Is Today The Day Barry Bonds Gets Into The Hall Of Fame?
HUGE day in baseball today, not only are the players association and owners meeting for the second day in a row, but we hopefully get some new members of the Hall of Fame. David Ortiz looks to have a decent chance to be getting in on his first ballot while Roger Clemens will likely need some help down the stretch, as will Barry Lamar Bonds, the greatest baseball player ever. Ryan Thibodaux is the ballot king, for years he tracks all of the Hall of Fame ballots and calculates the percentages, he's a must follow this time of the year. Here is where he had the ballots as of 9:08 PM last night. The numbers look good to the naked eye, but it's those unknown ballots that will sink Bonds and Clemens.
So a little under half of the ballots are known and Ortiz is sitting pretty. Clemens and Bonds will need some help. 75% of the votes are needed and they are sitting right on the edge. It's the right side of the edge but who knows what the other 52% of the ballots will look like, it doesn't look like it's trending in their direction. More than likely we'll be seeing a class of only Ortiz, but I'm still holding out hope that we see Bonds get in. This shouldn't be a thing. Frankly, it's a joke that we're on the verge of Bonds and Clemens being kicked off the ballot because their 10-year time limit is about to expire. These guys should both be in, along with a handful of other guys on this ballot. The fact that they are going to be left on the outside looking in while Bud Selig and other players who used steroids are already in Cooperstown is laughable. You'll have Ortiz inducted because the media loves him, and rightfully so. He's a hilarious person. Hell of a podcast host, and was an awesome DH. He also had a positive test in 2003 that was supposed to be anonymous, that is one more positive test than Bonds ever had. But because Bonds was an asshole to the media, he's on the ballot for the 10th time and likely will get the boot later today. Papi had the smile and the swing that captured the media's heart, Bonds just had the swing.
If they aren't elected, and they likely won't be, Clemens, Bonds, and the others who are off the ballot will have their cases in the hands of the veterans committee and could be elected in later. But it's too late. It shouldn't have ever come to this for Barry. He's the best baseball player, the stats speak for themselves, the baseball-reference page speaks for itself, the record numbers speak for themselves, it's a joke he isn't in because the media didn't like that he was mean to them. I'll be shocked if Bonds or Clemens gets in, even with them sitting at over 75% the night before. The private ballots usually don't favor the "steroid guys" and both Bonds and Clemens have had good numbers before the final results are tallied.
My guess is Bonds misses it by a few votes, like less than 15. There isn't a world that exists where Barry Bonds isn't a Hall of Famer, and frankly, same with Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Curt Schilling, and Manny Ramirez. It's embarrassing for baseball, flat out embarrassing. The Hall of Fame will be missing some gigantic members if and when these guys aren't inducted into Cooperstown, you can't deny that. At the end of the day, it's a museum of baseball, and you can't tell the story of the game without Barry Lamar Bonds. Boy do I hope I'm wrong about all of this though. I really hope we see him get in.
