Hall Of Fame Bound
Barry Bonds, the Homerun King, deserves to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Before I get into the discussion of steroids or performance enhancing drugs, I would like to let his stats speak for themselves.
Barry Bonds is a phenomenal hitter, holding the record for 762 career home runs in the MLB. Bonds is a natural slugger, where coming up in the Majors he was a consistent hitter. In his rookie year, he had 16 home runs and 48 runs batted in. Throughout his career, America watched him gradually become a better hitter, his name eventually becoming a household name. In his last season with the Pirates in 1992, he had 34 home runs and 103 runs batted in, complemented by a .311 batting average. In his first year playing for the San Francisco Giants, Bonds had 46 home runs and 123 runs batted in, which are typical Bonds’ number. Bonds was not your cliché slugger, striking out only 79 times that season. In the Majors today, sluggers average about 100 strikeouts per season. He also maintained a high batting average that season at .336. 2001 marked a historic year in baseball, with Bonds hitting 73 home runs in one season, setting a record. And on top of swinging for the fences 73 times, he still managed to hit .328.
Though definitely a great hitter, Bonds was also an amazing defender. He obtained 8 Gold Gloves in his career. Bonds also played outfield and had a stellar arm. Now Bonds was no Ken Griffey Jr., yet he certainly played at the same tempo, winning Gold Gloves the same year as Griffey (Griffey won the Gold Glove award for the AL/Bonds won the award for the NL).
The steroid allegations against him are what haunts Bonds till this day — he wasvoted out of the MLB on four separate occasions. Bonds was never proven to have taken steroids; however, he was prosecuted because he lied in a court case regarding the steroid investigation. On the other hand, the charges were dropped against him. People criticize Bonds because of the charges and are quick to target how he went from bones to muscle mass. If steroids are the only way to bulk up, then people need to revoke their membership to their local gym.
Furthermore, last time I remember. steroids do not improve vision. Bonds’ vision was amazing, where after 22 seasons, he maintained a .298 batting average. Those numbers prove he was a natural athlete, who, by the way, holds the records for career balls on bases. Rather than focus on steroids, they should focus on his numbers. No offense to Mark McGwire, but compare his numbers to Barry Bonds, and then tell me who took steroids. McGwire’s numbers are all over the place and never consistent. Since coming up in the Majors, Bonds has played at a level that proved he was going to be a legend in baseball. Barry Bonds brought life to the MLB when it needed life, now they need to return the favor and bring life to his dream of being a Hall of Famer.