Never in the history of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame has there been so much controversy and speculation such as we have seen unfold over the candidacy of former Giants slugger Barry Bonds. Although Bonds was one of the most talented players ever to play the game, his connection with performance enhancing drugs (PED’s) after the 1998 season has cost him dearly. He had a great season in ’98 finishing with a .303 batting average, with 37 home runs, 122 runs batted in, 120 runs scored, 44 doubles, 7 triples and 28 stolen bases. Bonds also won his eighth Gold Glove that year. Superlative numbers for anyone.
However, 1998 was the same year that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were making headlines with spectacular numbers of their own. Remember the “Great Home Run Chase”? Both McGuire and Sosa topped Roger Maris’ single season home run record ending with 70 and 66 respectively. These two guys were in the center of the public eye and the great season that Barry Bonds had went mainly unnoticed. Naturally enough, Bonds was a bit unhappy about that.
According to Jeff Pearlman who wrote “Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero”, Bonds reportedly told teammate Ken Griffey Jr. at the time, “You know what, I had a helluva season last year, and nobody gave a crap. Nobody. As much as I’ve complained about McGwire and Canseco and all of the bull with steroids, I’m tired of fighting it. I’ve got three or four good seasons left, and I wanna get paid. I’m just gonna start using some hard core stuff, and hopefully it won’t hurt my body. Then I’ll get out of the game and be done with it”.
With the announcement of the 2013 BBWAA Hall of Fame class only a few weeks away, we are seeing the most polarizing ballots ever, probably due to the presence of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens who is also under fire the use of PED’s during his MBL career.
At this point, Bonds is ranked number one in the balloting. Arguments rage on about whether Bonds or Clemens or any other player connected with PED’s should even be considered for the Hall of Fame, but, there can be no doubt that both Bonds and Clemens possessed exceptional competitive spirit and love of the game.
