New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge is having one of the best hitting seasons in the history of baseball.
San Francisco Giants legend Barry Bonds had four seasons better than this, in a row.
Controversy or not, there's no questioning Bonds' place as the most prolific power hitter to ever step onto a baseball diamond.
Here's how the comparison with Judge breaks down:
- Judge has a 1.264 OPS this season through June 12
- From 2001 through 2004, Bonds put up full-season OPS marks of 1.379, 1.381, 1.278 and 1.422
Bonds also outdid Judge in three of those four seasons in the league-adjusted OPS+, which compares a hitter's output to the league average in that given year's hitting environment. So this wasn't just a Steroid Era slugging impact.
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These stats can really be viewed two ways.
On the one hand, Judge is having a Bonds-ian season. That's astounding.
On the other, Bonds was in a league of his own. There's never been a hitter like him.
He hit his 73 homers in 2001. He walked 232 times in 2004 while also batting .362. He hit .370 in 2002.
This is a guy who had a .480 on-base percentage and .565 slugging percentage in his age-42 season in 2007.
It's a reminder for baseball fans to appreciate everything Judge is doing, but also not to forget the absolute power with which Bonds swung every time he came to the box.
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