Barry Bonds will be in the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this November. Whether he deserves a spot in Cooperstown will no doubt be debated endlessly. One side are those who say you can't take away the 762 home runs that made Bonds the sport's most successful slugger. Others will say that he and others like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa are forever tarnished because of their connection to performance enhancing drugs.
We'll leave that debate for another day.
Today, we'll just highlight what Bonds said in interview with MLB.com. He was asked directly if he deserved a spot in the Hall. He answered yes, without a doubt. Here's a bit from the extensive interview:
"MLB.com: The Hall of Fame vote is coming up with you on the ballot for the first time. How do you feel about that?
"Bonds: I respect the Hall of Fame, don't get me wrong. I really, really, really respect the Hall of Fame. And I think we all do. I love the city of San Francisco and to me that's my Hall of Fame. I don't worry about it because I don't want to be negative about the way other people think it should be run. That's their opinion, and I'm not going to be negative. I know I'm going to be gone one day. If you want to keep me out, that's your business. My things are here in San Francisco. These are the people who love me. This is where I feel I belong. This is where I want to belong. If [the voters] want to put me in there, so be it, fine. If they don't, so be it, fine.
"MLB.com: Do you feel you belong in the Hall?
"Bonds: Oh, without a doubt. There's not a doubt in my mind."
Bonds added that the Hall voters should cast ballots on what they know not what their assumptions or believes are.
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