Apparently Barry Bonds' baseball career is over, both due to injury and steroid scandal. The Pittsburgh Pirates initially drafted Bonds in 1985 and by the 1986 season Bonds was promoted to starting centerfielder. As the son of Bobby Bonds, known for both his speed and powerful bat, expectations were heavy and comparisons developed immediately between him and his famous father. Throughout his career with the Battling Bucs, Bonds hit for power - with his best year homerun wise in 1992, when he slammed thirty-four home runs leading Pittsburgh to the NL Playoffs. Importantly, during his career as a Pirate, Bonds was a significant base stealing threat; he also received a significant amount of heat from the media for never leading the strongest PIrate teams since the 1979 World Championship squad. As 1992's season began, much of the news coming out of Pittsburgh's Spring Training Camp in Bradenton, Florida surrounded the final year of Bonds' contract and whether any chance remained of him signing a contract extension with the Pirates. As the media pressured Bonds for both answers to his failing as a leader and queried him constantly about his free agent plans; it was at this point, with a barraging media, Bonds essentially stopped talking with press, who wrote negative articles about him and envisioned the Pirate team as a better team sans the drama Barry Bonds brought to the team.
During that last year with the Pirates, Bonds took the initiative to visit the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine to speak with minority students and encourage them in their careers. At the end of his discussion, I had the chance to personally speak with Bonds and, frankly, he could not have been more engaging and polite; discussing baseball with me and signing autographs not only for me but also for my uncle recovering from open heart surgery in a Pittsburgh hospital. One thing that did strike me was Bonds' size; he was not wide shouldered and, though muscular his pectorals were not bulging from his shirt.
Upon signature with the San Francisco Giants, Bonds cited his godfather, Willie Mays' career with the Giants and his desire to finish out his career as a Giant. While a spotlight was on Barry, more press focused on the battle between the Cardinals' Mark McGuire, and the Cubs, Sammy Sosa, to eclipse Roger Maris' season record of 61 home runs. Rather unnoticed, Bonds became the pre-eminate home run hitter in baseball and smashed the season record for home runs with an astonishing 73 out of the park slams. San Francisco's media went wild supporting Bonds as he led the Giants to their first World Series in years; despite the adulation, Barry became more and more reclusive, especially as his body burgeoned with muscles never seen in Pittsburgh and his power stroke in a zone no other Major League Baseball player ever had and Hank Aaron's seemingly unbeatable career home run record came into Bonds' cross hairs. Media, Government Committees and, eventually, even Bonds' trainer questioned why he suddenly became a power hitter sans the former capability he had to be a dual threat with his bat and speed.
As the end of his playing career approached, Bonds not only eclipsed Hank Aarons lifetime home run record of 715 but clearly smashed it by setting the career home run record with 763. One might think a player, such as Bonds, who set such an overwhelming record would end his career with a proverbial victory tour yet Bonds faced death threats and booing and jeers relative to his alleged usage of performance enhancing drugs.
The press, who vote on Hall of Fame members, began a hue and cry to take Bonds' homerun record away from it given his usage of illegal drugs. Hank Aaron even stepped into the fray and announced he would not support Bonds and would not be present for the games in which Bonds might break his career home run record.
Bonds' record should never be taken from him, as revelations have come to reflect that McGuire utilized steroids, as did Rafael Palmero. The Congress began hearings into the drugs used in Major League Baseball and it has become clear that a significant number of past and present players have or are using illegal drugs. Baseball now has serious rules regarding players who fail drug testing which are suspensions for a period of games.
Given that it is now clear that Barry Bonds was not the sole player in the Major Leagues trying to gain an advantage through steroids, I firmly believe Bonds and Bonds alone should be the all-time home run champion of baseball and eventually added to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.