© D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
On Thursday, San Francisco Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow came on Murph & Mac to discuss the upcoming Baseball Hall of Fame vote.
The new inductees are set to be announced Tuesday, January 22nd, and Krukow gave his thoughts on the possibility of the home run king getting in this year.
“Barry (Bonds) is getting closer, and I think a lot of the hard line, old school guys are retiring, and the new writers are coming in,” Krukow said. “I think across the board, from what I’ve heard, that these new guys are voting for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. I just think it’s a matter of time. It does give me hope that eventually he’s going to get in, in regards to Bonds.
“I’m just anxious to see how this all unfolds, how much closer they got to the promise land. I mean, when I started reading about some of these guys and how they voted, it just seemed like across the board these guys are voting for Bonds and Clemens. I was thinking, ‘Maybe they got a chance this year,’ but I don’t know if it’s going to happen. But the fact that it’s probably going to happen at some point encourages me.”
In addition, Krukow gave his opinion on how this waiting process has affected Bonds
“Oh, it’s killing him,” Krukow stated. “Barry knew for the longest time that he was the best player in baseball, and he performed like it. We got to watch it. And then all of a sudden, the controversy that surrounded him came in, but to me, that controversy surrounded the whole generation. I think Bonds took the bullet for the whole generation.
“There is a bias that goes beyond that, and, you know, he didn’t have a great relationship with a lot of writers, and he jerked a lot of guys around. A lot of guys have not forgotten that, and that has held him back as well. There’s no way that he doesn’t have the reputation, the numbers, the career that puts him in the hall of fame. There was the steroid controversy that surrounds him, but I also do believe, and I’ll always believe this, that if he was a nicer person to some of those writers, I think he’d be in already.”
In case you’ve forgotten how much of a statistical anomaly Barry Bonds was over the course of his 21 year career, here are some outrageous numbers to refresh your memory.
- 26.3 percent of Barry Bonds’ plate appearances ended in a walk or a home run
- From 1993-2007 Barry Bonds had more intentional walks than the Twins, Rangers, White Sox, Orioles, A’s, Blue Jays, Royals, and Tigers
- 49 percent of his career hits were extra base hits
- From 2001-2004, Barry Bonds reached base in 94 percent of games he played in
- Bonds is the only member of the 400 HR/400 steals club; he is also the only member of the 500 HR/500 steals club
Whatever you think about him, Bonds’ superiority and dominance over the competition was irrefutable, and as time goes on, it’s looking more and more like his ultimate goal of induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame will soon be realized.
Listen to the full interview below: