Barry Bonds is an iconic player in MLB. He is one of the most skilled professionals to ever lay his hand on a wooden bat, but his legacy remains somewhat under question. With a later career that saw some controversy emerge, several MLB fans were left with a bad taste in their mouth surrounding the star. However, what cannot be ignored is his career stat line which boggles many a fans’ minds even to this day.

However, his career is almost always recounted as a given. With a father in MLB already playing when he was younger, his future seems to have been a foregone conclusion. Or so it seems. However, in an untold account from his story, it seems while Bobby Bonds wanted to have Barry play in MLB, his approach was fairly unique to be considered a solution.

Bobby Bonds’ Choice?

In his book ‘Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds‘, author Jeff Pearlman, recounts an incident that stood out from Barry’s childhood. While his father was an MLB journeyman through the years, the younger Barry had always displayed athletic ability. However, Bobby’s plan for the youngster was always clear from the beginning.

In his early schooling life, while still a student at the Carey School in San Mateo, Bonds was not your typical athlete. While at the school, Bonds’ academic reputation far superseded his athletic persona even one that was tending towards the arts more than sports. Writes Pearlman, “One who enjoyed singing and art, and who received much greater commendation for acing a math test than shooting a basket.”

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However, his father was the one that really changed things for Bonds. It was his father that really was itching to have him click at a bigger level. And when he got a whiff of the athletic ability the younger Bonds had. He refused to let it go to waste.

How did he do it?

Bobby Bonds was particularly excited not just by Bonds’ athletic ability but also by the sheer ability he saw in his son. Still playing little league, Bonds was already batting above 0.400 and hitting dingers far past the expected limits in their home ballpark.

As if that wasn’t enough, Bonds was also showing all the right signs of turning into a competitive athlete who would really ramp it up should that be required. And Bobby was drinking it all in. On a $1 bet, Barry apparently managed to strike another player exactly where he had said he would. While Ron Jackson was hurt, Bobby had the greatest reaction.

Bobby Bonds’ Declining Career Took Tremendous Toll on Young Barry Bonds Looking as He Struggled in His Father’s Shadow

Speaking about Bobby’s attitude, Pearlman writes, “A B+ in history? Who cares, kid. A black-and-blue welt on Ron Jackson’s hip? That’s my boy!” It was this push perhaps that propelled Bonds into a stratosphere of otherworldly achievements.

Perhaps competition and hyper-ability were something that was a part of the Bonds genealogy but Barry went on to achieve greatness. Almost a story that never was, it is interesting to see how Barry Bonds has gone from strength to strength in MLB.

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