Direct Quote From Jose Ramirez: "I'm Better Than Barry Bonds"
HE HAD TO BE JOKING, RIGHT??? Jose, please tell the world after today's game that you were just joking, so everyone can calm the fuck down down. The haters have left their Memorial Day cookouts to be out in the streets right now, except I don't even think you can call them haters if they're right? This is such an absurd statement, seeing as Barry Bonds has more walks than Jose Ramirez will even have hits when he retires, that there's simply no way he was serious.
Okay, let me backtrack and sat the tone of the story. So Jose Ramirez came up in the Top of the 6th yesterday against the Angels, with the situation being Guardians up 4-2, bases loaded, and just one out. Pretty good spot for Cleveland, seeing as they had to pitch to the hottest player in baseball, who had homered 3x in the series already and has an RBI in six straight games. Except they kinda just didn't pitch to him? Matt Moore proceeded to throw a an inside curveball, and an outside changeup, an inside changeup, and then a 4-seamer that wasn't even close on a 3-0 count. Walked in a run.
Paul Hoynes, the Guardians beat writer, talked to him afterwards in which Jose expressed that in his eyes, it was very clear that the Angels pitched around him with the bases loaded. Hoynes replied that he got the Bonds treatment, in which Jose replied, "I'm better than Barry Bonds".
Listen, the story I wanted to go with is that Jose didn't really know what he was saying, but the beat writer states that he said it in the clearest English he's ever used. So now what I'm going with is that Jose was JOKING. He's a funny dude. And while he's on a terror right now…..
…..he still can't hold the jockstrap of some of the stats Barry Bonds can rattle off. Here's a couple of my favorites:
- From 2001-2004, Barry Bonds played in 573 games and reached base in 539 of them (94% of his games)
- Barry Bonds has more intentional walks than the entire Tampa Bay Rays franchise
- Barry Bonds is the only member of the 500 HR/500 SB club. No other player has 350+ in both categories
Oh, and to Jose saying this because he was perhaps unintentionally, intentionally walked with the bases loaded yesterday, Bonds was literally intentionally walked with the bases loaded:
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Bottom line: Stats aside (which can't be thrown aside), I don't think you can make a comparison about being unintentionally walked when the other player has been intentionally walked. And look I'm the biggest Jose fan on the planet, especially since he took a hometown discount because the organization couldn't afford his market rate, but let's not slander Barry Bonds here. Jose needs to come out today after this ass whooping the Rockies are putting on us and tell the world he was joking so we can get these Baseball Gods back on our side.
* Then again, there might be one stat that Jose has Barry beat in: Knock Outs
Ron Schwane. Getty Images.