Bonds and Clemens should get every vote:
Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, and Hank Aaron all have something in common. Despite dominating baseball and being some of the greatest to ever play this game, some didn't vote for them. Nobody in the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame has been unanimously voted in. That is the only reason why there might never be a unanimous vote. Who is worthy enough to do what Ruth and Young couldn't? Two men are. Barry Lamar Bonds and William Roger Clemens.
Barry Bonds:
Bonds is the best offensive player in major league history. He is on the verge of passing Mays for third on the all-time home run list. He will reach 661 home runs in far fewer at bats than Aaron did. He surpassed Ruth's slugging and on base percentage marks for a single season in 2001. He also hit 73 home runs that season, just three years after Mark McGwire thumped Roger Maris' 61 round trippers off the radar screen. Bonds already surpassed Willie McCovey as the greatest San Francisco Giants home run hitter of all-time.
Bonds is doing it now in the toughest National League park to hit in. The power alley in right center is a horrid 421 feet from home plate. He won his fifth Most Valuable Player award last season. Nobody in baseball has ever won more than three. He could easily own seven right now (i.e. finishing second to Terry Pendleton in 1991 and second to teammate Jeff Kent in 2000.) He is on pace for his sixth with a .340 plus batting average, over 40 home runs and the league leader in walks, slugging percentage, and on base percentage. Despite the great year Albert Pujols is having in St. Louis, nobody scares this league like the left fielder in San Francisco. He has been walked more times than most teams get free passes. He owns the major league record for intentional walks and is closing in on 2,000 walks for his career. Nobody wants to face Barry in the late innings. Former Arizona manager, Buck Showalter, walked Bonds with the bases loaded in a two run game to avoid his swing.
If you only look at this decade, you would be in awe of number 25. But he also was considered the Player of the 1990's with three MVP's and 361 homers during that stretch.
Have I mentioned the fact that he is the only member of the 500 homer/500 stolen base club? He is also the only member of the 400 club. He and his father, Bobby Bonds, share the most 30/30 seasons with five and he is one of three players with a 40/40 season. Oh yeah, I left out his eight Gold gloves. Bonds never had the best arm (i.e. Sid Bream in the 1991 N.L.C.S.) but he never played a ball wrong in his days in Pittsburgh and in his first five years in the Bay Area. He has more 30 homer seasons than anyone in National League history with 12 (tied with Jimmie Foxx for the ML record) and is tied with Aaron for the most 100 RBI seasons with 11 (he needs 18 more this year). He is, by far, the greatest five-tool player Baseball has ever seen.
The Knock on Barry:
In a game where 3 out of 10 your entire career is Hall-of-Fame material, nobody is flawless. Bonds was always known as a flop in October. The most important month of the season was Bonds worst. How can you be a truly great player if you can't produce when it counts most?
Bonds was not a flop in crunch time. Bonds was the only star in Pittsburgh. As good as Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Doug Drabek were in the early 90's, time has proven they weren't great. Bonds had an entire city on his shoulders for three years. Pitchers wouldn't give him anything to hit because they knew they could beat the rest of the Pirates lineup. The Braves knew they had the pitching to conquer Barry's teammates.
But Barry has always been a clutch hitter in his career. He has been in the playoff hunt in nine of his 17 seasons. During the regular season in September and October of those 9 years, has hit a combined .332 (266-for-801) with 77 HRs and 200 RBI. He just could not do it by himself.
As a Giant, he finally shut most of his critics up in 2002 playoffs. He was unstoppable against Atlanta and St. Louis. Anaheim had no chance in the World Series. He hit some of the most majestic home runs of the season in the Fall. He almost single handedly won a World Series Ring.
