It’s not Cooperstown.
But Barry Bonds is a newly elected Hall of Famer.
He Pittsburgh Pirates announced Tuesday that they are inducting Bonds into the team’s Hall of Fame. He will join a class that includes his former manager Jim Leyland and 1970s All-Star catcher Manny Sanguillén in a ceremony at PNC Park on Aug. 24.
“What can you say?” Bonds said, according to the Pirates’ announcement. “I’m speechless. Being able to tell my kids, ‘Your dad went into the Pirates Hall of Fame,’ was really nice. “It will be great to be back where it all started.”
Bonds, of course, can’t tell his kids that he’s a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Despite his status as the most feared slugger of his generation and possibly of all time, Bonds is not welcome in Cooperstown. His prominent association with baseball’s steroid era of the 1990s and early 2000s has left him out.
Should Bonds be in the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Bonds’ credentials are unquestionable. He is a seven-time MVP, 14-time All-Star, eight-time Gold Glover and two-time batting champion. He is also baseball’s single-season (73) and career (762) home run king. That is, if you’re willing to acknowledge the home runs he hit during said steroid era.
Many of baseball’s Hall of Fame voters are not. Bonds fell short for the 10th time in his 10th and final season of eligibility via the 2022 Baseball Writers Association of America ballot. His 66% vote tally that year was well below the 75% threshold. for consecration. He is still eligible through committee votes, but nothing suggests baseball’s gatekeepers are ready to welcome Bonds and other faces from the steroid era to the Hall of Fame.
The Pirates, however, are eager to recognize his accomplishments with the franchise. Bonds joined the Pirates as a rookie in 1986 and spent his first seven MLB seasons in Pittsburgh. He made two All-Star teams and won his first two MVPs in Pittsburgh before joining the San Francisco Giants in 1993. There, he finished his career as a perennial MVP contender and five-time winner over the course of 15 years. seasons.
Bonds’ stints in Pittsburgh are not associated with the steroid era. Playing with a noticeably smaller frame than in San Francisco, Bonds slugged .275/.380/.503 and averaged 25 home runs, 79 RBIs and 36 stolen bases per season. He finished his career in Pittsburgh with 33, 25 and 34 home runs, respectively, in his final three seasons: high totals, but nothing like what would come in San Francisco.
In 15 seasons with the Giants, Bonds equaled or surpassed his career home run total in Pittsburgh (34) 11 times (46, 37, 42, 40, 37, 34, 49, 73, 46, 45, 45). He slugged .312/.477/.666 and averaged 39 home runs and 96 RBI per season. Despite repeatedly leading the league in walks (11 times) and on-base percentage (eight times) in San Francisco, he experienced a precipitous drop in stolen bases (17.5 per season).
But this honor is due to his early days in the MLB. And whether or not he’s in the Baseball Hall of Fame apparently won’t matter much to Bonds on August 24. He sounds genuinely moved to be part of Pittsburgh’s class.
“Leyland and I are going to have to try to control our emotions, because I think that day we will be able to cry more than talk,” Bonds said. “But it’ll still be cool.”