Bonds’ Last Chance at Hall

For the 10th and final time, Barry Bonds is on a Hall of Fame ballot.

Despite holding MLB records for home runs, walks, position player WAR, and single-season homers, Bonds’ infamous alleged PED use has barred him from induction.

There’s a case to be made for Bonds getting in, however: January 1997 was supposedly the first time he experimented with PEDs, but his track record in the years prior is arguably enough.

• Between 1990-96, Bonds won three MVPs; he has an MLB-record seven.
• Since 1992, he posted an OPS under 1.000 just once — .999 in 2006, his second-to-last season.
• Early-career Bonds was a prolific base stealer, reaching a career high of 52 in 1990. 
• He is the only player in MLB history to hit at least 500 home runs and steal at least 500 bases. 
• He is also an eight-time Gold Glove winner.

Because of exploding contracts in more recent years, Bonds’ career salary of about $188 million ranks him just 22nd all-time. 

However, the average annual salary of his contracts in 1992 ($7.3 million) and 1997 ($11.5 million) were records at the time.

The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a testament to the history of the game. It is impossible to tell the full history without Bonds, warts and all.