Is Barry Bonds Hall Of Fame Worthy?

                On July 21, the United States Department of Justice announced it would not ask the Supreme Court to review the decision that overturned Barry Bonds’ obstruction of justice conviction.

                Bonds, in an interview on Thursday night at AT & T Park in San Francisco, said he feels a huge sense of relief since the prosecution dropped the case against him, a case that lasted nearly ten years.

                He also took the opportunity to state that he believes he belongs in the Baseball Hall Of Fame. In his third year on the ballot, Bonds received 36.8 per cent of the votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA), not even close to the 75 per cent that is required for induction.

                It appears that the steroid and performance enhancing drug (PEDs) accusations that have been following Bonds around for the past fifteen years have jaded the eyes of the BBWAA, blurred their vision and obscured to them what Barry Bonds really is: the most talented, the most successful and the greatest baseball player in the history of the game.

                Let me be clear: Barry Bonds belongs in the Hall of Fame.

                Now before I continue, I just wanted to say that I am not a Barry Bonds fan. I never liked his attitude, his arrogance, his cockiness, his selfishness. They are not qualities I look for when choosing my favourite players and they certainly are not things I will have my son focus on when choosing his favourite players as he grows up.

                However, having said that, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Bonds was a great player. He is one of three players I’ve seen in my lifetime that I expected to hit a home run every time he was at the plate (the others being Jose Canseco and David Ortiz).

                The numbers don’t lie: a fourteen-time All-Star, an unprecedented seven-time National League Most Valuable Player, an eight-time gold glove award winner, a twelve-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and MLB record holder of career home runs (762), home runs in a season (73), career walks (2558) and career intentional walks (688).

                And speaking of intentional walks, Bonds was so hot in 2001—the year he broke the single-season home run record—he was intentionally walked with the bases loaded in one game.

                In 1998, Bonds became the first player in MLB history to hit 400 home runs and steal 400 bases in his career. He would end his career with 514 stolen bases, therefore becoming the first player to hit 500-plus homers and 500-plus stolen bases.

                So now we’ve looked at what we know. Now let’s look at what’s been speculated.

                There have been suggestions that Bonds was on PEDs when he broke the single-season record of home runs and that he continued to use them for the duration of his career. He was indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, with the indictment alleging that he lied under oath about his use of PEDs. He was linked to the BALCO scandal. (Get caught up on BALCO here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BALCO_scandal).

                However, all of these accusations are merely hearsay. There has never been any proof that Bonds took PEDs. He never tested positive. Circumstantial evidence is NOT fact. End of story.

                Now let’s examine the prejudices against Bonds a little closer. Let’s say for a moment—even though we have no proof, of course—that Bonds was on steroids or some other PED. Keep in mind that he played in what is now being referred to as “The Steroid Era” of baseball. It would be naïve of Bonds’ critics to think that Bonds—juiced up, in their minds—hit all his homeruns off pitchers who never took a PED, stole all his bases against catchers who never took a PED, and made all his defensive plays that won him gold gloves against hitters who never took a PED.

                So if Bonds was on PEDS, hypothetically of course, he was competing on a level playing field because many others were doing the same thing. I’m not justifying the use of PEDs (if he did it) I’m just stating it would be hypocritical to think his stats shouldn’t count because he was cheating, but certain pitchers he faced should have their stats count when they were cheating, too.

                Now that we’re done with our little hearsay silliness, let’s get back to the point of this article. Barry Bonds is a Hall of Famer. The fact that he is not there is a joke. Hopefully, the BBWAA will get their act together and vote for him in the next few years. The numbers don’t lie. He is the greatest.