Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Arrogant Barry Bonds just doesn’t get it


Barry Bonds thinks he deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I don’t and I hope a majority of baseball writers agree with me.

Bonds gave an interview to MLB.com in which he reflected on the five-year anniversary of his record-breaking home run, even though many baseball observers, myself included, still consider Hank Aaron the true home run king. Time and distance from the game hasn’t softened Bonds one bit, as evidenced by his defiant attitude about his Hall credentials and his unabashed happiness over his “good friend” Roger Clemens beating the government when Bonds himself could not.  

Unlike Clemens, Bonds was actually convicted for a crime although his legal team is appealing the conviction. But his flippant “so what” comment about his conviction proves that the arrogant Bonds doesn’t care at all that what he did was wrong and significantly damaged the game of baseball. And that, and the fact that he was an infamously difficult guy, will cause a lot of baseball writers to keep him off their Hall ballots. I’m not a big fan of writers taking things into their own hands and applying their own rules to the Hall analysis, but I think those that refuse to vote for any of the cheaters, including Bonds and Clemens, are completely justified.

We’ll know soon enough how the writers decide. Bonds’ name will appear on the ballot this winter and the initial vote total will be fascinating. If it’s above the 40-50% mark, it’s likely that Bonds will make it into the Hall eventually as the memory of what he did fades away. But if his number is well below that mark, Bonds will likely suffer the same fate of Mark McGwire, the man whose single-season home run record Bonds broke, who will never set foot in the Hall without buying a ticket.

Barry Bonds just doesn’t get it. Or probably more accurate, he simply doesn’t care. Perhaps keeping him out of the Hall will finally get his attention.

Thanks to Jim Accordino via Creative Commons for the photo. 

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