Barry Bonds: Shohei Ohtani ‘outstanding’ but has it much easier than he did

Because of how his MLB career ended, we know very little about how Barry Bonds feels about modern-day baseball.

But this week, Bonds finally sat for a longform interview on the All the Smoke podcast, telling stories of his career and weighing in on the state of the game.

The most amusing answer came when Bonds was asked about Shohei Ohtani, perhaps the most dominant hitter that MLB has seen since Bonds’ heyday. Like all the old-timers on sports TV, Bonds couldn’t help but dip into the “back in my day” well and explain his challenges on his way to the all-time home run record and a World Series championship.

While Bonds was respectful of Ohtani’s greatness, he made it clear that he believes nobody has yet unseated him on the all-time hitting throne.

“The pitching and hitting has been outstanding … he’s a complete player,” Bonds said of Ohtani. “There’s no doubt about the type of player he is and what he’s accomplished in his career; the game has just changed. The game is way different than when I played. The same way Michael talks about it or anyone else. Ohtani is not gonna hit two home runs without seeing one go right here (at his head) in my generation; I don’t care what he does. He’s not gonna steal two bases without someone [trying to decapitate] his kneecap to slow him down because it was a different game back then.”

Baseball’s violent unwritten rules aside, Bonds also acknowledged the evolution of training and sports science. He believes MLB athletes today spend more time training as hitters and preparing their bodies than they did when he dominated in the 1990s and 2000s.

Yet, for someone who doesn’t do many interviews, Bonds certainly knows the art of the backhanded compliment.

“They should be better than us, hitting-wise, because they can hit a home run, flip their bat up in the air, get a taco, come back down, have a limo, drive around, all these antics that we weren’t allowed to do,” Bonds said. “If I did that … I’ll see the hospital, but there ain’t no way I’m gonna see a baseball again.”

I watch a lot of baseball, and I haven’t seen anyone eating a snack or ordering a car from the diamond, but Bonds’ point is that they have it easy. Today’s players play a looser game and have more amenities.

As with all these debates, whether they come from Charles Barkley, Tom Brady or anyone else, they are tricky because the older players have a point. When it comes to travel, training, and culture, sports have changed.

Does that mean today’s greats are worse, or do their accolades count less? Well, answering that question is what’s fun about sports debates. And while it is a little funny to hear Bonds talk about tradition and fairness given his personal history, he remains one of the greatest baseball players ever. Of course, he would have opinions—and pride.

Before turning the page on the Ohtani conversation, Bonds offered one piece of real advice for the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger: stop pitching.