It’s been nearly eight-and-a-half years since Barry Bonds last played in an MLB game, but as the Miami Marlins learned this week, baseball’s all-time home run king still has plenty of pop in his bat.
According to SiriusXM’s Craig Mish, Bonds—Miami’s hitting coach—took on Giancarlo Stanton and other Marlins players in a team competition at camp on Wednesday. Almost a decade after retiring, the former San Francisco Giants slugger picked up right where he left off.
Wait a second, the 51-year-old Bonds hit more home runs than the Giancarlo Stanton? The same player who has 64 home runs in just 219 games the past two seasons and was the runner-up for the 2014 National League Most Valuable Player award? Apparently so.
Update from Wednesday, March 16 at 4:55 p.m. ET
Here are some details about the contest, courtesy of the Miami Herald‘s Clark Spencer:
A handful of Marlins took part in a practice field hitting drill in which the goal is to “score runs” by whatever means — singles, doubles, triples or home runs. Because one of the three-man teams was short a player, Bonds — the Marlins’ new hitting coach — was asked to join.
Bonds was on the same team as Stanton and Christian Yelich.
It does not sound as though it was a true home run derby, but Bonds did outslug the Marlins’ franchise player.
“He hit more home runs than me, yes,” Stanton said, per Spencer.
Needless to say, the Miami right fielder walked away amazed.
“It was pretty impressive,” Stanton said. “[Put] another 51-year-old out there and he’d probably snap his back in half. That was probably one of the coolest things we’ve done.”
–End of Update–
Unfortunately, Mish was not able to get video of the action.
Mish also tweeted about Bonds’ reaction to the day’s events:
Bonds hit 762 home runs in his 22-year MLB career—and it appears as though he might be able to hit a few more if he got into the lineup this season.
[Craig Mish, h/t Sports Illustrated‘s Extra Mustard]
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