Barry Bonds’ Hall of Fame case should be easy solely because of Pirates tenure

Thanks to the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, the question of whether or not Barry Bonds belongs in the Hall of Fame is once again open for debate. The writers made their opinion known during the traditional voting process, and this committee already voted down Bonds once. However, this jury of Bonds’ peers would do well to consider his pre-steroid career with the Pirates, which may justify enshrinement on its own.

For the sake of argument, let’s say that Bonds’ career became tainted when he reconnected with trainer Greg Anderson in 1998. At that point, the slugger had already won three MVP Awards, seven Gold Glove Awards, and as many Silver Sluggers. He also had 374 homers, 417 stolen bases, and 1,750 hits. Roughly half of those achievements came during his seven seasons in Pittsburgh.

Barry Bonds’ early career success with the Pirates should be enough to merit Hall of Fame consideration.

If, instead of taking steroids, Bonds had suddenly left the game following the 1997 season, would he get into Cooperstown? His 91.8 bWAR accrued over that span would put him just above Wade Boggs and in the top 50 of all time. The closest non-Hall of Famer (other than those tied to gambling or steroids) is Jim McCormick, a pitcher from the 1880s, who registered 76.2 bWAR. More impressively, Bonds would have had the shortest career among these top players.

Bonds’ three MVPs, two of which came with the Pirates, were already tied for the most all-time, and his stolen base total had already cracked the top 75. Of course, his home run total wouldn’t be as notable, but he still would have ranked in the top 40 had he retired before the slugfest of the 1998 season.

All of these stats consider his first few years in San Francisco, so let’s narrow the focus to just his time in Pittsburgh. The question would quickly shift from the quality of his production to the length of his career. Only considering Bonds’ time with the Pirates, he still surpasses Hall of Famers Eddie Mathews, Hack Wilson, Harmon Killebrew, and others in OPS+. He had a better slugging percentage than Jim Rice and Tris Speaker. Surely those statistics speak to a player that was on his way to Cooperstown.

Statistics, though, cannot be considered in a vacuum. The fact is that Bonds didn’t stop playing after he left Pittsburgh, and he didn’t have the natural regression experienced by so many stars. As much as this committee will rely on what Bonds did on the field, they will also weigh what he did off of it. And they will issue a verdict that may impact the rest of the steroid era stars. Right or wrong, though, Bonds was one of the best players of his generation far before he got involved with BALCO and Anderson, so if Cooperstown is an honest representation of the game and its history, it may be time to address the Bonds question once and for all.