Now that Barry Bonds has been convicted of obstruction of justice, baseball fans are debating his long-term legacy. Should he be inducted into the Hall of Fame as the greatest home run hitter of all time – or is he tainted forever by performance enhancing drugs? As you’ll see in this New York Times article, Judging Barry Bonds , voting for the Hall of Fame is based upon not only the player’s career stats – but also integrity, sportsmanship and character: 3 pitches on which Barry Bonds is likely to strike out.
I interviewed Ron Hyde, who knows Barry better than most, having served as his unofficial babysitter when Bonds was just a boy. Ron offers these thoughts in Baseball Between Us:
“Many people have suggested they should have a separate wing in the Hall of Fame. Still, in that era, which is loosely 1990 – 2005, steroids or not, pitcher, position player or not, he was indisputably the best player of his era.”
“And as time passes, people will be a little more forgiving as they look at Barry Bonds, as one of the greatest players of all time,” Ron added.
“And let’s face it, those years we were watching him, no matter whether you were a Giants fan or not, when you heard the name Barry Bonds step up to the plate, no matter what you were doing around the yard, in the house, you dropped what you were doing to watch him bat. And few players could ever exceed what Barry Bonds did as a player, no question about it.”
I think Ron is right. Barry Bonds was his own worst enemy. But I do know from personal experience that Bonds was the most exciting player I’ve ever watched at the plate. Whenever he was up, everything else stood still as fans watched and waited for the crack of the bat that could produce bedlam in every park.
Matt and I were at AT&T Park when Bonds hit home run #715 to surpass Babe Ruth in 2006. I’ll have plenty of stories to share about Barry Bonds when Baseball Between Us comes out next March – In the meantime, do you think Bonds should make the Hall of Fame? Let me know your thoughts.
