Will Barry Bonds Make The Hall Of Fame? Cooperstown Inductee Brooks Robinson Thinks So
May 19, 2009 – 7:45 am by Michael Bean
With all the big names being exposed as former users of performance enhancing drugs, it becomes more and more difficult to argue that Barry Bonds doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Before I go on, let me be clear that it’s of course totally legitimate to believe that anybody caught using PEDs deserves to be shutout of Cooperstown. But if you believe that it’s just unrealistic to exclude all of the greats from ‘The Steroid Era’, then you surely have to feel that Bonds is the most deserving of anybody in the past ten years of being elected. Anyway, whichever side of the argument you come down on, take a listen to Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson on ESPN Radio St. Louis as he discusses this very topic in light of two of the biggest names in the game – A-Rod and Manny – being exposed as users of performance enhancing drugs.
On whether there’s more or less emphasis placed on defense today than during his playing days. Robinson won 16 Gold Gloves during his career:
“That’s true. I tell people I negotiated 23 one-year contracts. At the time, there was no free agency. Free agency came about the time I was leaving the game. But I negotiated 23 one-year contracts and I don’t think I ever had a general manager say how many runs did you save with your glove. It was always how many hits did you get, how many home runs did you get, how many RBIs did you get. So you know who got the best of that negotiation.”
On whether or not he thinks guys like Bonds and other greats from the Steroids Era will eventually be in Cooperstown:
“Well I’ll tell you this, I don’t think they’re going to get in as long as I’m alive. I think it will take a little bit of time for these gentlemen to achieve the Hall of Fame. If you take a look at Mark McGwire and see what’s happened to him the last few years and the percentage he gets – they’re just not going to put them in. I think right now, what youre seeing in baseball, I do think they police baseball better than they ever have. The system is working, but every now and then you’ll get a shocker and it’s almost like you got to suspect anyone that played in the last twenty years. They’re going to be a suspect anyway, whether they did it or not…But I think all of these guys – you talk about Palmeiro, you talk about McGwire, Bonds has never really been indicted of anything…I think sooner or later, one of these years down the road, they all might get in.”
Listen here to Robinson on ESPN Radio St. Louis
Tags: Earl Weaver, ESPN Radio St. Louis, MLB, Performance Enhancing Drugs
