Barry Bonds Hall of Fame Case
By Colin Dixon January 23rd, 2019
Picture Via @BarryBonds Twitter
After another year of being left out of the Hall of Fame, Barry Bonds's time is running out. Since being on the Hall of Fame ballot since 2014 Bonds only has three more years to find his way into the hall.
Bonds is widely known as the Home Run King... who did steroids. The steroid use that was brought up in 2003 basically plagued the rest of his career putting all his accolades in doubt and that doubt has kept him out of the Hall of Fame.
Just yesterday January 22nd the 2019 Hall of Fame inductees were announced and Barry Bonds was as mentioned left off the list. The players elected this year were Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, and Mike Mussina.
Bonds got 59.1% of votes this year but he needs 75% to get into the Hall of Fame. Since being on the ballot in 2014 his percentage has risen each year but over the next three years, it will be interesting to see if he can get that extra 15% to push him into baseball immortality.
Bonds has a strong case and would have been a first ballot Hall of Famer without the steroids on his record. I am in no way condoning steroid use but Barry Bonds of all people deserves his spot in the Hall of Fame.
With 762 career home runs, 1,996 RBI's, and 2,965 hits Bonds clearly deserves a spot. He won 7 MVP's and was an All-Star 14 times in his 22-year career. He spent his long career playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the San Francisco Giants.
I had the pleasure of watching him in real life multiple times but as well watching him on TV all the time. With his dominant presence at the plate and in Left Field, there is no way he should not be in the hall.
To put this in perspective lets take the last seven years of his career out of the picture. The main season subtracted was his record-setting season in 2000 where he hit 73 home runs which is the most ever in one season. These seven years were the years he was speculated to have been using the steroids.
If we take those last seven seasons away he would have 494 career Home Runs. This would put him at 27th on the Home Run list in front of Yankee great Lou Gehrig. Everyone in front of him is either 1) in the Hall of Fame 2) Current Player/Have not been retired long enough to be in the Hall of Fame and 3) did steroids. 494 Home Runs are easily Hall of Fame numbers and let's say he never did those steroids, that number would have been a lot higher.
Also, on the defensive side, he won 8 gold gloves. He was not just a power bat that needed to play somewhere in the field just so he can hit. He was one of the best outfielders to ever play the game of baseball.
On top of that, he had an unleashing speed that led him to 514 stolen bases. He is the ONLY player in baseball to ever hit 500 home runs and steal over 500 bases.
His glove, his speed, and his bat all deserve a special place in the Hall of Fame and might not just because of the steroids that he may or may have not used at the end of his career.
Other notable stats that Bonds has:
Runs Scored- 2,277 3rd All Time
Slugging%- .607 5th All Time
On Base%- .444 6th All Time
To touch on the On Base Percentage, Bonds had the most walks in a career out of anyone who ever played baseball. Bonds was walked 2,558 times and 688 of those were intentional walks which is double the amount of Albert Pujols who is second on the all time list (intentional walks).
No one who has ever played baseball is or was like Bonds was. He was an imposing threat who would be intentionally walked with the bases loaded. He would hit balls nearly 600 feet. This man is one of the best if not the best baseball player to ever walk the face of the earth. It is ridiculous that he may never make it into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
Steroids are ridiculous and he did this to himself by taking these substances but at the same time his stats are undeniably great and over these next three years I am hoping to see him inducted into the Hall of Fame.
After another year of being left out of the Hall of Fame, Barry Bonds's time is running out. Since being on the Hall of Fame ballot since 2014 Bonds only has three more years to find his way into the hall.
Bonds is widely known as the Home Run King... who did steroids. The steroid use that was brought up in 2003 basically plagued the rest of his career putting all his accolades in doubt and that doubt has kept him out of the Hall of Fame.
Just yesterday January 22nd the 2019 Hall of Fame inductees were announced and Barry Bonds was as mentioned left off the list. The players elected this year were Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, and Mike Mussina.
Bonds got 59.1% of votes this year but he needs 75% to get into the Hall of Fame. Since being on the ballot in 2014 his percentage has risen each year but over the next three years, it will be interesting to see if he can get that extra 15% to push him into baseball immortality.
Bonds has a strong case and would have been a first ballot Hall of Famer without the steroids on his record. I am in no way condoning steroid use but Barry Bonds of all people deserves his spot in the Hall of Fame.
With 762 career home runs, 1,996 RBI's, and 2,965 hits Bonds clearly deserves a spot. He won 7 MVP's and was an All-Star 14 times in his 22-year career. He spent his long career playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the San Francisco Giants.
I had the pleasure of watching him in real life multiple times but as well watching him on TV all the time. With his dominant presence at the plate and in Left Field, there is no way he should not be in the hall.
To put this in perspective lets take the last seven years of his career out of the picture. The main season subtracted was his record-setting season in 2000 where he hit 73 home runs which is the most ever in one season. These seven years were the years he was speculated to have been using the steroids.
If we take those last seven seasons away he would have 494 career Home Runs. This would put him at 27th on the Home Run list in front of Yankee great Lou Gehrig. Everyone in front of him is either 1) in the Hall of Fame 2) Current Player/Have not been retired long enough to be in the Hall of Fame and 3) did steroids. 494 Home Runs are easily Hall of Fame numbers and let's say he never did those steroids, that number would have been a lot higher.
Also, on the defensive side, he won 8 gold gloves. He was not just a power bat that needed to play somewhere in the field just so he can hit. He was one of the best outfielders to ever play the game of baseball.
On top of that, he had an unleashing speed that led him to 514 stolen bases. He is the ONLY player in baseball to ever hit 500 home runs and steal over 500 bases.
His glove, his speed, and his bat all deserve a special place in the Hall of Fame and might not just because of the steroids that he may or may have not used at the end of his career.
Other notable stats that Bonds has:
Runs Scored- 2,277 3rd All Time
Slugging%- .607 5th All Time
On Base%- .444 6th All Time
To touch on the On Base Percentage, Bonds had the most walks in a career out of anyone who ever played baseball. Bonds was walked 2,558 times and 688 of those were intentional walks which is double the amount of Albert Pujols who is second on the all time list (intentional walks).
No one who has ever played baseball is or was like Bonds was. He was an imposing threat who would be intentionally walked with the bases loaded. He would hit balls nearly 600 feet. This man is one of the best if not the best baseball player to ever walk the face of the earth. It is ridiculous that he may never make it into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
Steroids are ridiculous and he did this to himself by taking these substances but at the same time his stats are undeniably great and over these next three years I am hoping to see him inducted into the Hall of Fame.
