Barry Bonds Is Dominant...Now If Only He Could Pitch Like Randy Johnson

It is April, the most wonderful time of the year, when hope springs eternal for all 75 major league teams. Well, all except the Expos, Marlins, Tigers, Devil Rays, Orioles, Pirates, Brewers and maybe a couple others. Still, it is April, and every April it becomes more important that we, as baseball fans and trustees of baseball history, acknowledge the greatest player of all time.

This generation has never seen a more dominant hitter than Barry Bonds or a more dominant pitcher than Randy Johnson. Bonds may one day pass Babe Ruth (whose 60 homers in 1927 are now the 8th highest single season total ever -- the game has changed), but he is still 143 home runs away. Bonds' 2001 may have been the best offensive season ever or maybe not; whether it was as good as Ruth's 1921 is debatable. That year, Ruth had 204 hits, 119 for extra bases, and batted .378. His 59 home runs were fourteen short of Bonds' total, but no other player even hit 25 homers in 1921. His 145 walks were a little less than Bonds' record total, but they were enough to give him an on base percentage of .509, identical to that of Bonds' OBP last year.

Randy Johnson now has 80 complete games, certainly an impressive total. He only needs 27 more to catch . . . Babe Ruth. Of course even if Johnson does catch the Babe in complete games, he will never lower his career earned run average to a Ruthian number like 2.28. Four years before Babe Ruth hit those 59 homers with the .378 average he was 24-13 with 35 complete games and six shutouts. Some like to point out that in those days everyone completed games because the concept of relief pitching did not exist. In fact, Ruth's 35 complete games lead the league in 1917, and while relief pitching was certainly not what it is today, it did exist. As proof of its existence, the Babe also had two saves that year. One year earlier he posted a record of 23-12 with nine shutouts. His ERA was 1.75; he had only one save in relief that season.

In a two year span, Ruth had 47 wins, 58 complete games, and 15 shutouts. Barry Bonds may catch Babe Ruth, but Randy Johnson never will.

In his first four full seasons in the big leagues, Ruth averaged 20 wins per year. In those four years, he amassed a total of 20 home runs. (Randy Johnson has two 20 win seasons in his career, same as the Babe.) Suppose Ruth had been a full time outfielder instead of a pitcher. Suppose he had averaged a mere 30 homers per season. His career total could have been 814. Hank Aaron would not have caught him, and Bonds would have no hope of catching him.

Randy Johnson would have an easier time catching him of course, but RJ would still be chasing Walter Johnson. Randy will never catch Walter. That is a topic for another day, but Randy is not even the best Johnson ever to pitch. Admittedly, at 6'10", he is certainly the biggest Johnson, hence the name, "The Big Unit."

Remembering baseball's best player becomes more important each April because there are very few people alive who actually saw Babe Ruth play. We have all seen some great players -- the debate over who was second best will hopefully rage forever -- but none of us will ever see the greatest.

The game is changing quickly. Sammy Sosa has averaged 61 homers over the last four years. One day, people may consider Barry Bonds the second best hitter ever, and they may be correct. One day, kids might try to tell you Alex Rodriguez was the best ever. Remind them about the Babe. Remind them every April.

The game is changing. It has never stopped changing. One day, someone may prove to be the best hitter of all time, a better hitter even than Babe Ruth. When that happens, Babe Ruth will still be the best PLAYER ever.