It’s not Cooperstown.
But Barry Bonds is a newly elected Hall of Famer.
The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Tuesday that they are inducting Bonds into the team’s Hall of Fame. He will participate in a class with his former manager Jim Leyland and 1970s All-Star catcher Manny Sanguillén during a ceremony at PNC Park on August 24.
‘What can you say?’ Bonds said, according to the Pirates announcement. ‘I’m at a loss for words. It was really nice to be able to say to my kids, “Your dad has been inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame.” It’s going to be great to get back to where it all started.”
Of course, Bonds can’t tell his kids that he’s a National Baseball Hall of Famer. Despite his status as the most feared slugger of his generation and perhaps 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?
The credentials of bonds are sacrosanct. He is a seven-time MVP, fourteen-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 the aforementioned steroid era.
Many voters in baseball’s Hall of Fame are not. Bonds fell short for the 10th time in his 10th and final season of eligibility via the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot in 2022. His 66% vote share that year remained well below the 75% threshold for enshrinement. He is still eligible via committee votes, but there is no indication that baseball’s gatekeepers are willing to welcome Bonds and other faces from the steroid era into the Hall of Fame.
However, the Pirates would like to recognize his achievements 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 seasons.
Bonds’ seasons in Pittsburgh are not associated with the steroid era. Playing with a noticeably smaller frame than in San Francisco, Bonds hit .275/.380/.503 with an average of 25 home runs, 79 RBI and 36 stolen bases per season. He finished his career in Pittsburgh with 33, 25 and 34 home runs in his final three seasons, respectively — high totals, but nothing comparable to what would happen in San Francisco.
In 15 seasons with the Giants, Bonds equaled or exceeded his career-high home run total in Pittsburgh (34) 11 times (46, 37, 42, 40, 37, 34, 49, 73, 46, 45, 45). He hit .312/.477/.666 while averaging 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 about his early MLB days. And whether or not he is 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 keep our emotions in check because I think we might cry more that day than actually speak,” Bonds said. “But it’s still going to be great.”
