BOBBY BONDS

Bobby Bonds. When he came along, with the rare exceptions of Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, sluggers were sluggers and leadoff men were table setters, usually with speed. Sluggers were considered too valuable to risk injury stealing bases.

Bobby Bonds changed all that. He drew attention from the start, when he hit a grand slam against the Dodgers with his first hit in his first major league game. The Giants made him their leadoff hitter in 1969, his first full year, and he hit 32 homers, stole 45 bases, drove in 90 runs and scored 120. These are numbers we became used to during the Rickey Henderson years, but they were unheard of for a leadoff man in that era. It made him the charter member of the 30-30 club, the first to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in the same year.

Those were typical numbers for Bonds' early years. However, he also struck out a lot--setting a major league record that same year with 187 whiffs, "bettering" that in 1970 with 189. His career ratio of one "special K" per every four at bats is among the worst all-time.

In 1970 he had his one 200 hit year and hit a career best .302. In '71, his first all star year it was .288, 33, 102. He slumped a bit in '72, then had his all around best year in 1973 with a .283 average, league best 131 runs, 34 doubles, 39 homers, 96 RBI and 43 steals. He was named Sporting News Player of the Year. He was the MVP of the All Star Game and hit a record 11 leadoff homers that year. In Bonds' six full seasons as a Giant, he stole 40 or more bases every year but one, with three 30 home run years and three more with 20 or more homers.

Never popular with old time conservative baseball men, he didn't hit it off at all with manager Charlie Fox and was eventually benched in 1974, as he had his worst season yet, .256, 21, 71. He raised more than a few eyebrows with his rationale for not running out every ground ball, something every Little Leaguer has drilled into him. "If you get 200 hits a season, you're going to hit .333 and still have 400 outs. I don't see why you have to run down to first base every time you make an out."

In 1975, Bobby was traded to the Yankees for Bobby Murcer. He had another all star season, his third, hitting .270, 32 homers, 85 RBI, 93 runs and 30 steals.

The following year, he was dealt back to the West Coast, near his hometown of Riverside with the California Angels. Somehow it seemed appropriate that the exhibition game injury that ruined his season and started his demise was to his middle finger. In any case, it cost him most of his power in 1976, although his slugging returned in 1977 with 37 homers, 115 RBI, 103 runs and 41 steals.

By this time Barry was 10 years old and Bobby was bringing him to Angel games. The Bonds came from an athletic family. Bobby's sister Rosie, was a track star on the 1964 Olympic team, and Bobby Jr. also played professional baseball.

By 1978, free agency had become part of every team's game plan. Bonds was going to be a free agent after the season and, like so many teams since, the Angels decided to get something for him rather than risking losing him after the '78 season.

Angel fans were in an uproar--despite some of his attitudes, Bonds was the kind of player, like his son and Roger Clemens, who is popular while he is on your team. Bonds had no desire to move away from southern California and he made no bones about disliking the Chisox new uniforms. "I'm going to retire. No way will I wear those damn hot pants."

He did wear the "hot pants" for a few months, but was dealt to Texas in May and in October to Cleveland. He wasn't very popular with his fellow Indians. Rick Manning, an excellent center fielder, said that Bonds "wouldn't hit the cutoff man if he were King Kong." As far as Bonds' noted base stealing prowess, Manning added, "He was the only guy who could steal 34 bases and get thrown out 34 times. The actual numbers were 34 steals and 23 caught stealings, and he did thump 25 homers and drive in 85 runs with a .275 average, but it was Bonds' last full season.

Going into the twilight of a career that, while it may not have been as great as it could have been, still included hitting 30 homers for five different clubs. He also was a member of the club he founded, the 30-30 club, five times, only his son Barry has as many. His 35 leadoff home runs was a record until another touchy customer, Rickey Henderson, came along to break it.

After a wretched season with the Cardinals, followed by a horrible one with the Cubs, Bobby Bonds hung up his spikes in 1981. The baseball world would have to wait only five years for the arrival of his son.