Chipper Jones is having a spectacular start to the 2008 season, his batting average is still over .400, and it got me thinking…..
Jones’ numbers stand at a stellar .421/.504/.671 1.175 OPS
That is some start to a season. Reminds me of somebody that I wrote about way back in September of 2002…..
…. Superman
By now everyone knows that Barry Bonds is the best baseball player on the planet. His pursuit of his first batting title at age 38, his on-base perventage, his home runs…. (I have) just recently outlined why Bonds is head and shoulders above everyone else, not only in the National League, but in all of baseball, and that includes Alex Rodriguez, who’s only advantage over Bonds is his age.
But even I am amazed at what I just discovered in doodling through Barry’s numbers this year. At the All-Star break, Barry’s numbers were awesome, .345/.562/.780, with a 1.342 OPS. Wow! That is out of this world, no? Well, if that’s out of this world, then since the All Star break, he’s left the solar system.
Barry Bonds has a .417 (!) batting average in the second half of the season, with a .614 (!) on base percentage, an .848 (!) slugging percentage, and an OPS of 1.462 (!). Read that sentence two or three times, because its likely you’ll never see someone write that again. I’m about 95% certain no one’s ever written that before. I’d bet that Babe Ruth had some pretty impressive half-season runs, but a .614 on-base percentage would be the best in some fast-pitch softball leagues. Shown as an OBM TC line, it looks like this:
.417/.614/.848, with a 1.462 OPS
Over the last seven days, while the Giants have been fighting for their lives in their efforts to secure the Wild Card berth, Bonds has been even better:
.526/.735/.789, with a 1.524 OPS
I really don’t have anything else to say…. just look at those numbers.
Jones has a long way to go before he runs out a line like that. David Pinto says he needs to go 0 for 12 to drop below .400. Well, he’d need to hit 15 consecutive home runs before he’d catch the kind of scorching tsunami of a run that Bonds was on.
Ahhhh…. the good old days…..
UPDATE: Actually, the days right now aren’t too bad, either.
The Giants won their second in a row, got another stellar performance from Jonathan Sanchez, a grand slam from a reborn Bowker, and all of a sudden, have a -nothing to be ashamed of- 27-35 record.
If Zito and Cain can right the ship, maybe, just maybe, this team could sniff .500. In reality, if Zito had won just half his starts, they’d be at .500 now. Since May 8th, when they were 14-21, the team has gone 13-14, which is, with this offense, truly impressive.
The Franchise is s stellar 8-1, with a 2.15 ERA, and 83 strikeouts in 83 innings. He has been a superstar in the making, and seems to get better every start. A Cy Young Award conversation is starting already, and he has to be considered one of the top contenders, along with Edwin Volquez, and Brandon Webb. He should easily make his first All-Star game.
Maybe Brian -I am not a lunatic- Sabean will be proven right, that they could grab a real bat and possibly make a run.
Or, maybe they’ll collapse into a quivering mess. I’ll enjoy it for now.
6 Backtalkers
So how come nobody’s ranting about how Chipper is obviously juicing? I mean he’s getting up there in years, and having this kind of season is impossible without juice, right?
Oh wait. I forgot. People like Chipper. Nevermind.
I could care less about juicing. What Chipper is doing is ridiculous. If he can keep it up that would be awesome, might give us something to look forward to in the second half, to see if someone can chase hitting .400. And unlike Todd Helton he’s not hitting in a joke of a ballpark to enhance his average, so its the first year in 14 years where somebody might legitimately have a shot at .400.
Anyone excited about the draft? The Giants day 1 results were picked as one of the biggest winners on Draft Day by more than a few people. Jim Callis, Keith Law, Kevin Goldstein etc. Getting John Barr from the Dodgers looks like a major coup.
I agree. The Giants draft was one of the most widely heralded in years. Thanks for reminding me.
yeah, it’s cool to watch Chipper Jones’ numbers… every couple few of days I wade through the stats and I say “still?”. Think he’s punching his HOF card right now…. I’ve never been a big fan of his, but it is cool to watch.
And of course he’s not juicing! That doesn’t happen anymore. Don’t you read the news? Once we got that surly outspoken black man out of the way, all is well again.
I guess Chipper’s hat size needs to go up a couple of sizes> Maybe nobody suspects him of doping because his body size is close to what it was when he joined the big leagues?
[...] at a stellar .421/.504/.671 1.175 OPS That is some start to a season. Reminds me of somebody thathttp://www.onlybaseballmatters.com/archives/2008/06/07/history-2/San Francisco Giants Want to Re-Sign Barry BondsThe San Francisco Giants are seriously interested in [...]