FANTASY FOCUS:Flashback party for Griffey, Bonds

Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. are probably the two most dominant Major League Baseball players from the 1990s.

Bonds hit over 30 home runs every year in that decade but one for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He had over 100 RBIs every season except the strike-shortened one in 1994.

Griffey, known around baseball simply as “Junior,” did the same thing (30-100) for the Seattle Mariners every year from 1993-99, not including a year he was injured in 1995.

Nowadays, however, they’re far from washed up. If you took one of these players as a late-round pick this year, you’re definitely reaping the benefits.

Heading into Thursday, Bonds, 42, was batting .300 and had 11 home runs, which ranked fourth in the National League.

Griffey, 37, was batting a robust .322 with eight homers and 25 RBIs. He’s coming off a week where he was named National League Player of the Week for the first time since his often-injury plagued stint with the Cincinnati Reds began in 2000.

Why highlight these two players? They’re about as opposite as can be, as Griffey is one of the most liked players in baseball and Bonds is probably one of the least liked.

However, for fantasy baseball purposes, they are players you definitely want. Not only are they off to great starts, but they’re extremely focused. Both have their eyes on some remarkable home run records.

Bonds’ is obvious. Heading into Thursday, he was 10 home runs short of Hank Aaron’s all-time baseball record of 755. Bonds is very motivated to break this record, which is perhaps the most glorified one in all of professional sports, and he should do just that sometime in late June or July.

It’s also obvious that Bonds’ skills haven’t diminished, whether or not you think those skills are steroids-enhanced. Should he remain healthy, he should continue having a solid season. His extremely high OPS (on-base, plus slugging percentage) also really helps you if your fantasy league has that category.

Griffey is still a productive player if he’s healthy. And that’s a big “if.” He has never played in over 128 games since that first year with the Reds.

But he, too, is chasing a benchmark — 600 career home runs. Only four players — Aaron, Bonds, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays — have reached the mark, although Sammy Sosa is also close.

Griffey is 29 homers away, which might mean he won’t reach the mark this year. But he should also remain very motivated to reach that mark, and he also has pretty good lineup protection with Adam Dunn (11 home runs) and Josh Hamilton (eight).

If you have either Bonds or Griffey, hope they can hang on and recreate some more magic. It might also help you magically stay atop the standings.

Please e-mail me if you have any fantasy sports questions or comments. Include your first name, last initial and hometown and we can include your question in this column.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.