Why Barry Bonds Should Never be Inducted into the Hall of Fame

First, Pete Rose is not allowed into the Hall (at least not while living) because he tarnished the image of the game by betting on it. So if tarnishing the game is enough to get you banned for life, then what about what Barry Bonds did? It is so much worse than betting on the game.

Of the 10 best ever single-season on-base percentage marks, John McGraw is there once, Billy Hamilton is there once, Ted Williams is there twice, Babe Ruth is there three times, and Barry Bonds is there three times. Obviously it is very impressive. Only four of those marks came after age 32 for any player, and Barry Bonds did it all three times. Only Ted Williams is the other one. So right away we see an issue. Most of these marks were recorded before the player turned 32, but Barry Bonds gets all of his marks after he turns that age?

Secondly, we have to realize what the list looked like before Barry forced his way in. Ted Williams had the highest mark at .5528 before that. But Barry topped it twice with marks of .5817 and .6094. Yes, you read that right, an OBP of .6094. Barry was 39 at the time! I had to search for a while, but the next-closest player on that mark to be at least 39 years of age is Ted Williams (coincidentally enough), but he was at position 139!

This should not even be a debate. Barry obviously cheated and tarnished the game. It was no game when Barry came to the plate. You just walked him and moved on with the game. It was never that way before in the history of baseball. The whole steroid era was a great scandal and it ruined the image of the game. We are still dealing with the issue. Why should we reward the poster-child of this era with a plaque in Cooperstown?