Jack Hagen | Sports Editor
February 6, 2022
It is official, the greatest hitter to ever step on a baseball field will not ever be in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. After being on the ballot for ten years and failing to be elected for all ten, he is no longer eligible for entrance. This is a travesty for the game of baseball and should never have happened.
For starters, as many people know, he is the all-time home run leader with 762 as well as the single-season home run leader with 73. On top of this, he has the highest single-season on-base percentage and slugging percentage. His accolades include being a seven-time MVP winner(also highest ever), a fourteen-time all-star, and a twelve-time silver slugger.
Bonds was so feared at the plate he even leads in both career and single-season walks. Teams actually intentionally walked him an astounding 120 times in one season in an effort to try to prevent the damage he could do with a bat. In one game, the Arizona Diamondbacks chose to walk Bonds with the bases loaded and two outs, which brings in a run, because they felt their best chance to win was by not giving Bonds the opportunity to bring in more than one teammate and take the lead of the two-run game.
The reason for his struggle to earn his spot in Cooperstown is his controversial steroid use. When he tested positive, it seemed as though the entire sport turned on him. This created quite an opposition to his career.
“Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter of all time,” junior Lucas Weckerle said. “However, because he used steroids, he does not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.”
The truth is, though, most professional baseball players in the 90s were taking steroids just like Bonds. They just didn’t have the same success. Even the sole inductee from this year, David Ortiz, tested positive at one point in his career for PEDs, yet he still made it in.
The voters for the ballot are all writers and journalists who typically have never played the game themselves. This undermines the credibility of the vote, as they often vote based on the narrative around the player rather than looking at the whole story from an outside perspective. Why would you vote for one of the most hated players in baseball when you could vote for the fan-favorite Big Papi?
“Even before steroid use, Bonds’ stats were Hall of Fame worthy,” senior Sawyer Marquez said. “He should be in the Hall of Fame.”
Steroids do not teach you how to hit like Bonds did. Sure they may make you stronger, but his swing was something that you can’t teach. His hitting is one of the best displays ever seen in baseball, which alone should have landed him a spot in Cooperstown.
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