Barry Bonds is still not enshrined among the greatest baseball players of all-time in Cooperstown, but his name will still be in the Hall of Fame. No, not the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.
Bonds was inducted by a landslide of votes by local media members, receiving more votes than any other of the 71 athletes on the ballot. Giants broadcasters Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper will be presenting Bonds on stage on Monday night at the Westin St. Francis Hotel.
"He should go into every hall of fame that exists," Krukow told GoErie.com.
Others joining Bonds in the BASHOF include former Giants manager Dusty Baker, Olympic skier Jonny Moseley, golfer Roger Maltbie and late Warriors owner Franklin Mieuli. For his presence on and off the field, Bonds will certainly be the headliner of the night.
Bonds grew up in San Carlos while his father Bobby joined the Giants in 1968 and spent seven seasons with the team. He attended Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo where he was originally drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 1982 Major League Baseball Draft, but he wound up playing college baseball at Arizona State. After college, Bonds signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as the No. 6 pick in the 1985 draft. Eventually, Bonds became a Giant in 1993 where he went on to play 15 seasons in San Francisco.
"I'm from here in the Bay Area. This is my home. This is my pride and joy," Bonds said shortly after the BASHOF class was announced.
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Over his 22-year career, Bonds hit .298/.444/.607 with 762 home runs and 2,935 hits. His 762 home runs are the most of all-time along with his 2,558 walks and 688 intentional walks, and his 73 home runs in 2001 are the most ever in a single season. In his trophy case, Bonds sports an all-time high of seven National League MVP awards, and also won 12 Silver Sluggers and eight Gold Gloves. He was a 14-time All-Star.
Despite his record-shattering career, Bonds is yet to receive more than 36.8 percent of the votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame -- which Krukow calls "idiotic" -- while 75 percent is needed for enshrinement. The small amount of votes Bonds has received is thought to be largely in association with his connection to BALCO, but an appeals court recently overturned Bonds' obstruction of justice conviction.
"Bonds is the best player I ever saw that I was old enough to appreciate. I saw Willie Mays when I was a kid, so I couldn't really appreciate how great he was," Krukow said on two of the greatest Bay Area legends.
In the last two years, the BASHOF has donated more than $3 million to over 500 youth organizations.
