Unless you don’t follow ESPN or SportsCenter on Instagram or Twitter, you’ve probably heard by now that Barry Bonds will not be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. This was his last year to be on the ballot, and he was not chosen. That’s it. Barry Bonds won’t go to the Hall of Fame.
This, of course, sparked major outrage amongst baseball fans. It’s widely known that Barry Bonds juiced while he was playing. He was apart of the “steroid era” of baseball, where basically everyone was juicing in order to hit more dingers. So why is it such a big deal that someone who outright cheated in order to play better isn’t going to be in the Hall of Fame?
The main issue is that there are tons of guys who are already in the HOF who juiced. This is especially noticeable considering David Ortiz got in first ballot this year… and he also juiced. We all know that Barry Bonds home run record comes with an asterisk next to it, but he is a staple in the history of Major League Baseball, and it really doesn’t seem fair that guys who did exactly what he did aren’t being punished as well. I’m not saying that he deserves to go in, but I think he deserves it more than David Ortiz. There needs to be some uniformity.
So now, the MLB’s all-time home run leader won’t be in the Hall of Fame. He joins the ranks of Pete Rose, MLB’s all-time hits leader, and Roger Clemens, MLB’s all-time Cy Young leader, in a list of guys that should probably be in there but never will.
