Former Sun Devil Bonds Again Misses Hall of Fame Opportunity
Approaching his 10th and final year on the ballot to enter baseball immortality, former Arizona State Sun Devil Barry Bonds needed 75% of votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America to put him in Cooperstown for the rest of time.
His last chance is now gone after Major League Baseball announced David Ortiz was the lone inductee. Ortiz, who oddly enough was linked to PEDs during the later stages of his playing time in Boston, gained 77.9% of the votes.
Bonds, along with pitchers Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling, will have another opportunity to get in via the "Today's Game Ballot" for next year's process, which does not hinge on the votes of the BBWAA but rather players, executives and media who are charged with evaluating overlooked candidates.
The Today's Game committee is next scheduled to meet during the 2022 winter meetings.
Bonds finished his 10th year of eligibility with 66% of voters in favor of him being inducted.
Bonds, considered one of the best hitters of all time, holds the following records in the MLB: 762 career home runs; 73 home runs (single season); 2,558 career bases on balls; 232 bases on balls, single season; .609 on-base percentage, single season; .863 slugging percentage, single season.
Bonds also holds the following accolades: 14-time All-Star (1990, 1992–1998, 2000–2004, 2007); 7-time NL MVP (1990, 1992, 1993, 2001–2004); 8-time Gold Glove Award (1990–1994, 1996–1998); 12-time Silver Slugger Award (1990–1994, 1996, 1997, 2000–2004); 3-time NL Hank Aaron Award (2001, 2002, 2004); 2-time NL batting champion (2002, 2004); 2-time NL home-run leader (1993, 2001); NL RBI leader (1993); San Francisco Giants No. 25 retired; San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame.
Before Bonds was hammering baseballs at the professional level, he spent his college years at Arizona State, where he hit a career .347 with 45 home runs and 175 runs batted in. In 1984 he batted .360 and had 30 stolen bases. In 1985, he hit 23 home runs with 66 RBI and a .368 batting average.
Bonds was named as a Sporting News All-America selection in 1985. He also tied the NCAA record with seven consecutive hits in the College World Series as a sophomore, and was named to all-time College World Series team in 1996.
Bonds made his debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986 and spent seven seasons with the team prior to joining the Giants. Bonds retired following the 2007 season and finished with the second-highest WAR (wins above replacement) in baseball history, trailing only Babe Ruth.
Bonds' legacy as a baseball player has been a heavy topic of debate thanks to his links with steroid use, as well as Schilling, Clemens and other players linked to PEDs including Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.
Those discussions, sure to still be heated, will now continue when Bonds' name is brought up in conversation. Thanks to the Today's Game ballot, we haven't seen the door closed on Bonds' possible entrance into Cooperstown.
However, the current collection of baseball writers/voters have made it very clear the dark cloud of performance-enhancing drugs won't be removed from Bonds' image despite the obvious talent.