. There are a lot of things that can happen between where Pujols is in his career and where A-Rod is (huge slumps, injuries, etc.).

Somehow, I think the world would be a better place if it was Griffey that was poised to break the record. Wishful thinking, I know.

Stefan Ming said...

How many season has Prince Fielder been playing? 2 or more like 1.5? Why dont we wait 7-8 more seasons till we speculate his HR total

grittysquirrels said...

Ming...did you read the whole post or what? My third picks were someone young like Fielder or Cabrera because other than Pujols and Arod I said there isn't really anyone else so I would take a shot in the dark with someone young like that. And I quote....

"If I wouldn't take Arod or Pujols I would rather take my chance with a young kid like Prince Fielder or Miguel Cabrera. They are so young though that it is just a real risky pick. There are too many intangibles to consider to try and accurately project if and when they could be in position to pass Bonds."

Stefan Ming said...

I dont care what you say. Fielder is a stretch. I just think it ws foolish of you to even mention him.

Luke said...

No offense, man, but you seem to be among the majority of people that make me crack up because of how influenced you are by the media.

Why do you need to hate on Bonds? There's no evidence that he cheated any more than these guys you are rooting for. He's not a showboat, he's not near the jerk that the media makes him out to be (he just doesn't say the things they want him to say). Sure he has had some legal issues with his taxes (which if this is the reason you hate him, I really don't know what to say), and he may have cheated on his wife (although there's just as much evidence that A-Rod is currently doing this).

Don't let the media influence you. There's no evidence he did anything, and even if he did, how are you so sure that A-Rod, Poo-holes, and Co. haven't taken anything? Barry is still one of top three OFs at age 42, and I'm assuming he isn't on steroids since they're probably testing him every other weekend. How about you just enjoy what he is doing and realize that there's a very good chance he would have broken this record even without steroids (if he did take them).

Stefan Ming said...

Interesting... I am a Giants and Bonds fan, but I am not your delusional Giants fan that Bonds wasnt on roids. He admitted to using them, so I guess that's your evidence?

grittysquirrels said...

Yea dude i respect you and thank you for reading but you couldn't be more wrong. Why do I hate Bonds? Because he took steroids and admitted to it. He is a cheater. Im a fan of the game and that doesn't sit well with me

Also, I think he would be a definite HOFer w/o the roids but there is no way in hell that he would break the record w/o the roids. He is 42 now and his legs are in tough shape and guess what? Steroids help a player avoid injury and recover faster more than they help them hit HRs. If he took steroids he wouldn't still be playing right now and I'm almost sure of it.

Also, if you are calling bonds a top 3 OFer in MLB right now you are terribly mistaken.

Luke said...

First of all, I meant to say he was a top-3 NL outfielder...I still have that All-Star balloting in my head, sorry. I wrote a post on my blog about this, but I'll put a few quick important stats to prove my point:

(HR/AVG/OBP/SLG)

Bonds: 14/.290/.496/.586
Griffey: 18/.286/.385/.564
Soriano: 11/.294/.345/.517
Beltran: 9/.265/.345/.447

That rounds out the top four All-Star vote-getters. He's slumping and STILL is playing better than all these guys.

My point is this: I will not claim he never used steroids. That would be a pretty poor bet, considering the CIRCUMSTANTIAL evidence surrounding him. However, I cannot say he did for sure use steroids since there is no concrete evidence, and I most definitely cannot see how you can root for these other guys, who we really have no clue if they used more or less steroids than Bonds did.