It's Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown! For the second straight year, six players who played in the 1990s will be inducted. We've had 24 players elected to the Hall of Fame in the last six years, 20 of whom have been voted in by the writers. This is a good thing.
The 80s and 90s have been grossly underrepresented in Cooperstown until now, so it's nice to see those recent players finally get their due. This year, especially, shows how the modern game is at long last being fully embraced, as we've got two closers and two DH's among the six inductees (the other two are a dying breed, the innings-eating starting pitcher).
However, we celebrate this year's class and the first unanimous selection, it becomes more and more glaring that certain players aren't welcome in Cooperstown. Mariano Rivera was the greatest closer in history. No one is disputing that. And, while some would've preferred to see someone from an earlier era to have also been unanimous, there isn't a single person who doesn't agree that he deserved that honor.
But as more and more players from the 90s and early 2000s are elected, the absence of those who aren't there becomes more and more glaring. Everyone has their own opinion about the Steroid Era and the principal players in it. But, like it or not, the Steroid Era happened, and, as much as some may want to, you can't simply just gloss over an entire period of the game's history as if it never existed. Yet that's exactly what's being done at the Hall of Fame.
Barry Bonds, of course, is the main protagonist in this drama. His Hall of Fame candidacy as a player is discussed every January when the election comes around. That debate's going to be around forever, regardless of whether or not he ever gets in. Same thing with Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez (although David Ortiz, who's also been linked to steroids, will easily get in on the first ballot in 2022).
Now, everyone knows my feelings on whether or not I think Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame. Every year when I unveil my "ballot," his name is right at the top. And it will continue to be as long as he's eligible. Ditto with Clemens. So this isn't about making a case why he deserves to be in. Those that are Bonds supporters aren't going to change their minds, and neither are those who are anti-Bonds.
He seems to have come to peace with his Hall of Fame status. Bonds never had a good relationship with the media. He's the first to admit it. And now that those same media members are the ones responsible for deciding whether or not he belongs in the Hall of Fame, it's easy to cast Bonds as the villain and vote against him. Which they're entitled to do.
Although, whether or not he eventually has a plaque hanging alongside the all-time greats, that doesn't change Bonds' place in the game's history. And that's where Bonds should be recognized. It's the National Baseball Hall of Fame AND Museum. If you want to keep him out of the Hall of Fame part, fine. But, at the very least, he should be in the Museum part.
Like it or not, Barry Bonds is the all-time home run leader. He's also holds the single-season home run record. Yet, if you go to Cooperstown, you won't find anything celebrating either achievement. How can a place that's supposed to preserve the game's history completely ignore the man who holds two of its most revered records? Especially since they DO recognize Pete Rose, an admitted gambler who's banned from baseball for life.
After years of denials, Rose finally admitted his gambling. His lifetime ban still stands, though, and he needs to get special permission from the Commissioner to attend official events (mainly in Cincinnati). Bonds, however, is a member in good standing of the baseball community. He had his number retired by the Giants last August and regularly works with the team's Minor Leaguers.
There are many baseball historians who rank Barry Bonds up there not just as the best player of his era, but one of the greatest of all-time (although my vote would go to his godfather, Willie Mays). Regardless of where you think he belongs in the greatest players of all-time debate, there's no denying that he was one of the central figures in the Steroid Era, for multiple reasons. Which is another reason why it's stupid to pretend Bonds simply doesn't exist.
Besides, everyone knows the Steroid Era happened. And nobody did anything to stop it! What brought fans back after the 1994-95 strike that almost killed the game? Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and all the home runs. It happened. At the time, people simply turned their backs on it. But it's still a period in the game's history, and those who played in the era should be recognized as such.
As a history museum, it's the Hall of Fame's responsibility to do that. Especially since they're being selective about who they want to acknowledge and who they don't. Bud Selig was the Commissioner who turned a blind eye to steroids as it was happening. Yet he was overwhelmingly voted into the Hall of Fame by the Modern Baseball Committee in 2017.
Not liking Barry Bonds as a person is one thing. So is withholding a Hall of Fame vote for him. But those are completely unrelated to the records he holds and his place in baseball history. And the Hall of Fame is also a history museum. At the very least, Barry Bonds needs to be there. Because, like it or not, he definitely is an important figure in the game's history.
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