For years, there has been a huge controversy surrounding Barry Bonds and his Hall-of-Fame credentials.
On the field, he is more than deserving, but off-the-field issues and steroid allegations have kept him from Cooperstown to this day.
In August, he will enter a Hall of Fame: it won’t be the National Baseball Hall, but the Pittsburgh Pirates will induct him to their own Hall in a ceremony alongside other franchise greats.
Yes, Bonds played 15 incredible seasons with the San Francisco Giants, but before that, he was in Pittsburgh for seven years.
The Pirates were the team that drafted him and where he made his MLB debut.
With the Bucs, Bonds won two MVP awards and multiple Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers.
Together with Andy Van Slyke, Bobby Bonilla, Jay Bell and other noted sluggers and players, he was part of a successful late-80s, early-90s team that made the playoffs multiple times and reached several Championship Series led by Bonds.
With the Pirates, Bonds hit 176 home runs and stole 251 bases, with a .883 OPS.
Ultimately, after the 1992 season, he became too expensive and left via free agency, signing with the Giants.
There was a point in the 90s in which fans or media in Pittsburgh weren’t too fond of Bonds, which is also why he left.
Still, the franchise is right for recognizing the enormous contributions Bonds made to those Pirates back in the day.
