Barry Bonds once won a HR Derby at Miami Marlins camp, beating out Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich
Back in 2016, when Barry Bonds was a Miami Marlins hitting coach, he won a Home Run Derby challenge against star hitters Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich. For someone with 762 home runs in his MLB career, it was quite an impressive feat.
Both Stanton and Yelich are prolific hitters. They have each won multiple Silver Slugger Awards. They were part of the Miami Marlins roster when Bonds signed on as hitting coach. Barry Bonds is quite synonymous with big hitting as he is the only person to have won more than three MVP titles. He won seven during a career that saw him accumulate plenty of individual acclaim.
During their camp in 2016, Bonds took on several Miami players in a team competition. The former Pirates and Giants batter, who is a 14-time All-Star, started right where he'd left off. Regarding the unique feat, Giancarlo Stanton said:
“He hit more home runs than me, yes. It was pretty impressive. [Put] another 51-year-old out there, and he’d probably snap his back in half. That was probably one of the coolest things we’ve done.”
Giancarlo Stanton credits Barry Bonds amid HR surge. thesco.re/2wlfO66 https://t.co/dXOnKvZIG8
To put this into perspective, Stanton came off two impressive seasons in 2014 and 2015 having hit 64 home runs in 219 games. A handful of Marlins took part in the practice field hitting drill. The goal was to “score runs” by whatever means — singles, doubles, triples or home runs. Because one of the three-man teams was short a player, Bonds — the Marlins’ new hitting coach — was asked to join.
Barry Bonds gave a public statement thanking Miami Marlins management before he left
After a successful year as the Marlins' hitting coach, Barry Bonds was relieved of his duties. On his blog, he publically thanked owner Jeffrey Loria.
"Working with the Marlins this past season has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my baseball career. I am grateful and humbled that Jeffrey Loria and the Marlins gave me the opportunity to be a part of their organization. Though my contract was only for one year, I enjoyed sharing my hitting knowledge and other aspects of the game with such a talented group of players."
Barry Bonds' legacy was tarnished when his name was involved in a performance enhancement drug scandal and a subsequent perjury case that lasted several years. He was finally acquitted of these charges, but the damage was enough as, in his 10 years of eligility for the Hall of Fame, he never secured 75% votes.