The last two pages of Arizona State's baseball media guide contain the names of the nearly 600 gentlemen who have played for the Sun Devils since the program's inception in 1959. It is truly a star--studded list, featuring many players who went on to become Major League greats.

Imagine, then, how difficult it would be to try to determine who, among the hundreds of former Sun Devils, was the school's best player ever. Heck, imagine how difficult it would be to simply pick six candidates for that honor, when literally dozens of ex-Devils could be considered worthy nominees.

Difficult, yes...but we gave it a try anyway!

In our most recent Fans' Poll on the ASU athletic department website (www.thesundevils.com), we asked Sun Devil buffs to pick the school's all-time greatest position player (in other words, non-pitchers). The choice of almost half our respondents was San Francisco Giants' outfielder Barry Bonds, who played at Arizona State from 1983--85. Bonds received 42% of the votes cast, with Hall-of Fame outfielder Reggie Jackson finishing second with 35%. Slugging infielder Bob Horner was third, with 11% of the votes, followed by outfielder Oddibe McDowell (6%), late 90s third baseman Andrew Beinbrink (4%), and early 90s outfielder Mike Kelly (2%).

Bonds' selection is somewhat surprising, and was likely based on his stellar big league career achievements. Bonds' collegiate accomplishments, though impressive, simply do not seem to match those of some of the other candidates in our poll. The son of former Major League great Bobby Bonds was never named a first-team All-American at ASU, nor does he lead the Sun Devils in any major all-time statistical category. Conversely, Oddibe McDowell, Mike Kelly and Reggie Jackson all won various national player-of-the-year awards, with McDowell and Kelly each receiving the prestigious Golden Spikes Award. Bob Horner was a two-time first-team All-American, as well as the Devils' #1 all-time home run hitter. Andrew Beinbrink is Arizona State's career leader in runs, total bases and RBIs.

Still, Barry Bonds had a notable three-year stay in Tempe, twice leading coach Jim Brock's Sun Devils to the College World Series. A .347 career hitter at ASU, Bonds' 45 home runs rank third on the Devils' all-time list, while his .616 slugging pct. is good for 11th in ASU history. Barry was enshrined in the Arizona State Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, and is certain to someday gain entrance into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Named the Player of the Decade for the 1990s, Bonds is a three-time National League MVP (1990 and '92 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and '93 with the Giants), and is the only man in Major League history to accumulate over 400 career home runs AND 400 career stolen bases.

If the fans' selection of Barry Bonds as ASU's all-time greatest baseball player is in any way surprising, Reggie Jackson's runner-up finish in the voting is equally surprising, given the fact that Mr. October attended ASU on a football scholarship (he was a defensive back), and only spent one season playing baseball for the Sun Devils (1966). Reggie made the most of his short stay here, batting .327 with 15 home runs and 65 RBI for an ASU team that finished 41--11. "The Sporting News" named Jackson college baseball's 1966 Player of the Year. Reggie went on to slug 548 HRs in a 20-year big league career with the A's, Orioles, Yankees and Angels. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year of eligibility.

The name of former Sun Devil great Bob Horner was in the news this past spring, as ASU's Mitch Jones (27 HRs in 2000) waged his ultimately successful assault on Horner's single-season home run record (25 HRs in 1978). Despite Jones' heroics, Horner remains the Devils' all-time leader with 56 homers. He's also fourth on the career RBI list (229), seventh in hits (262) and seventh in batting average (.384). In 1994, Horner was named the second baseman on "Baseball America's" all-time college all-star team. Drafted by the Atlanta Braves, Horner is one of three Sun Devils to be the #1 overall pick in Major League Baseball's entry draft (the others: Rick Monday in 1965 and Floyd Bannister in 1976). While with the Braves in 1985, Horner became one of the few big leaguers to belt four home runs in one game.

Oddibe McDowell's stay in Tempe was brief (1983-84), but his effect on the ASU program was long-lasting. In fact, it could be argued that McDowell's 1984 season was the best ever by a Sun Devil offensive player. The speedy outfielder hit .405 that year, with 23 HRs, 74 RBIs and 36 stolen bases. McDowell scored 101 runs and had 220 total bases in '84, both all-time ASU single-season marks. Oddibe won the 1984 Golden Spikes Award, and was also named "Baseball America" magazine's national player of the year. For his career, McDowell batted .380 (9th best in Sun Devil history), and stole 72 bases in just two seasons (tied for 4th on the ASU career list). Oddibe spent time in the big leagues with Texas, Cleveland and Atlanta, but was never able to duplicate his collegiate success.

It probably surprises even some Sun Devil diehards to see whose name tops ASU's all-time RBI list: Andrew Beinbrink. Coach Pat Murphy's third baseman from 1996--99, Beinbrink drove in 283 runs in his four seasons at Arizona State. He is also the school's career leader in runs scored (245) and total bases (547), and ranks second in doubles (75) and hits (318). Beinbrink's 40 career home runs are fifth all-time at ASU.

The results of this particular poll produced a string of surprises, including the low finish of outfielder Mike Kelly, who received just 2% of the votes. From 1989 to '91, it could be argued that Kelly was the finest player in all of college baseball. He received four different national player of the year honors in 1990, and captured the Golden Spikes Award in 1991. Kelly's 46 career homers rate second all-time at ASU. In addition, Mike is one of just six Devils (Oddibe McDowell being another) to belt three HRs in one game. Like McDowell, Kelly never found his niche in the Majors, having bounced around with the Braves, Reds, Devil Rays, Rockies and Mets.

Next up: ASU's all-time greatest pitcher.