On the final day of the 2004 season, Barry Bonds finished a run of plate discipline like no other. He drew 232 walks, a single-season record. Of those, 120 were intentional — more than double the old mark.
A dead rubber that proved the point
The season ended with a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In Game 162, a game that meant nothing, Bonds walked seven times in ten plate appearances.
In the third inning he took ball four on four straight pitches. Even in a dead game, pitchers would not throw to him.
Nineteen free passes with the bases empty
The tactic broke all the usual rules. Nineteen times that year a batter was walked on purpose with the bases empty. Every one of those batters was Bonds.
He also took 108 intentional walks while his San Francisco Giants were losing. No other player has even 40 in that spot.
Despite the constant pitch-arounds, his hitting stayed sharp. He had just 373 at-bats in 617 plate appearances, yet hit 45 home runs. His on-base mark reached .609 and he struck out only 41 times.
It was the fourth time Bonds passed 170 walks in a season, a line no one else has crossed once. The feat stood as the quiet echo of his 73 home runs in 2001 — a record built on fear as much as skill.