If He Gets HR Record, Does Bonds Deserve It, & Should he Go To The HOF?

[Dinger]

As for me, I think pitchers should pitch balls only - no strikes. He cheated, period.

[Bluzmann57]

1. Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports

Thats why when a guy gets a hit three out of every ten times at bat he is considered successful. That is a 70% failure rate. Bonds has been a great hitter since he started in MLB and he does have the single season record for most homers. He will and should go into the Hall of Fame, on the first ballot. But remember about HoF voting, Tom Seaver got more votes than Hank Aaron. Was Seaver worthy of that? Great pitcher, but Aaron is the HR champion, so he should have recieved more votes. The point is, HoF voting is done by sportswriters who can be every bit as assholish as political writers, maybe even more so. So Bonds may not make the Hall the first time around, but he will make it.

[northzax]

2. every team had juiced players in the 90's and early 00s

I think, personally, that if anything should be done (and there's no proof against Bonds, remember) that everything since the Strike should be wiped out, records, wins, losses, every stat in the book. take away the Red Sox title, take away the 5 yankees titles, everything. all the home runs, all the hits, strikeouts, everything. pretend they never happened. Otherwise, unless there is actual evidence, that anyone is guilty of doing anything against the rules, you are kinda stuck.

[PDittie]

3. I don't think he's got a chance in hell of making it to the HOF

He's pissed off waaaaaaaay too many sportswriters.

Mind you, I think he belongs. And so does Pete Rose.

[BulletproofLandshark]

4. He's vilified only because he doesn't kiss the media's ass.

The allegations against him have yet to be proved, so I'll continue to take him for what he is: The best player of my lifetime. Besides the home runs, he's a 7-time NL MVP (an award decided by those same media people that rail against him), a ludicrous number which may never be matched. Yeah,he's kind of a jerk and probably not the best teammate. But if that's enough to keep a person out of the HOF, then the Halls of Fame of every sport have some major housecleaning to do.

[PDittie]

5. Right.

Let's kick out Ty Cobb for being a racist asshole, for starters.

Regarding cheating: there's lots of cheaters in the HOF. Pitchers that threw spitballs, hitters who corked their bats, managers that told their players to spike the shortstop when sliding into second, and on and on.

Gaylord Perry was one of the greatest pitchers of all time -- won a Cy Young in both leagues -- but never concealed his cheating much, and mostly made a big joke out of it. Let's throw him out of the Hall while we're cleaning up baseball.

What is it Jim Rome says? "If you're not cheating, you're not trying"?

No, Barry won't make it into the Hall and it won't be because he's black or even because he's a monumental jerk. It's because this country has gotten so conservative and become so fucking pious at the same time that pretty soon only members of the Fellowship of Christian Ahthletes will be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

(FWIW, Bud Selig's a bit conservative and certainly a purist, but at least he's not a Republican.)

[tcfrogs]

6. Sorry, Bonds will be in the Hall

And on the first ballot. Save this thread until 2012. :)

[PDittie]

7. Hey, I'm hoping he does

and I'll be glad to be wrong.

But I obviously don't think I will be. He's got two strikes against him ("cheating" and ill will from the voters) in a one-strike-and-you're-out-system.

[sabbat hunter]

12. oh please

he is vilified cause he is an asshole.

[Lefty48197]

8. You forgot to include "HELL NO" as a voting option

That cheating bastard doesn't even deserve to be MENTIONED in the same sentence as Mays, Ruth, and Aaron. Any one of those three would have hit 1000 homers if they had juiced up like Barry does. I think Major League Baseball should give itself the voluntary death penalty for letting the steroids scandal continue for so many years.

[bmbmd]

9. I think there should be a special room at the HOF

for Bonds, Pete Rose, and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Let 'em in, but fence 'em off.

[ticapnews]

10. Two separate questions

No, he doesn't the deserve the home run record if he gets it. Roger Maris is still the single-season home run champion in my mind, and Hank Aaron will remain the all-time home run king (until/unless Albert Pujols or A-Rod hit 756) even if Barry passes him.

However, Barry was a Hall-of-Famer before 1999, when he allegedly began using steriods. Based on his career up to that point, I believe if he had retired he would still be in the Hall. Therefore, I think he will be in the HOF. That may change if the federal prosecutors or George Mitchell are able to uncover other things, but based on his career numbers ending in 1998, he deserves to be in the Hall.

The problem with punishing Barry (and others) for using steriods is that it was condoned with a wink and a nod (at most) from owners and was essentially endorsed by the owners, media and the public at large. "Chicks dig the longball." Cal Ripken Jr. saved baseball with his pursuit of Lou Gehrig in 1995, but baseball was sustained by the home run era which propelled McGwire and Sosa into household names. Those mammoth home runs drove attendance and TV ratings, which translated to huge revenues for baseball. Everyone made money off of steriods and no one was going to kill the golden goose until it became absolutely necessary. Even now, I don't expect much out of baseball. I admire and respect George Mitchell, but he works for the Boston Red Sox and Disney (read: ESPN + ABC Sports) and this investigation is being done by the request of the office of the Commissioner. I expect nothing will come of it.

Every fan will have to make a judgement on Barry. The difficult part comes in 30-40 years when we try to explain The Steriods Era to our kids and grandkids.

[sabbat hunter]

11. too many pitches thrown

make him take off that body armor he wears on his arm and plunk him every time at bat. why waste 3 extra pitches or take the chance that one will drift into the strike zone.
hit him on his ample ass every time up.

[Doctor_J]

13. Other - HELL NO

Knowing what we now know, we can say with perfect assurance that Aaron's feat was much more prodigous. Our Chicago sports radio baseball Bigfoot, Terry Boers, says that fro him, Aaron and Maris are and will remain the Home Run Kings, period. To which I say, "Amen Brother Boers"

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

16. ITA with Borther Boers opinion.

Roger Maris and Henry Aaron will always be, at least for me, the Home Run kings of baseball..

[smoochpooch]

14. The period will always be known as the "steroid era"

People will always keep that in mind when viewing the records from Bonds, Sosa, McGwire etc. But every era is to be viewed with asterisks to some degree. Ruth never had to face any African Americans in his day- is that an unfair advantage? I know, not the same thing but something to think about.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

15. Voted No

Won't pass Hammerin' Hank this year and will retire before next to season to save his ass from further scrutiny that would arise if he got near the record. He'll get into the Hall Of Fame, I'd laugh if it wasn't first ballot, for some reason I could see him saying he didn't care what the Sports writers thought about him and just plain bad mouth them. They will be like FU Barry and not vote him in his first year, then he'll throw a fit about it and say their racist for not voting him in and hold a grudge then. He'll get voted in then after this in the next 5 years he's eligible, Then he won't even show up for the ceremony.

[tishaLA]

17. Should the pitchers who took steroids...

and pitched against Bonds also have records removed? I think there was something of a level playing field in all of this.

[cboy4]

18. Barry should make it into the HOF. He was a HOF'er before he allegedly

started taking steroids in '98 or whenever.

Pete Rose should be in also. So should McGwire.

Put 'em in but in the player's bio at Cooperstown, explain Bonds' steroid controversy....explain Rose's gambling controversy.

Then let the fans judge, IMO.