It was a couple of weeks ago, I was in Japan and passed by a sports card shop. I found some 2025 Topps Heritage hobby packs available. Well, I only bought a blaster box of the 2025 Topps Heritage previously. When I saw some hobby packs of the 2025 Topps Heritage, I was just thinking it would be fun to buy some.
I bought 5 hobby packs of the 2025 Topps Heritage in that sports card shop. After opening the second pack, I found an interesting card. It’s an insert card, a 2001 through the years insert. On the front, it clearly shows that Barry Bonds, who was in the Giants uniform, was ready to swing.
When I checked the odds of this card, it seems that it’s not common to find. The odds are 1:32 (hobby packs). It’s not the first time that I found a Barry Bonds baseball card. But with this insert, I began to think about some questions.
Barry Bonds played for the Giants from 1993 to 2007, hitting .312/.477/.666 with 586 home runs and 1440 RBI. Of course, we know some stories about Barry Bonds. But, it’s hard to ignore his hitting performance. During his career with the Giants, he mainly played left field. After the 2007 season, how had the left fielders of the Giants performed?
To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website. To make things easier, let’s look at stats from 2008 to 2024.
From 2008 to 2024, the left fielders of the Giants had 497 home runs and 1999 RBI. Their on-base percentage was .321. Well, we can see some differences. In those 17 seasons, the left fielders of the Giants had 497 home runs. Barry Bonds played 15 seasons for the Giants and he crushed 500+ home runs. From 2008 to 2024, the Giants left fielders owned a .321 OBP. In Bonds’ 15 seasons with the Giants, his OBP was over .400.
In addition, let’s look at “key left fielders” who played for the Giants from 2008 to 2024.
From 2008 to 2024, only 4 left fielders blasted 30+ home runs for the Giants. Austin Slater played 593 games for the Giants and he smashed 39 home runs. Joc Pederson played 255 games for the Giants and he blasted 38 home runs. Michael Conforto played 255 games for the Giants as well and he had 35 home runs.
Finally, let’s take a look at runs batted in leaders among the left fielders of the Giants from 2008 to 2024. Gregor Blanco played 717 games for the Giants and collected 169 RBI. Austin Slater had 162 RBI. Andres Torres played 429 games for the Giants, collecting 126 RBI. And 2 other LFs each had collected 120+ RBI for the Giants during this period.
Well, there are still debates about Barry Bonds’ career. Nonetheless, his hitting performance is certainly impressive. And when we look back at the stats from 2008 to 2024, no LFs of the Giants crushed more than 40 home runs. In Barry Bonds’ career with the Giants, he finished 8 seasons with at least 40 home runs. Moreover, from 2008 to 2024, 6 LFs of the Giants collected 100+ RBI. In Barry Bonds’ career with the Giants, he finished 9 seasons with 100+ RBI. It’s clear that since 2008, the left fielders of the Giants haven’t hit consistently. Certainly, it’s extremely hard to find someone who can perform like Bonds. And, let’s see which player will play left field for the Giants and hit at least 40 home runs in a single season.
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