Barry Bonds--Hall Worthy

Barry Bonds deserves to be in the hall of fame.

Period.

He was a hall of famer 10 years ago, before his well documented steroid use even began. (Game of Shadows, which documents Bonds' steroid use in great detail, dates the beginning of his steroid use to the 1999 season.) In 1994 Darren Dalton said of Bonds, "He's the best player in the game, and it's not even close." He had already won 3 MVP's, 8 gold gloves, and 7 silver sluggers by that point in his career, and was regarded as the best player of his generation. In their ranking of the best players of MLB's modern era, which was released in 1999, The Sporting News ranked Bonds ahead of hall of fame contemporaries Tony Gwyn and Cal Ripken Jr. And why not. By 1999 he was already the sole member of the 400 home run, 400 stolen base club, and was consistently among the league leaders in most major statistical categories. Without steroids he easily would have hit over 500 home runs, collected over 3000 hits, stolen over 500 bases, and scored over 2000 runs. All the roids have done is "juice" his already sterling statistics.

If you want to put an asterisk on his numbers go right ahead. I've watched Bonds play since he was with Pittsburgh, and he was always just better than everyone else. It was obvious, even when he was a lanky lead-off man. He is no great humanitarian, but Barry Bonds is one hell of a baseball player. The Baseball Hall of Fame is a memorial to the men who played baseball best, and if that's the measure then Barry Bonds measures up. He has ruined his reputation, but the incredible skill with which he played the game for so many years cannot and should not be forgotten.