During Barry Bonds’ prime, there wasn’t an MLB ace who didn’t want to strike him out.
And even though the Giants legend has long hung up his cleats, it turns out there’s still a pitcher who would like to make Bonds grab some pine.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Therese Viñal recently sat down with Jakob Junis for an exclusive “Summer Sunday” interview, where she asked the starting pitcher to play a game of “Strike Out, Intentionally Walk and Hit By Pitch.”
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The rules were simple, and Junis shot for the stars when naming the player he’d most like to strike out.
“If I could strike anybody out, I would have to say Barry Bonds,” Junis said.
The answer might not go over well with Giants fans, but the right-hander explained his reasoning.
“Because he’s arguably the greatest hitter of all time, so to be able to say you struck out Barry Bonds would be pretty cool,” Junis told Viñal.
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“It’s something that would be very hard to do, too, though. He was unbelievable with the things that he did.”
We’ll never know if Junis would be able to get his slider past Bonds, but there’s no doubt just pitching against the Home Run King would be the thrill of a lifetime.
And when it came to who Junis would choose to intentionally walk and plunk with a pitch, his answers were just as good. While Babe Ruth was an easy choice for a free base, Junis provided a more subdued response to who he would hit.
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“I’m a pretty easy-going guy, kind of laid-back attitude,” Junis said. “I don’t try to create enemies out there and I hope I don’t have any.”
Never change, Junis.
And maybe the Giants’ brass can set up that Bond-Junis faceoff in the near future.