Continuing my series on the best hitter, starting pitcher, and relief pitcher of each decade I am moving backwards now to the best hitter of the 1990s. Barry Bonds is the selection. Bonds is also the best hitter of the 2000s. I'm pretty sure he'll be the only player to be selected as the "best of" of two decades, but we'll see.

People often mistakenly claim that Ken Griffey was the best hitter of the 90s. That claim is based mostly on the fact that Griffey hit a lot of home runs in '97 and '98 (56 each year) and more so on an ignorance of the importance of not getting out (ie getting on base.) It's also based on the fact that people think Ken Griffey is a jolly good guy while they think Barry Bonds is a big headed jerk (who did steroids/hgh/killed children/whatever.) Hopefully that spurious Ken Griffey BS can be put to rest in this here article. Read on...

Look at some of the stat leaders for the 1990s to start getting an idea why Bonds ranks #1 among all 1990s hitters.

OPS+ Leaders For The 1990s. (min. PA 3000)
1. Barry Bonds 179
2. Mark McGwire 173
3. Frank Thomas 169
4. Jeff Bagwell 160
5. Mike Piazza 157
6. Edgar Martinez 153
7. Ken Griffey 152
8. Albert Belle 149
9. Manny Ramirez 147
10. Jim Thome 146

Home Run Leaders For The 1990s
1. Mark McGwire 405
2. Ken Griffey 382
3. Barry Bonds 361
4. Albert Belle 351
5. Juan Gonzalez 339
6. Sammy Sosa 332
7. Rafael Palmeiro 328
8. Jose Canseco 303
9. Frank Thomas 301
10. Fred McGriff & Matt Williams 300

OBP Leaders For The 1990s
1. Frank Thomas .440
2. Barry Bonds .434
3. Edgar Martinez .430
4. Jeff Bagwell .416
5. Rickey Henderson .412
6. Jim Thome .412
7. Mark McGwire .411
8. John Olerud .406
9. Garry Sheffield .401
10. Manny Ramirez .399
...
29. Ken Griffey .384

SLG Leaders For The 1990s
1. Mark McGwire .615
2. Barry Bonds .602
3. Albert Belle .581
4. Ken Griffey .581
5. Juan Gonzalez .576
6. Manny Ramirez .576
7. Mike Piazza .575
8. Frank Thomas .573
9. Larry Walker .571
10. Jim Thome .547

Along with ranking in the top 3 in all of the above statistics, Barry Bonds also led the 90s in OPS, Runs, Walks, IBB, & Runs Created. He's a very close 3rd in RBI (only 23 behind Belle for first.) 3rd in Extra Base Hits (9 behind Belle.) Bonds also finished 6th in the 90s in stolen bases. Although stealing bases isn't technically part of "hitting" it is included in what I mean by it which is overall offensive production.

Bonds Vs. Griffey: Not Actually Even Close.

If the battle between Bonds and Griffey was really that close (and it's not) then Bonds would easily be pushed ahead anyway by his huge lead in stolen bases (343 to 151.)

The only stats I can find where Griffey greatly outranks Bonds? Strikeouts & Outs. Griffey was 21st in the 90s with 901 strikeouts while Bonds was 53rd with 747. Griffey was 14th in the 90s with 3913 outs. Bonds was 32nd with 3606.

Also interesting to note is that while Griffey did have more home runs than Bonds during the '90s that's mostly a product of Griffey's lack of discipline (comparatively) at the plate. Griffey walked a lot less than Bonds and thus got a lot more at bats. Griffey's 90s home run ratio was one home run every 14.1 at bats. Bonds' hit a home run every 13.6 at bats in the 90s.

Another interesting point is that Barry Bonds won three MVP awards in the NL in the 1990s. Griffey only one won MVP in the AL. Meanwhile Juan Gonzalez & Frank Thomas both won two.

So please put it to rest people of the baseball universe. Ken Griffey Jr. was not the best hitter of the 1990s. No. The correct answer is Barry Lamar Bonds.

Mark McGwire & Frank Thomas

I'd also like to point out you can probably make a better argument for Frank Thomas or Mark McGwire than for Griffey. But ultimately the arguments for Thomas and McGwire are pretty weak too.

McGwire was very inconsistent. He started the decade very slowly, hitting only .235 in 1990 and a putrid .201 in 1991. While McGwire put up monster home run numbers and got on base almost as good as anyone, he was never in the same class as Bonds as an all around hitter. He certainly didn't have the same speed on the basepaths. McGwire also never won an MVP award (although he was clearly robbed in 1998.) McGwire missed most of '93 & '94 with injuries.

Thomas is most hurt by the fact that he was just getting started in 1990 (he had 7 home runs in 60 games as a rookie) and he had disappointing numbers in 1998 (hit just .265 with 29 homers) and 1999 (just 15 home runs in 486 at bats.)

Barry Bonds: Far More Consistent Than The Competition

Bonds worst season of the 90s was probably 1999. But the main fault of his '99 was that he was injured. He was actually tearing the cover off the ball when he was playing. He had 34 home runs in 355 at bats that year. To further demonstrate Bonds incredible consistency in the 1990s consider this: His lowest single season OPS+ during the 1990s was his 161 in 1991, a year in which he finished second in the MVP voting (and should have won - See Terry Pendleton.) Consider that for a second: In arguably his worst season of the decade he still finished second in the MVP voting!

A worst OPS+ of the '90s comparison:

Thomas' worst was 125 in 1998.
Griffey's worst was 120 in an injury plagued 1995.
McGwire's worst was 103 in 1991.

Final Proof Of Barry Bonds Absolute Domination Of The 1990s

Pete Palmer's Batter-Fielder wins is a statistic which attempts to show how many wins a player brings to his team above that which an average replacement player would bring. This stat actually takes into consideration fielding abilities too which is beyond the scope of this article but really only makes Bonds dominance of the stat that much more impressive.

Bonds led the NL in Batter-Fielder wins in '90, '92, '93, '95, & '96
Bonds finished second in the NL in Batter-Fielder wins in '91, '94, & '98
Bonds finished third in the NL in Batter-Fielder wins in '97

The only year Bonds didn't finish in the top three? 1999 when he played only 102 games.

In comparison: Ken Griffey finished in the top 3 in the AL five times and led only once. He was 3rd three times. Mark McGwire only finished in the top 3 in his league once, that was when he led the NL in 1998. Frank Thomas finished in the top 3 in the AL three times, he also led the league only once.

Barry Lamar Bonds: Best Hitter Of The 1990s.

Labels: Barry Bonds, Best By Decade, Frank Thomas, Ken Griffey, Mark McGwire