Bonds was found guilty of felonious obstruction of justice by a San Francisco jury on Wednesday, April 13 about whether he knew he took steroids, which most likely caused a historic burst of home runs during a time of his career when most mortals are in irreversible decline.
But while his status as the “Home Run King” is in serious and permanent doubt, Bonds induction in Cooperstown should not be. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, a thinner Bonds was the undisputed king of baseball despite his reputation as the game’s most reviled, arrogant and divisive personality.
Before he and steroids became married in a scandalous matrimony, the likes of Bonds were never seen before and perhaps won’t be seen again. He won three Most Valuable Player awards in four years, when no one had ever even won two. He became the first player to ever hit 500 home runs and steal 500 bases. He won nine Gold Gloves, which goes to the game’s best defensive player. He hit for high average and for power. He was the ultimate five-tool player, meaning he could do everything on the baseball diamond and do it at a high level. He was baseball royalty.
Bonds was different from other former Hall of Fame candidates who got caught using steroids. Manny Ramirez, Rafeal Palmiero, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were one-dimensional players who would not have even been considered for baseball immortality had they not bulked up illegally and smacked home runs at dizzying rates. Now that they’ve been exposed, they will never get in.
Bonds was a transcendent, once-in-a-generation talent who is guilty of hubris and craved attention commensurate with his awesome abilities. That’s what led him to unnecessarily sully his image and career. But as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale stated: “He has my vote as a first-ballot Hall of Famer [even after the federal conviction]. Simply, he is the greatest player outside of Babe Ruth that this game has ever seen.”
Your Honor, I rest my case.
–terry shropshire
