Does Bonds have a shot at .400??

[Ficerarmer]

well being in the Bay Area, I'm definitely over exposed to Barry Bonds. I remember reading an article about his 661th home run and how it shouldn't of been that big of a deal, and I remember agreeing with the article. The newspapers around here went crazy though. Front page news! I guess it's to be expected seeing as how he passed another Bay Area sports legend, but it's not front page news imo.

I don't care who he is as a person. Maybe he's not the most friendly person in the world, but he's certainly not cruel. He does donate to charities, iirc he does work with children, and he does donate his time. He's not the perfect media boy like Griffey used to be, but I don't think Bonds as a human being is no worse then you or me.

[DavidiusRex]

Well... Bonds is not Edmonds. Bonds stikes out far less than Edmonds. But you are right, it is early. I wouldn't consider a run at .400 serious until August. Since 1980 only two players were about .400 after August. George Brett in 1980 was above .400 until September 18th. John Olerud in 1993 was above .400 until August 2nd.

Don't forget Tony Gwynn. He hit .394 in 1994 and had hit .475 in August up until the strike.

[Pedantic]

Barry, .400? I doubt it. The man sees more balls than Elton John at an 'NSync afterparty. At this rate, he'll forget what a major league fastball looks like.

[The Jury]

Teehee I was just browsing through some player profiles.. That 72 homerun year stands out as just sick. 72 HOMERUNS! That's like the RBI total of the average major leaguer in one season. That is SICK

[tal1286]

i bet he breaks .400 easily. He gets walked so often first of all. Second, as someone else said, any mistake is a home run. also, at this point, his obp is .700. he's so good that people just won't pitch to him. like someone said, 1ab in 9 innings!! His obp is gonna be huge and any strike is gonna be a hit.
he hits the ball so hard that i just wouldn't be suprised if he hit over .400.

[Mookie4ever]

How many AB do you need to qualify for the batting title?

How many official AB is Barry on pace for?

[fruityloops]

He could do it.

The stat that shocks me into thinking so is his swinging strikes.

Thus far in the year he only has a jaw droppingly low number of pitches he swung on and missed. Earlier this week it was just 7!!

[fezzik]

Teehee I was just browsing through some player profiles.. That 72 homerun year stands out as just sick. 72 HOMERUNS! That's like the RBI total of the average major leaguer in one season. That is SICK

Yeah, 2001 was absurd. He actually hit 73 . Anyway, sure he's got a shot. He is superhuman. Do I think it will happen?...No, I don't.

However, some things that may help him are:

- the NL west lost some aces during this offseason...no more Kevin Brown and Curt Schilling.

- he's off to a great start...if he was batting .280 right now, nobody would even bring up this topic...batting .515 is always a bonus...you can have a couple 1 for 3 days and still stay above .400.

- his walks will help by increasing his plate appearances, so he'll be able to qualify for the batting title while only getting around 450 AB's. Hitting .400 is more likely in a smaller sample of AB's.

The big question mark:

-how's Bonds going to fair against San Diego pitching, and hitting in the new park there. Typically Bonds destroys S.D. pitching, but their staff and park have been completely changed. Peavy and Eaton are still there, but they are better now. David Wells is a wild card...how's Barry going to do against him? Their pen has improved. Lawrence is still there. Ishmail Valdez is pretty average, but pitching in that S.D. park instead of Texas will surely improve his numbers. Will the new stadium decrease Barry's HR's and increase his BA? Decrease both? Have no effect? I think this will have a large impact on his ability to hit .400. Time will tell.

[shortround_phat2008]

Lol yall really think he has a shot he has a better shot hitt n 80 homers then hitt n 400 yall mus be on crack no1 is good enuff 2 hit 380 this year and yall think he will hit 400 lol

[DK]

The only thing really standing in Bonds' way is all the walks he sees. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you need 400 AB's to have a shot at the batting title. He could always be given the "unofficial" title (IE a .405 average in 390 AB). He's batting what, .512 now? No way it lasts, but .400 is close in realm.

That being said, I personally don't think he'll hit .400. Even if he does, I still believe Ted Williams was the better LF.