Ex-Marlins president: Bonds was worst hitting coach of my career
Baseball's home run king Barry Bonds briefly returned to the majors as the hitting coach for the Miami Marlins in 2016. Former Marlins president David Samson made sure to let everyone know that it didn't work out so well.
"I'm trying to think if I've ever had a worse hitting coach in my career than Barry Bonds. Hold on, I'm thinking. No," Samson said earlier this week on ESPN's "Dan Le Batard Show."
Samson explained that it was a difficult transition because Bonds wasn't especially good at communicating with the team's stars like Giancarlo Stanton and that he couldn't teach what came naturally to him.
"Do you know why Magic Johnson was a bad coach?" Samson said. "He didn't have patience for people who didn't see the court the way he saw it. Barry Bonds can't teach hitting because he just hits. You can't teach someone what Barry Bonds is able to do, therefore you're a bad hitting coach. That doesn't make him a bad guy or a bad player."
The anemic Marlins finished with a .716 OPS with 128 home runs as a team in Bonds' lone season as hitting coach, good for 25th and 29th in the majors, respectively.
The former executive has been making the rounds in recent days. Samson also hasn't shied away from criticizing San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller, claiming he shouldn't be allowed in Major League Baseball in an interview earlier in the week. He also said the Marlins offered pitcher Jose Fernandez in a trade to the Arizona Diamondbacks in what would have been a blockbuster deal before the 2016 campaign.
- With h/t to Yahoo Sports' Torrey Hart