Barry Bonds may be the home run king, but many doubt his purity in the game of baseball. With the MLB Hall of Fame picks being entered today, a good question was posed on Twitter, should Barry Bonds enter Cooperstown as a Pittsburgh Pirate before the beginning of all the steroid allegations?
Here's the tweet acknowledged by CBSSports.com baseball insider Jon Heyman.
Let's look at his numbers prior to becoming a San Francisco Giant when all the headaches began and the game of baseball had stars juicing and doping.
For those who don't know, Bonds was a Pirate way before becoming a Giant. At age 21 in 1986, Bonds hit 16 homers. drove in 48 runs, stole 36 bases and hit .223. He finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting that season.
After that, Bonds had average seasons, but continued proving he was a five-tool player. He was the perfect balance between power, speed and contact. On the defensive end, Bonds spelled trouble for hitters and base runners.
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In 1990, he finally broke through with his first 30-homer and 100-RBI season and touched the .300 batting average plateau while stealing 43 bases. That season, he was an All-Star, Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger and MVP.
All in all, before the beginning of his career as a Giant, these are the numbers Bonds tallied.
.275 avg., 176 home runs, 556 RBI, .883 OPS and 251 SB
There was no doubt in anybody's mind that Bonds was going to be great. However, his career took a turn for the worse in San Francisco. His popularity in the sport dipped almost immediately following his 73-home run season as he continued to chase Hank Aaron for the all-time home run record.
By the time he was approaching the feat, many associated Bonds with steroids and questioned his integrity. Believe it or not, being a Hall of Famer goes beyond on-field accomplishments.
"Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."
This is is what journalist base their voting on. If anywhere in this phrase there's a clause that excludes a player's career in totality, then, yes, Bonds had extremely amazing seasons as a Pirate, but when analyzing his career as a whole, Bonds does not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
