I'm not going to look at the dirty portion of Barry Bonds' great career as if that's his entire body of work. He still has a Hall of Fame worthy resume.

Why would you look at a picture on the wall and focus on a portion of it instead of the entire piece of art?  Why would you judge a two-hour movie based on only 20 minutes of the film?  Why would you judge Barry Bonds’ career and his Hall of Fame credentials based solely on the years that he was using performance-enhancing drugs as if that was his entire body of work?

I’m not going to look at the seasons that Bonds was juicing as if that was his entire career.  The man stole 514 bases and was great defensively.  Everybody seems to focus on his chemically-enhanced power numbers.  The power numbers aren’t the only impressive part of Bonds’ career.  Plus, Bonds hit over 400 home runs before he was thought to be using performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds was a 3-time NL MVP before he used PEDs.  I believe Bonds was a borderline Hall of Famer before he started juicing at portions throughout the final decade of his career.  There is zero doubt in my mind that his numbers would be Hall of Fame worthy if he never juiced.  I can’t say the same things about Sammy Sosa or Mark McGwire.  I believe that Barry Bonds had a Hall of Fame career and he should be in Cooperstown.

Brian Noe is the Brand Manager at 104.5 The Team, ESPN Radio in Albany, NY.  Brian also hosts “The Noe Show” weekdays from 1-3 pm ET on WTMM.

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