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2013 without first considering those two. So let’s talk about Barry Bonds
and Roger Clemens.
Bonds and Clemens are two players who, in a just world, would be
unanimous selections for induction but who, for reasons discussed
earlier today, will almost certainly not make the Hall. Let’s first walk
through their obvious baseball qualifications for the Hall — and bear with
me, because I will assume in this first part that the performance enhancing
drug issues don’t exist — and then deal with those pesky objections so
many have to their candidacy.
The Baseball Bonafides
While it’s always hard to compare players between eras, it is not
hyperbole to say that Bonds and Clemens would be finalists in a contest to
name the greatest hitter and the greatest pitcher who ever lived. We all
think we know how great they were because their careers just wound up
five years ago, but even the most dedicated baseball fan can be shocked to
take a look back over their stat sheets to see just how thoroughly they
dominated their era.
I won’t go into hardcore statistics with you, but let’s just see where
Barry Bonds resides on the leader board in various categories:
• He’s the all-time home run king;
• He’s the all-time walk king and the all-time intentional walk king
• Third all-time in runs scored;
• Third all-time in wins above replacement (WAR);
• Sixth all-time in on-base percentage;
• Sixth all-time in slugging percentage;
• Fourth all-time in OPS (on-base plus slugging) and Third all-time
in adjusted OPS (which weights for era and ballpark);
• Second all-time in extra base hits;
• Fourth all-time in total bases;
• Fourth all-time in RBI;
• Second all-time in total times on base; and
• He’s the single-season record holder for home runs and base-onballs
(actually he holds the top three seasons in base-on-balls)