Why this card is awesome: Because it's a very nice shot of the back of someone's head. Looks like a Cardinal.
Cool stat: To demonstrate just how dominant Barry Bonds was, check out the list of most seasons between 1992 and 2004 with at least 33 HR and an OPS+ of 155. Bonds did it all 13 of those years. Nobody else did it more than 6 times.
Based on the evidence and a lot of speculation, it's probably the case that most of those seasons came before Bonds started taking steroids.
I think he'll be in the HOF one day, and not too long from now. In the end, so many players from the "steroids era" used them that the stigma associated with him specifically should dissipate pretty quickly. Roger Clemens has already helped a ton with that.
6 comments:
Hard to say about the HOF. Sure the public is/will get desensitized to the steroid issue, but he's pretty much the lightning rod (rightly or wrongly) for all of the criticism and bad feelings, Clemens notwithstanding. Also, the perjury/obstruction of justice charges are going to hurt him. Certainly his conviction isn't guaranteed, but the feds generally only bring charges if they have really solid evidence. I think that their conviction rate is something like 95%.
All true, but his stats are SO GOOD that I think it will be impossible to keep him out. The same is true of Pete Rose, in terms of the quality of his on-field performance. He's out only because of his lifetime baseball ban. I still think that Rose will be in one day, sooner rather than later if he shows even a little contrition.
This was the first bucco card I had of the 88 set. I remember opening a pack, and going bonkers! '" BARRY BONDS! It's BARRY BONDS!"
I was so excited being 6 or 7 at the time, i woke up my dad and yelled "ITS A BARRY BONDS CARD!"
well, my dad wasn't too thrilled being woke after working a midnite shift, but still my first 88 topps bucco card.
I'd like to see Rose in the HOF. That hair would look great on a plaque. And by great, I mean really funny.
In retrospect, it seems to make sense that Bonds gets a "big" number in the set. But back before the 1988 season, was he really special enough to warrant a multiple of 50?
I would not vote for Clemens or Bonds, but I would vote for Rose in a heartbeat. I believe they are two totally different situations, and in my mind what Roger and Barry did was 10,000 times worse than Pete's offenses.
BTW, if Pete is going to get in, it will have to be via the Veteran's Committee (after the ban is lifted). His eligibility for the BBWAA is gone.
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