Barry Bonds Needs to be a Hall of Famer

It’s 2007, as Barry Bonds’s 756th homerun flies over right-center field in AT&T Park, his hall-of-fame case seems guaranteed.

Within the blink of an eye, 2022 had arrived, nearly a dozen hall-of-fame classes were honored since Bonds became eligible, but still no Barry. Steroid scandals have overshadowed the greatest hitter the MLB had ever seen, but I still think he needs to be in Cooperstown.

When a baseball fan is asked to imagine Barry Bonds, there’s no doubt they picture the roided-out muscle head on the Giants. Take a step back though, he played 12 years in the big league before this alter-ego came to be.

Starting in 1986, Barry Bonds was already a league-wide phenomenon. A blinding combination of power, speed, and defense. Bonds with Pittsburgh led all NL rookies with 16 home runs, 36 swiped bags, and 48 RBIS. However, as history has shown this was only a small taste of his talents. By the end of the 1990 season Bonds had already reached 117 homers and possessed his first of seven MVP’s. Oh, I also forgot to mention the gold glove and silver slugger he also added to his repertoire in 1990.

Now it’s 1992, and Bonds has completed a seven year stint with the Pirates, time to test free agency. With two MVP’s, three gold gloves, and three silver sluggers in his pocket, Bonds was the most eligible bachelor. $43.75 million later, the San Francisco Giants nailed Bonds down for 6 years. As his first year in orange and black came to an end, Barry claimed MVP three. Barry Bonds seemed to sit on the top of the world.

Throughout the next four years Mr. Bonds never dipped below 33 bombs a season. Gold gloves and silver sluggers decorated his mantle in spades. I hinge on this year 1997, as it’s widely agreed to be his last steroid-free year. So, what are his pre-steroid totals and accolades?

In 12 steroid free years, Barry Bonds totaled: 374 home runs, 1,750 hits, a .288 batting average, and an OPS of .959. For reference, the average MLB hall-of-famer has totals around: 211 homer runs, 2,411 hits, a .303 batting average, and a .837 OPS. This doesn’t even mention the nearly 92 WAR bonds brought to the table. This means Bonds brought 92 more wins to his teams than the average player. The average hall-of-famer only has around 72 WAR.

Of course from 1998 and beyond, he went from dominant to ascendant. Everybody remembers 73 home runs in a season, four straight MVP’s, and countless broken records. From a mere stat-based view, Barry Bonds was already an elite class hall-of-famer by 1997. So, you’d think anything past 1997 was just the cherry on top of an already legendary career.

As for the eye test, Bonds passed it with flying colors. Towering homeruns and dazzling catches were his specialty, and he did it better than anyone else. His swing sent a chill down the spine of every MLB pitcher. He’d wait until the ball was as deep as possible to explode forward generating torque that could put a supercar to shame.

Steroids didn’t turn Barry Bonds from a rotation player to the modern Babe Ruth. Steroids simply turned his 430ft homeruns to 480ft home runs. Of course that previous statement is a bit disingenuous, but the truth lies within it. Three MVP’s and 374 home run’s by age 33 absolutely speak for themselves, regardless of ensuing steroid issues.