In a hypothetical matchup between Barry Bonds and Satchel Paige, the San Francisco Giants great believes he would make easy work of the Negro League legend’s pitches.
Late last month, the Negro League made headlines in the sports world when it was announced that the statistics from the league would be merged with that of MLB. It was a moment that former players and baseball historians had long called for and it reshaped who was the leaders in certain major categories.
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The merge of statistics will now bring more prominence to the careers of league greats like Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson, and Satchel Paige. The latter was actually a topic of conversation Thursday when San Francisco Giants legend Barry Bonds made an appearance on FOX’s coverage of the special MLB at Rickwood Field game tonight.
Since the game is a tribute to the Negro League, analyst and New York Yankees great Derek Jeter asked Bonds how he would have faired against Paige, the man considered the best pitcher in the league’s history. Well, the ever-confident 14-time All-Star kept his response simple.
- Barry Bonds stats (Career): .298 AVG, .444 OBP, .607 SLG, 1.051 OPS, 762 HR, 1,996 RBI, 2,227 R
San Francisco Giants legend says he’d send Satchel Paige pitches over the wall
“Me? Gone. You have lost your mind, Jeter. Gone, simple,” Bonds said. “Read about it on ESPN and Fox. You’ve got to believe in yourself. If I don’t believe in me, who’s gonna believe in me?”
Bonds has been held out of the Baseball Hall-of-Fame due to his alleged connections to PEDs during the peak of his career. Nevertheless, he still holds the records for most home runs all-time (762) and the most hit in a single season (73). A debate could still be made that even the Bonds without enhancers might have gotten the best of Page in a dream face-off.
In 22 seasons, Paige posted a 124-82 record, 2,73 ERA, and struck out 1,501 batters in 1,751.2 innings.
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