Written By: Colin Mari
Edited By: Jack Hinde
When baseball fans hear the name Barry Bonds two things tend to come to their mind – his involvement with performance-enhancing drugs and his ability to get on base along with his impressive knack of hitting home runs.
Bonds, and whether he should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, has been a debate in the baseball world for as long as he has been eligible to be voted in. So far those that do not wish to see his name be immortalized in the Hall of Fame have had their way with Bonds missing out on being inducted for the ninth consecutive year. In the most recent vote he fell just short of the 75% needed, receiving only 61.8% of votes.
However, his popularity among voters and baseball personalities seems to be increasing annually, including other Hall of Famers and some of baseball’s best players. Willie Mays voiced his opinion and support for Bonds to be inducted when he said in 2018, “On behalf of all the people in San Francisco, and all over the country, vote this guy in”. With the 2022 ballot being the last Bonds is eligible for he hopes that more of the voters will come to his support.
When looking at Bonds’ accomplishments and his case to why he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, there is no question that when it came to playing the game of baseball, he deserves the honour of being named a Hall of Famer.
Bonds was an absolute machine when it came to batting in the game of baseball, and as soon as he stepped up to the plate everyone watching knew he was either getting on base, or launching the ball into the stands, giving a fan a souvenir before trotting 360 feet around the bases.
When looking at Bonds’ stats and seeing how many records he holds alone should prove he deserves such an honour. Bonds holds the single-season home run record at 73, along with the career home run record of 762. When hearing this stat many would jump to the conclusion that Bonds would swing the bat freely with the sole purpose of hitting home runs, but that assumption would be incorrect as Bonds also holds the record for most career walks with 2,558 – 688 of these being intentional – and he also has the fourth most total bases with 5,976. In addition, Bonds is the only player in MLB history to have over 400 home runs and 400 stolen bases, and he holds a career 162.8 wins above replacement (WAR), the most all-time for any position player. Over his whole career he finished with a .298 batting average, .444 on base percentage .607 slugging percentage, 1,996 runs batted in (RBI) and 514 stolen bases. These averages and accomplishments earned Bonds some of the MLB’s most prestigious awards, including seven MVP awards – four straight from 2001-2004 – 14 all-star appearances, 12 Silver Sluggers, and 8 Gold Gloves.
Unfortunately, many people will have a hard time overlooking Bonds’ ties to performance enhancing drugs. Hall of Fame voting should be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played. Voters feel players such as Bonds who used performance enhancing drugs, did not live up to the standards of integrity, sportsmanship and character required to have their name placed in Cooperstown.
Bonds fall from grace of being an MLB super slugger to being labelled a ‘cheater’ first began when his trainer, Greg Anderson, was arrested for supplying steroids to athletes. Anderson never mentioned Bonds’ name but many suspected Bonds was involved.
Bonds denied the claims that he was one of the athletes using steroids and claimed the only substances that he used that were supplied by Anderson was a clear substance and a cream Bonds believed was flaxseed oil and rubbing balm for arthritis. Bonds avoided speaking on whether any substance he used from his trainer required a syringe, in an attempt to claim that if he had been using steroids it was without his knowledge.
Years later Bonds was found guilty of obstruction of justice and was sentenced to thirty days of house arrest. As a result Bonds name was tainted, and his career and will always be linked baseball’s dark past of the use of performance enhancing drugs. Many Hall of Fame voters believe that is enough to keep his name far away from Cooperstown.
This of course leaves the question, does Barry Bonds belong in the Hall of Fame? Time will only tell when it comes to Bonds and his hopes of being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and being immortalized in Cooperstown. No matter the outcome of 2022’s voting Bonds, and his career will never be forgotten.
References
- https://www.cooperstowncred.com/hall-of-fame-conundrum-barry-bonds-roger-clemens/
- https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/26/barry-bonds-falls-short-of-hall-of-fame-again-will-voters-eventually-listen-to-willie-mays/#:~:text=For%20the%20ninth%20consecutive%20year,to%20the%20Hall%20of%20Fame
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