Bonds documentary to examine ex-giants star’s Hall of Fame bid
With mid-november fast approaching, it's almost time for an annual baseball tradition launched more than a decade ago — debating home run king Barry Bonds' worthiness for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The maligned former Giants superstar's final chance to be voted into baseball immortality in Cooperstown, New York, via the Baseball Writers Association of American will be examined during “Bonds,” ESPN'S upcoming “E60” documentary.
The one-hour primetime program, which first airs on Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m. PT, will include interviews with a myriad of former Bonds teammates, including Will Clark, as well as two of his former managers, Dusty Baker and Jim Leyland.
They'll all contribute to the debate of whether Bonds deserves to get the ultimate call from baseball's hall.
They can all vouch for Bonds' talents and impact on the game, both of which are on a Ruthian level. But Bonds’ ties to performance-enhancing drugs is the reason he'll appear for the 10th and final time on the Hall of Fame ballot, which will be mailed to hundreds of BBWAA voters in roughly two weeks.
The voters who have chosen to ignore Bonds on their ballots point to a voting guideline from the hall stipulating that “Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” Those casting votes for Bonds say the guideline is vague, it's hard to know who has actually used PEDS, or they simply argue the Hall of Fame is a museum of the game's history, not judge and jury of qualification for entry.
Bonds has come up way short of the requisite 75 percent of the vote for nine consecutive years, including last year when he received a personal-high 61.8
MLB and the Players Choice awards also name a Comeback Player of the Year; the Sporting News awards are the oldest, dating to 1965. The others to win Sporting News Comeback honors twice are Norm Cash, Brett Saberhagen, Andrés Galarraga, Rick Sutcliffe and Chris Carpenter.
Kapler, 46, guided the Giants to an improbable division title in just his second season with the Giants; the Dodgers and Padres were expected to dominate the NL West. In two seasons with San Francisco, Kapler is 136-86 after going 161163 with the Phillies in 2018-19.
Kevin Cash of the Rays was named AL Manager of the Year by the Sporting News; fellow managers are the voting body for the award.
Zaidi, 44, was hired for the Giants' top front-office job before the 2019 season after four seasons as the Dodgers' general manager. His started with the A's, working under Billy Beane and David Forst from 20052014. Executive of the Year is voted upon by fellow MLB execs.
The Sporting News named Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani the MLB Player of the Year. Cincinnati's Jonathan India was the Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year, Texas' Adolis Garcia the AL Rookie of the Year.
The BBWAA awards, which include NL and AL MVPS, Cy Young Awards, Rookies of the Year and Managers of the Year, will be presented Nov. 15-18, with finalists named Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. PT on the MLB Network.