Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in /var/www/wp-content/themes/jnews/class/ContentTag.php on line 86
Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in /var/www/wp-content/themes/jnews/class/ContentTag.php on line 86
Barry Bonds turns 52 today (July 24). And I am quite sure you could go out and put him in somebody’s lineup and he would get a couple of hits.
Bonds is one of the best players to ever play the game, and the greatest player of his generation.
The son of former San Francisco Giants star Bobby Bonds, Barry grew up around the game.
The great Willie Mays, arguably the greatest all-around player in the history of the game, is his God-father.
In his storied, controversy filled, 22-year career, Bonds finished with 762 home runs, 298 batting average, on his way to winning seven MVP awards.
Bonds could do it all, hit, field, steal bases, and he had a great arm.
If there was a record for being one of the most hated players, Bonds would’ve probably held that mark, too.
For much of his career he battled with the media, and was considered aloof by some of his teammates.
In 2001, Bonds shattered the regular season home run mark, blasting 73. He drove in 177 runs, while batting .328.
He was practically impossible to get out. One manager actually gave him an intentional walk with the bases loaded.
Who does that?
But that is just how dominant Barry Bonds was. Bonds was embroiled in a PED controversy, although there is no clear proof that he ever used knowingly. He was actually convicted of obstruction of justice in 2011. However, he won in an appeal in 2015, thus clearing him of any wrong doing.
But many in the media that he warred with see this as an opportunity for payback. They are convinced that he used PEDs, and will not give him the votes for the hall of fame.
But that is wrong. There are men in the hall of fame who are racist, like Ty Cobb, who reportedly was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
Nonetheless, the hall of fame is not about if you were a nice guy, it is about being a great player.
No one can deny that about Barry Bonds.
“There’s not one player that ever could say I’m not one,” said Bonds, who works today as a hitting coach for the Miami Marlins. “There’s not a coach who ever coached me who says I’m not one. In my heart and soul, and God knows, I’m a Hall of Famer.”
