Barry Bonds vs Eric Gagne. It’s one of the most powerful batter-pitcher matchups in the history of baseball, and so extraordinarily memorable that we’re still unable to quit talking about it two decades later.
The image of Cy Young vs MVP — Paul Bunyan vs Paul Bunyan in the sport’s most Paul Bunyan-esque era — is firmly ingrained in the heads of fans who witnessed it and has easily transformed into one of the most aggregated pieces of MLB video on the digital stratosphere.
Every once in a while, the clip of the Bonds-Gagne matchup from April 16, 2004, will resurface on the timeline. We’ve watched the clip hundreds of times by now, yet it’s almost impossible not to watch it again with the same smile as the very first time. It was a high-intensity drama to the fullest extent.
Pure theater.
To set the stage: the Dodgers had a 3-0 lead over the Giants in the early season matchup at Oracle Park. Gagne, the previous season’s Cy Young Award recipient in the National League, was called upon in the ninth inning to secure the save against the 2-3-4 hitters in San Francisco’s lineup. Bonds, in the midst of his Ruthian run in the early 2000s that would earn him four straight NL MVP honors, was due up third in the frame.
In 19 previous plate appearances against the hard-throwing Gagne, Bonds had notched two singles, a double, and three walks while striking out five times. But there was an added component to this specific matchup that added some extra drama. During their time as teammates in the 2002 MLB Japan All-Star Series, Bonds and Gagné had a loose agreement: if they ever faced off again, Gagne would challenge Bonds with his electric fastball.
“When you’re 15-years-old throwing baseballs in the park with your friends and you imagine yourself pitching against the best hitter who’s ever walked the face of the earth,” Gagne told Joe Spadoni and Joe Shasky on the Morning Roast on Thursday.
Gagne jumped ahead with two paint pellets — the strike two pitch was clocked at 98 mph on the Oracle Park radar gun — on the inside corner, putting Bonds in a quick hole. A close backdoor curveball and 101 mph fastball pulled foul into McCovey Cove later, Bonds tattooed a 100 mph fastball for a two-run shot to center to put the Giants within a run.
The right-hander rebounded to record the final two outs and bring home a Dodger victory, but Bonds’ homer still remains one of the greatest moments of the Giants-Dodger rivalry.
“It's pretty amazing to get on top of that and challenge yourself to see where you’re at,” Gagne said. “That was the best experience I’ve ever gotten.”
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