What Gwynn told Bonds that made slugger change hitting mindset

Giants legend Barry Bonds had a very specific mindset every single time he approached the box.

That, accompanied by his undeniable talent, helped him succeed and become one of the greatest hitters MLB ever has seen.

While appearing on the "Hollywood Swingin' " podcast with hosts and former MLB players Stephen Bishop and Jerry Hairston Jr., Hairston praised Bonds' powerful mindset and said he even tried to replicate it during his own playing career. To the surprise of Hairston, though, Bonds admitted that he actually stole it from another baseball icon.

"I learned that from Tony Gwynn," Bonds revealed. "He was one of my idols as well as so many others. I remember in San Diego with Tony Gwynn, Tony always had his little secret hitting things where he would close the door where you really couldn't actually see what he was doing, and I happened to be standing outside that time at the door and I'm looking through this little crack and he's really just playing his game with himself. And he's got these cones in places, and he's playing this little hitting game with himself.

"And he's using the tee and going through mechanical things but I'm like, 'Dude what are you doing?' ... And I always thought, what I meant by being the best hitter out there, Tony Gwynn to me was the best hitter of my generation. Tony Gwynn was always winning the batting title, he was always hitting .300, close to .400, so the best hitter to me was Tony Gwynn."

Bonds watched Gwynn do his thing and witnessed the success follow suit.

Gwynn's career was defined by remarkable statistics on both offense and defense – eight batting titles, a 15-time All-Star, seven Silver Slugger Awards and five Gold Glove Awards. He wasn't just one of the best hitters, he was consistent, finishing his 20-season career with a .338 career batting average and never hitting below .309 in any full season.

So when Gwynn gave him advice, Bonds knew he had to take it.

"Tony sat there and told me one time, he said, 'Barry, chase the batting title. Everything else will come if you chase the batting title.' And he was the best. He was the best player, best hitter average-wise. Yeah, I could hit home runs, but I wasn't the best hitter. Tony Gwynn to me at the moment actually was the best hitter. And that made sense to me, it resonated into my mind because if you're going to get up 500 times, if you're going to get 500 to 600 plate appearances, chase the batting title.

"Chase that and with your natural power and ability, everything else falls into place. ... Sometimes you have hitters who are just one-dimensional. I chased the batting title. I got it twice but I never got it a lot, but I chased it. And chasing it was going to get me the 30, 40, 50 home runs. It just made sense."

Bonds is a seven-time MVP, 14-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove Award winner while finishing his career as baseball's all-time home run leader.

While Bonds and Gwynn were two completely different types of hitters, the impact "Mr. Padre" had on Bonds is immeasurable.

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