BASEBALLPARK

"He's definitely the best,'' Bonds told USA TODAY Sports in a telephone interview Monday. "It's not rocket science here.

"He's the best. By far. Without a doubt. The absolute best.''

Bonds, as you might imagine, was aware of Cabrera's performance a night earlier, when he slugged three home runs against the Texas Rangers to announce, on national television, that his Triple Crown performance in 2012 might have been a mere prelude.

Now, it's certainly premature, Bonds says, to dare imply Cabrera is as good as him. You can't make that argument, not with a record 762 homers, seven MVP awards, 14 All-Star appearances and eight Gold Gloves on Bonds' resume.

"I don't try to compare me to anybody,'' Bonds said. "I was the best on the field. I did more things than he did. My game was different than his game. So comparing him, to me, there's no comparison.

"He doesn't have my MVPs. He doesn't have my numbers. Well, not yet, anyways.

"But does he have that ability? Yes, he does.

"Does he have that gift? Yes, he does.''

Cabrera broke into the big leagues in 2003 when Bonds was winning his sixth MVP award. He's still just 30 years old. He leads Bonds in every Triple Crown category at the same age, hitting .320 with 332 homers and 1,170 RBI. Bonds had a career .285 batting average with 259 homers and 760 RBI at the same age.

Cabrera's numbers are eerily similar to Aaron's at the same age. Cabrera, playing 43 more games, has the identical batting average as Aaron, with 10 fewer homers and 49 more RBI.

It was Bonds who surpassed Aaron atop baseball's all-time home run list. He won't be surprised if Cabrera joins him near that summit.

"I love that young kid, I really do,'' Bonds said. "If he can stay healthy, and keep accomplishing what he has already, he's got a chance to have everything I did.

"If he gets there, and has the kind of career I did, hey, I'll be the first to say:

"Now, you got it all, brother, you got it all.'''

Time will tell if Cabrera will play this game at this same level for another decade, while Bonds simply got better.

He hit a record 73 homers in 2001 at the age of 37, amid allegations that he used performance-enhancing drug at the time, which he has denied. A federal jury acquitted Bonds on three counts he committed perjury in 2003 grand jury testimony regarding steroid use; Bonds' appeal of a felony conviction of obstruction of justice is still pending.

Weeks before Bonds' testimony, Cabrera, then 20, helped the Marlins win the 2003 World Series, the first season baseball tested players for performance-enhancing drugs.

That policy has been strengthened considerably in subsequent years, with penalties instituted in 2004, and Cabrera has never run afoul of it. As a result, his body of work should withstand scrutiny far better than players of Bonds' era, who have been penalized by Hall of Fame voters.

"Miguel will be in that 500-home run category,'' Bonds said. "He will have those 3,000 hits. I've never seen a young player love the game like he does. You see that passion.

"Unless this guy has some fluke accident, just put it in the book, he'll be in the Hall of Fame.

"It's like watching Denzel [Washington] in a movie. Sit down. Watch the show. And enjoy.''

Cabrera is hitting a major-league leading .387, to go along with his 11 homers, major-league leading 47 RBI, 34 runs, 67 hits, 114 total bases, .457 on-base percentage, and .509 batting average with runners in scoring position. That's just for starters.

Yes, just when Tigers teammate Prince Fielder called Cabrera's Triple Crown season of a year ago the greatest feat he'll ever witness, Cabrera just might pull off something even rarer.

Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Rogers Hornsby are the only players in baseball history to achieve two Triple Crowns.

Neither did it back-to-back years.

"Winning a Triple Crown is amazing to me,'' Bonds said. "I tried to win a Triple Crown, and couldn't do it. I tried to do it, I really did, but I had guys like Tony Gwynn in the way.

"So it's amazing to see him do it once. But to see him do it again, wow, that would really throw me off the charts.

"I couldn't do it once, and then to see him to do it twice, now that would be shocking.

"Absolutely shocking.''

The closest Bonds came to winning the Triple Crown was in 1993 when he led the National League with 46 homers and 123 RBI. Yet, Bonds' .336 batting average ranked fourth, behind league leader Andres Galarraga of the Colorado Rockies, who hit .370 at Mile High Stadium.

***

LEYLAND WON'T COMPARE THE TWO

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who managed Bonds his seven years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, refuses to compare the two greats. It's not fair, he said. To either one of them.

Yet, he says that Bonds is absolutely right, that they each share a gift that few possess: that baseball IQ, which is impossible to quantify.

"There's no question about it,'' Leyland told USA TODAY Sports in a telephone interview. "Miggy has it all together, just like Barry. Totally relaxed at the plate. You can see it. He knows he can hit. That opposite-field power he has, that just boggles the mind.''

Bonds, who still hopes to be a major-league hitting coach, doesn't want to divulge any trade secrets. If Cabrera wants to divulge his secrets, it's his right, but why reveal any details to ruin that edge?

"He has got, what you call, the gift,'' Bonds said. "I had it. Cabrera knows he has it, too. You don't try to analyze it. You can't teach it. You're born with it. And he's got it.

"That's why I enjoy watching him so much, and I couldn't be happier for him, knowing that he's taking advantage of that gift.''

It's not simply the raw talent, eye-hand coordination, or power, Bonds says, but that mental toughness and intellect.

"You guys can analyze it all you want,'' Bonds says, "but his hands aren't quicker than anybody else, or anything else like that. He's just smarter than anybody else. He knows what he has to do, and can recognize pitches better than anyone.

"People don't realize he's the same person he was last year, and the year before that, but he's got that experience now. It's hard to explain, but what he does is minimize what a lot of people pile up on themselves. He puts it in a compartment, and utilizes it to the best of ability.

"Without giving you too much information about hitting, that's what he does.

"It's no different than Tiger [Woods] on the golf course. Or Michael Jordan on the basketball court. Or Muhammad Ali in the ring. They have that gift too. Ken Griffey Jr. had it better than anybody, but injuries got to him. Same with Alex Rodriguez.

"There are other athletes that have it too, but where they go with it, that's up to them..

"I wasn't the best at that part, but I was the best on the field.

"Cabrera is doing it all, as well as anybody I've ever seen.'