A video clip from an interview showed a conversation showing legendary Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux and his thoughts on why Barry Bonds was the easiest hitter to pitch against.
This unique encounter reveals Maddux’s remarkable insights and experiences on the mound when facing one of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen.
It’s no news that Maddux walked Bonds an astonishing 24 times in just 157 plate appearances while striking him out a mere 16 times.
This peculiar scenario highlights how Maddux, despite his exceptional control, seemingly had no issue avoiding a confrontational approach with Bonds when he stepped into the batter’s box.
While Bonds had an impressive .883 OPS against Greg Maddux, one of the all-time great pitchers, there is perhaps no better person to provide insights on how to pitch to Bonds than Maddux himself with valuable insights shared by Pitching Ninja Rob Friedman on Twitter.
Obviously, with humor, Maddux explained why he thinks Bonds was the easiest guy to pitch to.
“Well you know actually though, he was the easiest guy to pitch to.
Because if it mattered, you just walked him.
He was a guy who was so much better than all the other hitters in the game, you have to pick your fights.
You get 27 outs, they’re not gonna be with him. Go pick on the other eight guys and kind of find the outs that way.”
Greg Maddux on why Barry Bonds was the easiest hitter to pitch against 😂pic.twitter.com/qAbhz44RpT
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) August 30, 2023
In baseball, Bonds was a force to be reckoned with.
Even highly competitive and good pitchers like Greg Maddux was struck with fear whenever facing Bonds on the mound.
After hearing this, Maddux admitted that the fear made him re-strategize and the best thought was to take out Bonds’s teammates.
