Barry Bonds has won the Most Valuable Player award so many times–five and counting –he now is willing to share the wealth.
The player who often gives the impression he lives life in the first-person singular said Monday he would have been willing to share the trophy he won last year with Sammy Sosa and Luis Gonzalez.
Bonds said it would have been appropriate, suggesting the 2001 accomplishments of two others were comparable with his record 73 home runs.
But what about his record fifth National League MVP award, the one the Giants slugger won Monday, the one that has set him apart from all but a handful of professional athletes? Would he share this one?
“Well, no,” Bonds said. “This one I kinda ran away with a little.”
Kinda? A little? Bonds stood alone–as he sometimes does in his own clubhouse–in the balloting of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He is the fifth unanimous choice in the 72-year history of the National League award. He stands alone in this regard, as well: He is the only player in either league to win the award more than three times.
Indeed, only three players involved in professional team sports in this country have won an MVP award more times than Bonds. Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe won the Hart Trophy nine and six times, respectively, in the NHL, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the NBA MVP award six times. Bill Russell and Michael Jordan were five-time MVPs.
Bonds was in Japan with an all-star team when he received word of his historic “re-election.” In a conference telephone call he said he was overjoyed and excited, though his mood seemed melancholy at times. Told of his standing compared to Gretzky and the others, he said, “I wish I was as liked as much as them. I wish I had the same form of respect. They’re admired.”
But he also took exception to a question concerning his view of how he is treated by the media. “Baseball is supposed to be joyful,” he said, praising the Japanese media. “The USA is just different.”
Then again, it was a portion of the media–two writers from the each of the 16 Baseball Writers of America chapters covering the league–that elected him unanimously. The system that assigns a first-place vote 14 points, and nine, eight, seven and so on for the second through 10th places, produced a perfect 448 score.
Albert Pujols of the Cardinals was the runner-up and the only other player named on all ballots. Three outfielders–Lance Berkman (Astros) Vladimir Guerrero (Expos) and Shawn Green (Dodgers) placed third through fifth.
Bonds’ teammate, Jeff Kent, the MVP in 2000, was sixth.
Bonds, 38, became the oldest player to win his first batting title when he hit .370 this year. He extended his major-league record for walks to 198. And his .582 on-base average broke Ted Williams’ 61-year-old record by a staggering 31 points. Bonds also produced the majors’ highest slugging percentage at .799.
He became the first player to win an MVP for successive seasons on two occasions. Bonds won the award in 1992 with the Pirates and in 1993, his first season the Giants. His first MVP award came in 1990.
Beginning that year, Bonds has received 13.2 percent of the points awarded in NL balloting. In comparison, Willie Mays received 9.3 percent of the NL MVP points from 1954, the year of the first of his two awards, through 1971, the last year he appeared on the ballot.
Inside the MVP award
The voting
PLAYER, TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Barry Bonds, SF 32 — — 448
Albert Pujols, StL — 26 4 276
Lance Berkman, Hou — 1 7 181
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Vladimir Guerrero, Mon, 168; Shawn Green, LA, 146; Jeff Kent, SF, 135; Randy Johnson, Ari, 127; John Smoltz, Atl, 124; Sammy Sosa, Cubs, 63; Curt Schilling, Ari, 53; Chipper Jones, Atl, 50; Greg Gagne, LA, 44; Brian Giles, Pit, 27; Junior Spivey, Ari, 8; Pat Burrell, Phi, 8; Andruw Jones, Atl, 7; Gary Sheffield, Atl, 6; Jim Edmonds, StL, 6; Todd Helton, Col, 3; Benito Santiago, SF, 2; Edgar Renteria, StL, 2; Larry Walker, Col, 2; Roy Oswalt, Hou, 1; Jose Vidro, Mon, 1.
LAST 10 WINNERS
x-unanimous selection
2001: Barry Bonds, San Francisco
2000: Jeff Kent, San Francisco
1999: Chipper Jones, Atlanta
1998: Sammy Sosa, Cubs
1997: Larry Walker, Colorado
1996: x-Ken Caminiti, San Diego
1995: Barry Larkin, Cincinnati
1994: x-Jeff Bagwell, Houston
1993: Barry Bonds, San Francisco
1992: Barry Bonds, Pittsburgh
Bonds’ statistics
AB R H HR RBI AVG
403 117 149 46 110 .370
2B 3B BB SO SB SLG
31 2 198 47 9 .799
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Unanimous MVPs
NATIONAL LEAGUE
2002: Bonds, San Francisco
1996: Caminiti, San Diego
1994: Bagwell, Houston
1980: Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia
1967: Orlando Cepeda, St. Louis
AMERICAN LEAGUE
1997: Ken Griffey, Jr., Seattle
1993: Frank Thomas, White Sox
1988: Jose Canseco, Oakland
1973: Reggie Jackson, Oakland
1968: Denny McLain, Detroit
1966: Frank Robinson, Baltimore
1956: Mickey Mantle, New York
1953: Al Rosen, Cleveland
1935: Hank Greenberg, Detroit
NL consecutive MVPs
2001-02: Bonds, San Francisco
1992-93: Bonds, Pitt.-S.F.
1982-83: Dale Murphy, Atlanta
1980-81: Schmidt, Philadelphia
1975-76: Joe Morgan, Cincinnati
1958-59: Ernie Banks, Cubs
Note: First-, second- and third-place votes and total points based on a 14-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
