The Colorado Rockies broadcast added more fuel to the fire of the José Ramírez-Barry Bonds debate on Tuesday night with a shrewd graphic that elicited surprised reactions from around the league.
A day after the Cleveland Guardians star claimed he was “better than Barry Bonds,” the Rockies broadcast crew sought to shed some light on the matter by crunching each player’s numbers through the first 1,346 games.
Bonds led Ramírez in four of five major offensive categories, but the statistical comparisons are closer than fans may have previously believed. Bonds boasted 273 homers to Ramírez’s 231 homers, 2,555 total bases to Ramírez’s 2,491 and recorded a .538 slugging percentage to Ramírez’s .501.
Rockies broadcast crunched the numbers
(via @emmethumeys) pic.twitter.com/J9OfzMpiWC
After a slow start to the season, the Guardians slugger entered Tuesday slashing a scorching .284/.355/.663 in the month of May. In the 13-7 win over the Rockies, Ramírez smashed his 11th homer of the month and 16th of the year, tying New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Houston Astros’ Kyle Tucker for most home runs in May.
Despite his recent blazing-hot streak, Ramírez’s career accolades clearly pale in comparison to Bonds, who earned seven MVPs, eight Golden Gloves and two batting titles in his legendary albeit controversial 22-year career. Still, the Guardians star’s impressive offensive stats seen side-by-side to those of Bonds may surprise some fans.
With Tuesday’s win, Cleveland improved to 37-18 and stays perched atop the AL Central.
KRISTEN WONG
