Should Ken Griffey Jr. be considered better than Bonds?

Question

I say yes. Nobody has ever questioned Griffey's home runs. He does everything naturally and it's an awesome sight to see. Barry hit many of his home runs artificially and illegally, so he should be considered a lump of crap compared to Jr., Grif.

Answer 1

griffey should be considered better than most everyone in the majors past and present. hes a 5-tool player in every sense of the term and if he wasnt sidelined for injuries during most of his career he would be the unquestioned homerun king

Answer 2

I would definitely call Griffey Jr. a greater player than Bonds. As stated, there is no controversy behind Griffey's career (at least none so far), and overall he is an amazing player, both with the bat in his hands and on the field. Griffey still has an arm in center, he's still got power and some good speed, while Bonds is just trying to jack those home runs. Overall, Griffey is a better player, even though Bond's home run race might overshadow him. Plus Griffey has a sweeter home run swing lol.

Answer 3

I agree with Elliot. As much as I despise Bonds, he is a great player. Looking at the numbers it is tough to differenciate between the two. I can't give Griffey credit for what he 'would have done' if he stayed healthy. Griffey is the better defender, but never put up the gaudy steals numbers that Bonds did early in his carrer. Would Barry had hit 73 home runs without steroids? No. But would he have hit 62? Maybe. Or 50? Or 30? Its too bad that we'll never know.

Answer 4

No offense to Griffey, who could have been ahead of Aaron's record by now or appraoching it, plus the fact that in his pre-injury prime few played a better center field, but Bonds has actually hit the homeruns and has been a dangerous base stealer, even a few of the so-called "steroid" seasons. Now, if we do find out once and for all that Bonds was juiced, Griffey will be in Cooperstown and Bonds may not, but steroids notwithstanding, Bonds has been a better player.

Answer 5

Griffey Jr. has always been better than Bonds. By far the better fielder. By far has a better arm and covers much more ground than Bonds. Does not take steroids. Even with all his injuries Griffey Jr. is 10 times the ball player Bonds could ever hope to be.

Answer 6

If someone can dismiss Bonds' preternatual eyesight and consequent mastery of his strike zone as artificially produced, then maaaaayyybbe Junior is better.

But no one can. Bonds' greatest skill isn't his power -- true, that's valuable -- but his ability to control his strike zone. He rarely swings at difficult-to-hit pitches. He walks a bundle, and therefore -- this is important -- makes fewer outs.

Bonds has done a much better job of staying healthier too; his longest DL stays were clustered into two seasons, and great seasons matter more than flashy career numbers.

Career OBP (through 27-May-2007)
BB .444 (in 12303 plate appearances)
KGJ .374 (in 9732 PA)

Can't easily imagine Kenny's gonna get that number much bigger.

One can LIKE Griffey a lot more; that's understandable. But to argue he's been a better player, well, it takes a highly creative, and subjective, interpretation of the objective data to get there.

Or, of course, the traditionalist's method of completely ignoring the stats and simply handwaving or wishthinking superiority unto Griffey by empty fiat, claiming that the numbers lie, citing the well-known (mis)quote by Twain, proclaiming that the difference is intuitively obvious, and going along this path soon takes us to babbling about "intangibles" and other analytically worthless drivel. Giving these people a cookie or stick of chewing gum tends to render them mostly harmless for long enough for one to get far away.

Answer 7

Bonds is a piece but Griffey could not stay healthy long enough to put together a resume to compare with Bonds. His career numbers are amazing from his stolen bases to gold gloves to walks numbers. Do not get me wrong, I am far from a Bonds fan but you can't take away his ability to have amazing hand eye coordination and flat out hit the ball. He is a dick off the field and I doubt you find many of his teammates, besides Barry Zito, who would say he was a fried or a great teammate but his numbers speak for themselves.

Answer 8

Look at them both. Ken Griffey Jr. hit all his home runs "The Right Way". Ken Griffey Jr. is way better then bonds.

Answer 9

Ken Griffey Jr. HANDS is better than Balco Bonds.

I honestly think that Barry Bonds is a joke, and I think Bud Selig feels the same way. I think Roger Maris should get his homerun record back. Mark McGuire is a joke too.

Answer 10

I'd say they would be about the same. Injuries took away a lot of stats from Griffey Jr. and steroids are questioning Bonds'. If you forget the injuries and pre-steroids, they would probably be about the same.

Here's a link to look a Bonds' stats:
http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/stats/player_locator_results.jsp?c_id=bos&playerLocator=Bonds

And a link to look at Griffey's:
http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/stats/player_locator_results.jsp?c_id=bos&playerLocator=Griffey