ny10804
10-24-2006, 08:04 PM
I'm just finishing up my argument and persuasion essay on him -- "Should Barry Bonds be inducted into the Hall of Fame?" -- and was wondering what everyone's answer is. Here's the intro:
The ultimate recognition of achievement that a baseball player can receive is to have his name enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Barry Bonds was once deserving of this recognition. During the 1998 season, he became the charter member of the 400400 (homeruns-stolen bases) club. He was the greatest combination of speed and strength Major League Baseball had even seen. By this time, he had already won three Most Valuable Player awards baseballs top honor for active players. Bonds had turned thirty-four years of age during this season, an age where players tend to find theyre not what they used to be, and retirement looms like a hawk over its prey. Not so for Bonds, for he had found himself in an era where steroids were used to lengthen careers and improve performance. In the following eight years, his career would receive a rejuvenation unforeseen in Major League history. It will have turned out, however, that during these eight years, events in the career of Barry Bonds would actually weaken his Hall of Fame credentials, and in some minds, destroy them.
Barry Bonds statistical credentials for the Hall of Fame are phenomenal. He is currently second in career homeruns to Hank Aaron, 734 to Aarons 755, and assuming he does not retire, will likely pass Aaron this upcoming season. He holds all-time records for walks and intentional walks testaments for the caution pitchers use when facing him. He is the only player in ML history to accumulate seven hundred homeruns and five hundred stolen bases which can fully be put into perspective by considering that no other player even had four hundred homeruns and four hundred stolen bases. His seventy-three homeruns in 2001 remains the most ever to be hit in one season of play. Other single season records he holds to his name include: on-base percentage, slugging percentage, walks, and intentional walks. Suffice it to say, he is a statistical juggernaut. For this incredible production, Bonds has been awarded the MVP award a record seven times. It is obvious that Barry Bonds has the numbers to warrant HOF membership, but, unfortunately for Bonds, there are other factors that the HOF voting committee considers when the votes are placed.
Not all statistically qualified members are admitted into the HOF. Pete Rose, one of the greatest players in ML history, is not a member. Known for having the most hits in ML history, he has been kept out of the HOF do to his actions off of the field. He was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on MLB games, a crime to baseball, as well as a crime in the legal sense. He has apologized on numerous occasions, but the voting committee has been unforgiving. The HOFs motto is Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations, and in the minds of the voters, his crime against baseball cannot be connected with such an honor, he and his actions should not be preserved in baseballs most rarefied community the HOF, and future generations should not venerate a criminal of baseball. It is this precedent that will hinder Barry Bonds selection into the HOF.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse explains that athletes and others abuse anabolic steroids to enhance performance and also to improve physical appearance. Steroids are muscle-building and effects include acne, shrinking of the testicles, development of breasts. Bonds physique has certainly changed over the years must noticeably the amount of muscle. From 1998 (the suspected time Bonds began using steroids) on, his muscles became larger (see Image A). It was noted in 1998 that Bonds had arrived to training camp with a back coated with acne, a tell-tale sign of steroid use. Bonds high-pitched voice can also be attributed to abuse of steroids, as a shrinking of the testicles causes the pitch of ones voice to be raised. Though it may seem absurd, see Image B for an explanation of the latter effect. Bonds has experienced all the effects of steroid use, and it came to no ones surprise when he admitted to unknowingly using steroids in 2004. I never asked Greg (his trainer) about what the products contained, Bonds testified. When he said it was flaxseed oil, I just said, Whatever. It was in the ballpark ... in front of everybody. I mean, all the reporters, my teammates. I mean, they all saw it. I didn't hide it. The substances he admitted to using were the cream and the clear, both of which are designed to be undetectable. The use of steroids without prescription is illegal in the United States, and any use of steroids in baseball is prohibited.
Bonds use of steroids has tainted all of his records and corrupted the integrity of baseball. Admitting him into the HOF would weaken the HOFs credibility, and would force other athletes involved in the steroid scandal to be considered for the HOF most prominently Jose Canseco. Like Pete Roses betting, using steroids is a crime against baseball, and should be punished. Baseball has been cast in a negative light as a result of the BALCO scandal and the congressional hearings regarding steroids in baseball. This caused MLB to institute a new steroid policy in 2005, one in which three positive tests constitutes a lifetime ban. It will be up to the voters to decide whether or not any steroid user can be admitted into the HOF. If history holds true, and the integrity of baseball is kept in mind, Barry Bonds should not be inducted into the HOF. But much like his records, you may mark this last statement with an asterisk for the next six or seven years (when he becomes eligible for HOF consideration) at which point should not be can be replaced permanently with was not.
