*Opinion

Barry Bonds hit 762 home runs and won seven MVP awards. Roger Clemens pitched 4,672 strikeouts and won seven Cy Young awards. Yet neither of them are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, which purports to honor the game’s greats. 

The sole reason for this is their use of steroids, which is, admittedly, blatantly against the MLB rules. Their illegal drug use is always a factor when discussing the greatness of their careers. It’s just a given: they used steroids. 

Every December, nearly 400 sportswriters in the BBWAA (Baseball Writers’ Association of America) cast their ballots for who they believe should be inducted into the Hall of Fame the following year. A player becomes eligible for induction five years after his retirement and must receive 75% of the writers’ votes to be inducted. If a player does not reach the 75% threshold in his first 10 years on the ballot, he is no longer eligible to be inducted by the BBWAA. 

This year was the final year on the ballot for both Bonds and Clemens; Bonds received 66% of votes, and Clemens received 65.2%. Here’s the leading issue: Bonds was a rookie in 1986, Clemens in 1984. According to ESPN, Bonds was believed to have started using steroids in 1999, Clemens in 1998. From 1986-1998, Bonds already essentially had a Hall of Fame-worthy career with 411 home runs, an exceptional .966 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage — the best measurement of a player’s ability to get on base and hit for power) and three MVPs. Bonds earned eight Gold Glove awards for his defense, which has nothing to do with steroids’ effect of improving hitting ability, and he won all eight before 1999 anyway. Clemens, from 1984-1997, won 213 games with a 2.97 ERA (earned run average) in 3,040 innings. Four of his seven Cy Young awards — given to the best pitcher in each league — came during his pre-steroids career. The Hall of Fame may as well have reserved spots for a plaque for each of them. 

Then, they used steroids, and from then on their legacies were tarnished. But for a substantial portion of their careers, Bonds and Clemens were among the most prominent players in baseball. It’s called the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Integrity. 

This is not to say their use of steroids was right. It is wrong and goes against the dignity of baseball. However, that does not — or should not, at least — automatically disqualify them from the Hall of Fame, especially given how productive they were as non-steroid users. 

Both played during a period literally known as “the steroid era,” which, according to Bleacher Report, is widely considered to have lasted from 1998-2003. Because steroid use in the MLB was relatively widespread, Bonds and Clemens were not unique cases. There were others, in a class just below Bonds and Clemens, who also dominated the game but used steroids at some point in their careers — Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield, David Ortiz. Without the use of steroids, the majority of these players likely would have still made it into the Hall of Fame. 

Here’s the catch — David Ortiz is the lone BBWAA inductee of the 2022 Hall of Fame class, selected by 77.9% of the voters. Ortiz reportedly tested positive for PEDs in 2003. Wait … 77.9% of the same voters who are fighting to protect the integrity of the game by not collectively voting in Bonds and Clemens? Yep, the very same. So where do the voters draw the line? Of course, it’s not a problem with all of the voters; Bonds and Clemens did receive about two-thirds of the votes. But how they didn’t easily surpass 75% of the votes years ago is baffling. 

Bonds and Clemens were both the epitome of a dominant baseball player. Regarding Bonds’ seven MVPs, no one else in history has won more than three. Clemens’ seven Cy Young awards is also first all-time. (Oh, by the way, the MVP and Cy Young awards are voted for entirely by members of the BBWAA.) 

If they were in the Hall of Fame, their names would still have a hypothetical asterisk next to them. People wouldn’t forget that they used steroids. But their influence on their opponents and the game of baseball in general is undeniable. They should each have a plaque in the museum of baseball’s legends. But because they don’t, though … well, that’s a (hall of) shame. 

Footnote: The copy of this story, excluding this footnote, is 762 words long to match Barry Bonds’ all-time record career home runs total.