Barry Bonds was deeply moved when the Pittsburgh Pirates informed him he was being inducted into their Hall of Fame.
So, when the induction ceremony came on Saturday, Bonds embraced the moment.
He wore a gold jacket with other inductees Jim Leyland and Manny Sanguillen. He posed for photos in front of his plaque located just inside the left-center field gates at PNC Park.
Bonds, the Major League Baseball home run leader, said he did not think about the other Hall of Fame, which has eluded him for nearly twenty years since he hit his record 762nd homer.
“I don’t have to worry about those things no more in my life,” Bonds said. “(I want to) hang around my grandchildren and my children. Those hopes (of making the Hall of Fame), I don’t have them anymore. I hope to breathe tomorrow (and see) if I can make it to 61.”
Bonds, who turned 60 last month, joined the Pirates in 1986 as a young player and helped turn the franchise around. The Pirates won three consecutive NL East titles from 1990-92, and during that time, Bonds won the first two of his record seven NL MVP awards.
He moved to San Francisco before the 1993 season, which felt like a natural fit due to his connections to the Bay Area. Still, Bonds regarded his seven seasons in Pittsburgh as “the greatest stop for me” because they set the stage for his future success.
“It was fun,” he said. “Those were good times. I can’t thank you guys enough. This is a great honor. It’s a great journey for me.”
Bonds still ranks among the top 10 Pirates in several stats, such as home runs (175) and stolen bases (251). His mix of speed and power earned him the title of “the best player I ever managed,” according to Leyland.
The Pirates didn’t make it past the NL Championship Series in the early 1990s, famously losing Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS to Atlanta. In that game, Sid Bream scored the winning run on Francisco Cabrera’s single, which was thrown to Bonds in left field in the bottom of the ninth.
More than 30 years later, Bonds still feels the sting of that loss. Although some hard feelings from his move to San Francisco — where his father Bobby Bonds and godfather Willie Mays had played — have eased, Bonds was surprised when owner Bob Nutting told him he was being inducted into the Pirates’ Hall of Fame.
This Hall of Fame includes other franchise legends like Roberto Clemente, Honus Wagner, and Willie Stargell.
While these players are also honored in Cooperstown, Bonds is not. He did not get the 75% of votes needed during his 10 years on the Baseball Writers Association of America’s Hall of Fame ballot, mainly due to steroid allegations from his later years with the Giants.
The Contemporary Player Committee also chose not to induct Bonds in 2022, but it could reconsider his case in 2025.
As a special advisor for the Giants — who retired his No. 25 in 2018 — Bonds appears content with whatever may come. He hopes any further honors will happen while his mother, Patricia, is still alive. She attended the ceremony on Saturday along with Bonds’ daughters, Shikari and Aisha.
