[RedBean]

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1. It is undisputed that Bonds used steroids. He admitted it under oath to a grand jury.


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This is unequivocally false. He testified to taking a substance he believed to be flaxseed oil. Nothing more, nothing less.

Just because you don't believe him, and you project your assumptions upon what you believe the substance to be, that does NOT make it suddenly true that he admitted to something he didn't.

Remember, this is why they are currently pursuing a frivolous perjury investigation...because he DID NOT admit to taking steroids, and they believe he lied by failing to admit it.

And let's not forget the actual transcripts are still sealed, so no one is entirely sure what they contain in whole, and the only source we have as to what they contain so far is the leak from the federal prosecutor. The same federal prosecutor who is doing a 2.5 year stint in prison for breaking the law in his overzealous pursuit of Bonds.

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2. Using steroids was banned from baseball in 1991, so Bonds was cheating when he used steroids. The fact that baseball did not test or otherwise enforce the ban does not change any of that.


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It also doesn't change due process, or the burden of proof.

The MLB CBA clearly states a player can only be found to be in violation of the drug policy if he fails a test administered by a MLB designee.

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So I don't think Bonds should ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame. And yes, before you ask, it is fine with me if no one from the "steroid era" gets inducted into the HoF. The Hall of Fame is the highest honor in baseball and cheaters don't deserve it, even if everyone else was cheating at the same time.

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The Hall of Fame is an honor bestowed by the baseball writers association, based on their on subjective biases.

Barry Bonds doesn't need their validation, nor does he pander to get it. He knows he's the best player ever, and a bunch of middle-income crusty old hacks checking a ballot box the other way out of spite 5 years after he retires can't change what happened on the field, despite their disdain for how he didn't play their game inside the game for the past 20 years.