On January 25, 2022, the 394 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BWAA) voted to deny entry to the National Baseball Hall of Fame to Barry L. Bonds.
Let me get right to the point. I have no problem with the Writers decision. Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa have been on the Hall of Fame ballot for 10 years and have failed selection in each of those years. Why? Because they cheated during their careers by using Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) that allowed them to create records that they otherwise would not have been able to accomplish.
Let’s take Barry Bonds for example. He holds the record for the most home runs for a career and single year (762 and 73, respectively). Bonds played for 22 seasons. He spent his first seven seasons in Pittsburgh and hit 176 homeruns, averaging 25 homers per year. He then spent the next 15 years in San Francisco where he started using PEDs. During those 15 years in San Francisco, he hit 528 home runs averaging 39 homers each season. In 2001, he set the single season home run record hitting an astounding 73 homers. Using PEDs, Bonds was the most feared hitter of the times.
Now compare Bonds’ records to Henry “Hank” Aaron’s. Aaron played 23 seasons. He spent 21 years with the Braves and hit 733 home runs, averaging 34 homers per year. He spent his final 2 years with the Brewers where he hit 22 home runs, averaging 11 homers per year. In his career Aaron averaged 33 homers a year compared to Bonds’ PED fueled career of 35 per year.
So where would Bonds be without the PEDs? Extrapolating his Pittsburgh years, Bonds could have ended up with 528 home runs, well ahead of Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Frank Thomas and Lou Gehrig. That number certainly would have qualified him for the Hall of Fame in his own right, but we’ll never know what he could have done because of what he did do – in using PEDs.
Ever since the Hall of Fame was established in 1936, a player has needed 75% of the vote in order to gain entry. The voters do not meet or confer with each other to discuss who to vote for (or who to keep out). The voters get a ballot in the mail with up to 10 names on it and they make a selection which can include all, some or none on the ballot. While Bonds in recent years has garnered a majority of the vote for Hall entry, he has never been close to 75%. And with this failure in his 10th and final year with 66% of the vote he comes off the ballot and now awaits consideration by the Veterans Committee.
Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa cheated using PEDs during their careers and in doing so took opportunities away from other players to establish records in their own right. I’m glad the BWAA decided not to reward those who cheated and hope the Veterans Committee does the same.
The Hall of Fame voting totals are here.
