One of the greatest managers in the history of Baseball is not happy with whom the Hall of Fame voters have left out of Cooperstown.
Dusty Baker, the current manager of the Houston Astros, recently said how ridiculous it is that Barry Bonds is not a part of the MLB class of 2022 Hall of Fame. He believes that players like Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire should have their own plaque and are being treated unfairly by the committee.
Everyone assumes that Bonds was one of the many players who were a part of the steroid era, but it is key to remember that he was never suspended from the MLB for PEDs, nor did he ever test positive with the league. However, as much as Bonds denies it, a lot of people believe that he did and therefore his home run record is tainted.
“The voters (supposedly) like guys of high character, guys with no marks or any suspicions about their reputation — or maybe it’s how you treated the media,” Baker said last Monday to NBC Sports. He believes that Bonds not getting in is due to the stigma between him and the media and has nothing to do with the allegations made against him. Bonds was known to not be too friendly with the writers. People like Baker think that the media is getting revenge against Bonds for his treatment of them.
“When you talk about the best of that era, people always want you admit this or that. Well, Mark McGwire admitted and he’s not in. He should be in, too,” he also said in the interview. He feels that if David Ortiz, a player who had a positive test for PEDs back in 2003, but very much denied it, has no problem getting in, then so shouldn’t Bonds nor McGwire. Baker is a big believer in trying to forgive people for their mistakes in the game as he believes that everyone slips up and no one is perfect. He emphasized that last season with the Astros by saying fans should start to try and forgive them for their huge mistake with the scandal in 2017, and made a point of this with the media, Bonds and McGwire, and Cooperstown.
Keep in mind that Bonds and Baker have a very solid relationship with one another, as he managed him for 10 seasons, from 1993 to 2002. Bonds helped get Baker the closest he has ever gotten to a title: Game 7 of the World Series. A world Series ring is the one thing that is missing from his outstanding managerial career.
Baker, in his third season with the Astros, has helped lead them to the third-best record in the league and is primed for another deep postseason run. He has done everything imaginable to get his own plaque in Coopertown and if he can finally climb the one hill he has not been able to conquer, it will be the cherry on top.
I believe these players made an impact on baseball. Bad and good. Do they deserve to be in the hall of fame … NO!