The Hall Of Fame Can't Erase Barry Bonds From History: Unchecked

The Baseball Hall of Fame has actually caused Barry Bonds to be celebrated more.

By continuing to keep him out, the Baseball Hall of Fame has actually caused Barry Bonds to be celebrated more. 

Barry Bonds is a Hall of Famer with or without the approval of the BBWAA.

— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) January 25, 2022

If the goal was to not honor him and Roger Clemens, it’s actually had the opposite effect. Because if they had gotten in there would’ve been some reaction and then it would’ve been over with. But by still keeping two titans of the game out while enshrining the likes of David Ortiz, who does have a reported PED link, the writers have ensured that this conversation will continue.

RT if Barry Bonds (@BarryBonds) belongs in Baseball Hall of Fame

🐐: https://t.co/tyVthktpvi pic.twitter.com/4Aw9vJ45wx

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 25, 2022

And as a result, it has led to what amounts to an annual acknowledgement of how awesome Bonds was in particular, as all baseball fans of a certain era are quick to share the stats that show no player has ever been better.

Barry Bonds getting Intentionally Walked...

With the Bases Loaded. pic.twitter.com/plPF06Vvvc

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) January 25, 2022

For instance, if all the 762 career home runs he hit were out, Bonds would still have a higher on base percentage than Ortiz, who deserved to get in. 

David Ortiz’s career OBP: .380.

Barry Bonds’ career OBP if you turned all 762 of his home runs into outs: .384.

— Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) January 25, 2022

Bonds has seven MVPs! And while he clearly cheated, the way I’ve always put it is that Bonds before the juice was better than Ken Griffey Jr., while after the juice he was better than Babe Ruth. This isn’t a case of someone being a creation of PEDs.

So many current and ex players tweeting about Barry Bonds being a Hall of Famer. It’s recognized within the game. He had 494 HR and 1,405 RBI prior to the year 2000, which is when he supposedly began using PEDs. You can’t tell the story of baseball without Barry Bonds.

— Will Middlebrooks (@middlebrooks) January 25, 2022

By the way, I don’t want to reward cheating either. However, given MLB looked the other way until it was no longer convenient and the overwhelming amount of use that makes it nearly impossible to parse through each individual instance, the argument to deny Bonds a plaque collapses.

Just a reminder that Barry Bonds is the greatest baseball player who ever lived and no arbitrary “class” voted on by the media changes that fact. pic.twitter.com/FOqNpDkDbA

— Jordan Ramirez (@JRAM) January 25, 2022

Which means the denial of his entry has led to Barry Bonds being the first name many think of when they hear Baseball Hall of Fame.