Barry Bonds Pleads for Cooperstown: ‘Why Is the Hall of Fame Punishing Me?’

More than a year since Barry Bonds appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot for the 10th and final time, MLB’s home run king is pleading for his place in Cooperstown. 

Bonds’ 762 home runs and seven MVP awards are the most in baseball history. But that he’s widely believed to have used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during the so-called Steroids Era, and that has kept him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bonds has long been linked to PEDs, and while he admitted to using BALCO "cream," he has claimed he never knowingly took steroids.

In a recent podcast interview, Bonds said he’s never been guilty of a crime or failed an MLB drug test. 

“People have to understand something is that the fact is that I was vindicated,” Bonds, 58, said on an episode of the podcast, “Hollywood Swingin.'" Bonds referred to a 2011 court case in which a federal jury didn’t reach a verdict on whether he committed perjury when he testified that he didn’t knowingly use PEDs. Bonds was convicted of obstruction of justice, but that verdict was overturned on appeal and the Justice Department ultimately dropped the case.

“I went to the court. I was in federal court, and I won my case,” Bonds said. “Where is the vindication of me in my own sport? That’s what bothers me.”

Bonds said the baseball writers who vote for the Hall of Fame have unfairly punished him and other players. In his final year on the ballot in 2022, 66% of writers voted for his induction, short of the 75% needed. Bonds’ enshrinement status for the Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, N.Y., now depends on committee votes. The Veterans Committee, a mix of media members, former players and executives, didn't elect him last year.

“Why is the Hall of Fame punishing me? It doesn't make sense,” Bonds told the podcast's hosts, former major leaguer Jerry Hairston Jr. and actor Stephen Bishop.

In 22 MLB seasons, Bonds broke Henry Aaron's career home run record and set the single-season record with 73, in 2001. His seven MVP awards included four straight with the San Francisco Giants from 2001 to 2004. 

“Sure, it bothers you,” Bonds said. "I belong with my teammates in that Hall of Fame. One hundred percent."