And there is the other knock on the greatest left fielder since Ted Williams. How can you be the best without a ring? Well look at Teddy Ballgame. The Splendid Splinter is the only other left fielder in Bonds' league at this point. Williams played for a Boston Red Sox team that never won the World Series. Is it his fault he never had the pitching to win a ring? Is it his fault a .400 average alone cannot win a Fall Classic? Bonds should not be criticized for not owning a piece of a championship. By that logic, Luis Sojo is a far greater baseball player than Bonds will ever be. It's time to give Bonds his due as the best there has ever been.
Roger Clemens:
Clemens is the greatest pitcher of this generation. He is better than Nolan Ryan and he is better than Greg Maddux. He is the 21st pitcher to win 300 games for his career and it will never be done again. In an era of five man rotations and middle relievers, we will never see a 22nd pitcher unless someone lasts into their mid 40's. He is third on the all-time strikeout list with over 4,083 and counting. He struck out over 150 batters this year, which is also the 17th time in his career. Only Ryan and Steve Carlton have done that more often. He has struck out more batters than anyone in American League History. In the era of the designated hitter, smaller parks, and juiced up baseballs, he has left opponents swinging at air more times than anybody.
He is also second on the all-time winning percentage list for right handers at .656 (13-9 this year.) Christy Matthewson is better by nine points. He is also fourth best in wins on the road at .652 (8-2 this year.) He has a .754 winning percentage at Yankee Stadium which ranks second in team history. He has also won five Cy Young Awards, the most by anyone. He won in 1986 and 1987 with Boston and again in 1991. And he took back to back trophies home in '97 and '98 with Toronto. That doesn't include his 1990 season when he went 21-6 with 209 K's and a 1.93 ERA. Or his 2001 season when he went 20-3 with 213 K's and a 3.51 ERA. He is a six time 20 game winner. He has a career 3.20 ERA with 117 complete games and 46 shutouts. Maddux (103 and 34), Randy Johnson (87 and 34) and Curt Schilling (79 and 19) are the next closest among active players. Clemens has dominated since April 29, 1986 when he struck out 20 batters in a game. He did that again over a decade later in September of 1996. Nobody since the Ryan Express was in full gear has been more feared by baseball's best hitters than "The Rocket."
The Knock on Roger:
I'm not sure anyone except Dan Duquette knocked Clemens during his last contract in New England. Fans still loved the Rocket's fastball and batters still feared a two strike count against him. Duquette made people think, including myself, that Toronto was getting a man out of his prime in 1997. After his 1998 season, people in Boston hated Duquette as much as Bill Buckner, Bucky Dent, and "the Curse of the Bambino" put together.
All Roger has done since his final days with the Red Sox is win two more Cy Young's, two World Series titles, and win 114 games in six years (plus 13 more this year.) To me, how can anyone deny that they are witnessing the last season of the greatest right handed pitcher in baseball history.
Free Agency's Finest:
In 1991, Clemens became the highest paid player in baseball, signing a four-year extension with Boston for $21.5 million. The next year Bonds topped him, signing a six year, $43.75 million contract to leave Pittsburgh for San Francisco. They have combined to earn hundreds of millions of dollars and are each making more than ten million just in 2003 alone.
Leaving Their Legacy:
Clemens two 20 strikeout games 10 years apart are what legends are made of. His 1986 Cy Young season, just two years removed from his first major league start is astounding. His two years in Toronto are mind-boggling, considering he was suppose to be past his prime. And his twilight years in pinstripes will go down as the greatest farewell tour since Ryan pitched for Texas.
While Clemens is pitching in "The House That Ruth Built," Bonds is making splash hits in the house that he built. Pacific Bell Park would not be the downtown wonder that it is if Barry was not still a Giant. It was designed specifically for Bonds to hit baseballs into the Bay. It was built specifically because the Giants owners could only sell the private investors on a team with Bonds as the centerpiece.
These two players have already received enough awards to fill a mansion. They have already won the respect of every single opponent they have faced. Nobody will ever deny their excellence in this era. But they have both proven to me that there has never been anyone better throughout their careers like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.