Barry Bonds.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

The votes are in. The Boston Red Sox (and earlier Minnesota Twins) slugger David Ortiz is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. San Francisco Giants (and earlier Pittsburgh Pirates) star Barry Bonds is not.

On paper, that makes little sense. Ortiz was a successful designated hitter who played a leading role in the reversal of fortune the historically second-rate Red Sox enjoyed in the 21st century. But Bonds was the greatest ballplayer of his, and maybe any, generation. A 22-year veteran, he played on 14 All-Star Teams, received seven Most Valuable Player Awards, eight Gold Glove Awards, and holds the MLB records for total home runs and for home runs in a single season.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Samuel Goldman

Samuel Goldman is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also an associate professor of political science at George Washington University, where he is executive director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and director of the Politics & Values Program. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard and was a postdoctoral fellow in Religion, Ethics, & Politics at Princeton University. His books include God's Country: Christian Zionism in America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018) and After Nationalism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021). In addition to academic research, Goldman's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.