EDIT - added the rest.
The ultimate recognition of achievement that a baseball player can receive is to have his name enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Barry Bonds was once deserving of this recognition. During the 1998 season, he became the charter member of the 400400 (homeruns-stolen bases) club. He was the greatest combination of speed and strength Major League Baseball had even seen. By this time, he had already won three Most Valuable Player awards baseballs top honor for active players. Bonds had turned thirty-four years of age during this season, an age where players tend to find theyre not what they used to be, and retirement looms like a hawk over its prey. Not so for Bonds, for he had found himself in an era where steroids were used to lengthen careers and improve performance. In the following eight years, his career would receive a rejuvenation unforeseen in Major League history. It will have turned out, however, that during these eight years, events in the career of Barry Bonds would actually weaken his Hall of Fame credentials, and in some minds, destroy them.
Barry Bonds statistical credentials for the Hall of Fame are phenomenal. He is currently second in career homeruns to Hank Aaron, 734 to Aarons 755, and assuming he does not retire, will likely pass Aaron this upcoming season. He holds all-time records for walks and intentional walks testaments for the caution pitchers use when facing him. He is the only player in ML history to accumulate seven hundred homeruns and five hundred stolen bases which can fully be put into perspective by considering that no other player even had four hundred homeruns and four hundred stolen bases. His seventy-three homeruns in 2001 remains the most ever to be hit in one season of play. Other single season records he holds to his name include: on-base percentage, slugging percentage, walks, and intentional walks. Suffice it to say, he is a statistical juggernaut. For this incredible production, Bonds has been awarded the MVP award a record seven times. It is obvious that Barry Bonds has the numbers to warrant HOF membership, but, unfortunately for Bonds, there are other factors that the HOF voting committee considers when the votes are placed.
Not all statistically qualified members are admitted into the HOF. Pete Rose, one of the greatest players in ML history, is not a member. Known for having the most hits in ML history, he has been kept out of the HOF do to his actions off of the field. He was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on MLB games, a crime to baseball, as well as a crime in the legal sense. He has apologized on numerous occasions, but the voting committee has been unforgiving. The HOFs motto is Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations, and in the minds of the voters, his crime against baseball cannot be connected with such an honor, he and his actions should not be preserved in baseballs most rarefied community the HOF, and future generations should not venerate a criminal of baseball. It is this precedent that will hinder Barry Bonds selection into the HOF.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse explains that athletes and others abuse anabolic steroids to enhance performance and also to improve physical appearance. Steroids are muscle-building and effects include acne, shrinking of the testicles, development of breasts. Bonds physique has certainly changed over the years must noticeably the amount of muscle. From 1998 (the suspected time Bonds began using steroids) on, his muscles became larger (see Image A). It was noted in 1998 that Bonds had arrived to training camp with a back coated with acne, a tell-tale sign of steroid use. Bonds high-pitched voice can also be attributed to abuse of steroids, as a shrinking of the testicles causes the pitch of ones voice to be raised. Though it may seem absurd, see Image B for an explanation of the latter effect. Bonds has experienced all the effects of steroid use, and it came to no ones surprise when he admitted to unknowingly using steroids in 2004. I never asked Greg (his trainer) about what the products contained, Bonds testified. When he said it was flaxseed oil, I just said, Whatever. It was in the ballpark ... in front of everybody. I mean, all the reporters, my teammates. I mean, they all saw it. I didn't hide it. The substances he admitted to using were the cream and the clear, both of which are designed to be undetectable. The use of steroids without prescription is illegal in the United States, and any use of steroids in baseball is prohibited.
Bonds use of steroids has tainted all of his records and corrupted the integrity of baseball. Admitting him into the HOF would weaken the HOFs credibility, and would force other athletes involved in the steroid scandal to be considered for the HOF most prominently Jose Canseco. Like Pete Roses betting, using steroids is a crime against baseball, and should be punished. Baseball has been cast in a negative light as a result of the BALCO scandal and the congressional hearings regarding steroids in baseball. This caused MLB to institute a new steroid policy in 2005, one in which three positive tests constitutes a lifetime ban. It will be up to the voters to decide whether or not any steroid user can be admitted into the HOF. If history holds true, and the integrity of baseball is kept in mind, Barry Bonds should not be inducted into the HOF. But much like his records, you may mark this last statement with an asterisk for the next six or seven years (when he becomes eligible for HOF consideration) at which point should not be can be replaced permanently with was not.
EDIT - added the rest.