Today we add the great Bobby Bonds to my on-going 1978 "30 Home Run Club" thread celebrating the big boppers of the 1977 season:
Bonds
finished up yet another great year in 1977, playing for the California
Angels, reaching his fourth 30-30 campaign with 37 home runs and 41
stolen bases.
The man was just electric!
The
37 home runs were just two short of American League leader Jim Rice,
and were Bonds' second highest total after his 39 in 1973, when he fell
one short of becoming the first 40-40 man in Major League history.
By the time he left the Majors after the 1981 season, he retired with
332 homers and 461 stolen bases, along with 1258 runs scored and 1024
runs batted in over 1849 games and 7043 at bats.
It’s a shame that by the time he turned 34 his best days were behind him. I never really understood why he dropped off the radar so quickly after a really good season with the Cleveland Indians in 1979.
The following year he found himself with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he would only play in 86 games, before just 45 games in ‘81 with the Chicago Cubs, the last of his career.
An incredible talent, just seems that after his first seven seasons with the San Francisco Giants, no one really wanted to keep him around, playing for seven teams in seven years between 1975 and 1981.
It’s a shame that by the time he turned 34 his best days were behind him. I never really understood why he dropped off the radar so quickly after a really good season with the Cleveland Indians in 1979.
The following year he found himself with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he would only play in 86 games, before just 45 games in ‘81 with the Chicago Cubs, the last of his career.
An incredible talent, just seems that after his first seven seasons with the San Francisco Giants, no one really wanted to keep him around, playing for seven teams in seven years between 1975 and 1981.
