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Posted By: peter chao

Let's examine Bobby Bonds numbers carefully, in his case he has been overshadowed by both Mays and Barry. Quite a number of Giants fans have commented that when Bobby played right field and crossed over to center he looked quite a bit like Willie.

So he was an outstanding outfielder. His only real weakness as a player was he struck out too often, otherwise, I consider him a predecessor to Rickey Henderson. The near ideal lead-off hitter who got on base had good speed and some pop in his bat. Why isn't he given serious consideration for the Hall.

Also, it has already been noted that it took some players a long time to get into the Hall because they were overshadowed by better players during that era.

A case in point is Richie Ashburn. Normally, guys who get on base a lot and have a line drive stroke are favored by the Hall of Fame. And we all know that he still holds a number of fielding records for centerfielders, why did it take so long for him to get into the Hall.

I'll take a wild guess and say it is because of Willie, the Mick and the Duke. Three better center-fielders from the same era.

Peter