Barry Bonds Omission From the Hall of Fame is a Travesty!
How the Baseball Writers’ Association of America is the laughing stock of sports
Congratulations Baseball Writers’ Association of America! You did it! You are now the laughing stock of sports. All you had to do was put your explicit bias’ in the past and put in one of the most legendary players the game has ever seen. It’s sad that I even have to make this statement: Barry Bonds should be in the Hall Of Fame!
The fact that Barry Lamar Bonds has had to face rejection from the BBWAA for 10 years is a travesty. Any argument that one can make can be shot down by the mere fact that other players in the same situation have been inducted.
We all know the reasons why Bonds has been kept out of the HOF and the fraudulent process of induction should be immediately revisited. Like other things in baseball, nothing will happen and it will be up to the Today’s Game committee (formerly known as the Veterans Committee) to put Bonds in the Hall.
Here are the main reasons why Barry Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame:
Reason #1. The numbers speak for themselves Barry Bonds is the All-Time Home Run Leader with 762. In addition to holding that sacred record, Bonds is 4th all-time in wins above replacement. He has over 500 stolen bases, an MLB record 7 MVP awards, 8 Gold Glove awards, and was a 12x Silver Slugger.
Bonds is one of only 4 players in the history of the league to record a 40–40 season. He also has the record for highest on-base and ops percentage in MLB history.
Simply put, Barry Bonds was the most talented player that ever took the field. He could do it all. A true 5-tool player if there ever was one. Even before he had played a game for the San Francisco Giants, Bonds already won 2 MVPs, had 3–100 Rbi seasons, and 3 Gold Glove Awards.
He was well on his way to becoming an all-time great before moving into legendary status with the Giants. The only hitters who were in the same class as Bonds, were Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Ted Williams.
Reason #2. The Steroids issue is irrelevant Yes, irrelevant! Since when did the baseball hall of fame become a morality test? This hall is littered with cheaters, druggies, racists, etc. Do you mean to tell me that you’re ok with Ty Cobb, a known racist, being in the Hall of Fame, but not Bonds, Rose, or Clemens?
Are you good with the cheating tactics that Gaylord Perry used but not Bonds? Is it ok that David Ortiz, who has a documented failed test will be inducted to the Hall but not the other players mentioned?
Isn’t it a little ridiculous that the head man in charge during the steroid era, MLB Commissioner, Bud Selig, was inducted into the Hall of Fame? Selig turned a blind eye to the steroid use by players because of the amount of money that baseball was raking in.
It seems contradictory to me that the Commissioner can make the Hall but not the players whom MLB profited from.
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa arguably saved baseball after the strike of 1994. Their home run race was a legendary moment in sports and brought many fans back to the game who had left because of the strike. McGwire and Sosa are two more players who have been shunned by MLB and will never make the Hall of Fame.
Hank Aaron, who was one of the most revered players of all time, and the former home run king before Bonds, admitted in his autobiography to using amphetamines during his playing days.
It’s well known that amphetamines were used rampantly by players dating back to the 1940s after they were brought over from those in the military during War World 2.
Reason #3. Everybody wants him in except for the writers All you have to do is look at any fan poll and see that the majority think Bonds and Clemons deserve to be in. Many current players have taken to social media to voice their opinion regarding the matter.
Players such as Anthony Rizzo, Jazz Chisolm Jr., Ian Happ, Marcus Stroman, etc. have talked about the omission of Bonds on Twitter. Here are a couple of their tweets:
Even David Ortiz himself, after finding out he was elected, talked about how he feels going in without Bonds. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Ortiz said, “I know there’s a lot of things going on, “but to me, he was a Hall of Famer before all of the talk and all of the things. He played the game to a different level.”
The bottom line is that the Hall of Fame is supposed to be a collection of the history of the sport. Baseball’s history includes the steroid era, in which baseball earned a significant amount of revenue and popularity. Without this era, baseball might have never recovered from the 1994 strike.
You can’t have a Baseball Hall of Fame without busts from the leader in hits, home runs, and the pitcher with the most Cy Young awards.
If you want to put an asterisk next to their name, so be it. If you want to put them in a separate section called the “cheaters” section, be my guest. Just make sure you also include all of the other Hall of Famers who cheated the game with “greenies” and spitballs.
Baseball is the only sport where so-called “purists” treat the game as a perfect and sacred sport that must be preserved at every cost. The game of baseball has always had its flaws.
All one has to do is look at its beginnings, when black players were not allowed in the league. MLB went almost 60 years without allowing the best players available to play. If that’s not a stain on the reputation of the game, then I don’t know what is.
The point is, the Baseball Writers Association of America is acting as gatekeepers to the Hall. Maybe it’s time to revisit the process of how players are selected. It would make sense to me that current or former players who have played the game would have representation to the selections.
Fans could even make up a small percentage of the selection process as well. They have as much credibility as the writers who have made this a popularity contest.
As long as MLB wants to turn a blind eye to the fact that it has greatly benefitted from many of its superstars using PED’s, the Hall of Fame will never regain its credibility.
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