Good Players, Bad Reputations

Jason Michael Barker

In baseball as in life, it's easy for people to assign labels to others without always having the full picture. Leaving society as a whole aside for a minute (there's a place for social commentary, but it's not on a baseball website), you've heard most of these labels when it comes to baseball. One player might get labeled a "clutch hitter," while another is said to be a "gamer" with an intense desire to win.

Again in baseball as in life, we're much more likely to hear negative labels than positive ones. I'm thinking in particular of two players who reside in the National League. These two players happen to play the same position, and further are among the best ever to play the game. At the same time, they've also had various negative labels slapped on them by fans and the media alike.

First up is Rickey Henderson, who has been called everything from a showboat to a clubhouse cancer. Henderson's bad boy image was nearly invisible a few years ago, but lately it has come into view once more. It all started last year, when Henderson pitched a fit over being removed for a defensive replacement late in games. In the playoffs, he and Bobby Bonilla were seen playing cards in the clubhouse rather than supporting their teammates in the dugout.

In fairness to the Mets, replacing Henderson with Melvin Mora in the late innings was probably the right move. Henderson was well below average among left fielders with regard to range factor last season, and was second to last among regulars at the position (Pittsburgh's Al Martin ranked dead last). Mora was no star with the glove, and in fact was slightly below average in a relatively small sample, but was still an improvement over Henderson.

Still, you can't help but wonder if manager Bobby Valentine might have approached the issue a bit more carefully, seeing as he was dealing with a 21-year veteran, future Hall of Famer, one-time Gold Glove winner and an extremely proud man in Henderson.

Stepping back a bit, Henderson has always worn a "problem" label placed upon him by the media for much of his career. How deserved is this label? I've never heard or read anything from his teammates, current or former, about him being a detriment to the team. In fact, I would even argue that Henderson has been somewhat underrated in his career, perhaps due in part to his reputation.

What Rickey Henderson is, quite simply, is one of the best baseball players in history, and perhaps the greatest leadoff man ever. In terms of the traditional leadoff man statistics, he checks in with a .405 career on-base percentage and 1334 career stolen bases, more than any other player in history. He's also third all-time in walks (1942) and fifth in runs scored (2103). It's not inconceivable that he could retire as the all-time leader in steals, walks and runs, not to mention over 3000 hits and 500 doubles.

For a discussion of the second player, we must change coasts. By now you might have guessed that Henderson's partner in crime (no pun intended) in this piece is Barry Bonds, the man who wears an earring and stands to admire his tape-measure homers. He's also been called a prima donna and has been accused of both having the biggest ego in sports and choking under pressure, all unfair labels on perhaps the greatest left fielder since Ted Williams.

Bonds is that rare combination of speed and power, sort of the ultimate "tools player." He'll likely retire as the only man in history with over 500 home runs and 500 steals, and for that matter he's got an outside shot at 600 of each if he can keep his steals up. He's only 35 and is still going strong -- despite rushing back from an injury and hitting .227 in his first six weeks, he still posted the fourth highest slugging percentage of his 14-year career. He's also an excellent defensive outfielder (eight Gold Gloves), and could have held his own in center field during his prime years.

Perhaps the biggest criticism of Bonds is that he's never done anything when the team has needed him, as in down the stretch of a pennant drive. Without even looking at the numbers, this is a pretty silly argument if you stop and think about it -- would the team even be in such a position without Bonds? Probably not.

And now for some recent history. In 1996, the Giants finished 68-94, 23 games behind the Padres, so it's unlikely even Bonds could have made up such a difference. In 1997 the Giants won the West by two games, so he clearly didn't cost them the division.

In 1998 they lost the West by 9.5 games, a case worthy of checking the numbers. That year, Bonds hit a robust .447/.675 (OBP/SLG) after the All-Star break, including .466/.755 in August and .491/.778 in September. Those are incredible numbers, and asking for anything more would have been blatantly unfair to Bonds.

Last year the Giants finished a full 14 games behind the Diamondbacks. Bonds hit .380/.699 in July and .418/.784 in August, when the race was still reasonably close. He did slump to .313/.440 in September, but by then even a super-human effort couldn't have brought the Giants back against Arizona.

It's a small sample, sure, but to say Bonds hasn't performed down the stretch in recent years just isn't true.

Rickey Henderson and Barry Bonds are two of the greatest left fielders of all time, and the fact that they're playing in the same era is a blessing to the fans who get to watch them spin their craft. When their days in baseball are done and they hang up their spikes, here's hoping they'll be remembered for what they did on the field instead of for some silly labels the media slapped on them.

 

about the author

Jason Michael Barker was asked by the Padres to swing another deal like the one that brought Garth Brooks to spring training in 1999. Let him know that Christina Aguilera might not be what the Pads had in mind at jmb@strikethree.com.