Aaron Judge vs Barry Bonds- What Does it Mean to be the “Real Home Run King?”

MLB Aaron Judge Yankees

We need to talk about what it means to be the real “home run king.”

And before you think that I’m about to diminish either Barry Bonds, Roger Maris, or Aaron Judge, take a seat and listen up. 

I’m not here to diminish any of those guys. I’m here to diminish the very idea of diminishing those guys. 

When we call someone a ‘king,’ why do we completely ignore the way that monarchies actually function? When someone is a monarch, they are a monarch for their era. Queen Elizabeth II was the Queen of England. King Charles taking over the crown after her death doesn’t mean Elizabeth relinquishes her title as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. 

And no one I know is wasting time and energy putting an asterisk next to Elizabeth’s name for being a Constitutional Monarch instead of an Absolute Monarch. She was a product of her era, but she still wore the crown. The details of her rule are the footnotes and context that make her reign interesting.

That brings me back to baseball. Part of the beauty of baseball is the recognition of the variance from era to era. The Dead Ball Era, the Live Ball Era, the Integration Era, the Expansion Era, the Free Agency Era, and the Steroid Era are the footnotes and context we provide for the players that earned their crowns.


Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in a season. The context was that it happened in a 154 game season, and he did it without having to face a single black pitcher. There are no asterisks, those are just the details.


Roger Maris hit his 61st home run in his 161st game of the 1961 season. 1961 was the first season that the AL played 162 games. Through 154 games, Maris had 58 home runs. Not to mention, Mickey Mantle’s entire body fell apart in September of that season when he had 54 home runs himself, leaving Maris to chase the record alone. There are no asterisks, those are just the details. 


Aaron Judge hit his 62nd home run this week to pass Roger Maris for the AL crown, and two of the home runs he hit this season would only be considered a home run in one park in the entire Major Leagues- an advantage provided by playing in Yankee Stadium with its short right field porch. There are no asterisks, those are just the details. 


Barry Bonds carried 3 MVPs and three On Base Percentage titles into the Steroid Era. He passed Ruth and Roger Maris to become the single season home run king in the 135th game of the 2001 season. He did it while leading the league in walks. He did it batting against pitchers that had access to every chemical resource that he did. And he did it in a season where Phil Nevin, Luis Gonzalez, Shawn Green, Todd Helton and Jim Thome all interestingly posted their best-ever home run seasons.

Jeff Chiu/Associated Pres


For Barry Bonds, there should be no asterisk. Those should just be the factual details and context surrounding Bonds’ place as the Home Run King, not only of his era, but of the NL, and MLB. 
The only thing left to legitimize not only Bonds, but the era in which Bonds played- an era that not only saved baseball from the disinterest brought upon by a work stoppage, but also provided a path forward for baseball to put guidelines in place for performance enhancing substances moving forward, is his inclusion in the MLB Hall of Fame. The same Hall of fame that chose to include Bud Selig in 2017, despite him being in charge of not only the Steroid Era, but also the work stoppage that many people claim necessitated the Steroid Era.


The same Hall of Fame that has no issue carrying the name of notorious asshole and attempted murderer Ty Cobb, and the same Hall of Fame that proudly carries the legacy of Gaylord Perry and his 300+ vaseline-aided wins and 3500+ spit-enhanced strikeouts.


I’m not advocating that anyone be kicked out of the Hall for the sake of purity, I’m asking that baseball simply recognize its royalty with respect to the details and context of their eras, as they’ve done with every era but the one Barry Bonds reigned over.


Baseball’s greatest shame isn’t the Steroid Era, baseball’s greatest shame has always been the exclusion of its Monarchs, starting with the Monarchs out of Kansas City of the Negro Leagues, and now with the refusal to recognize the true Home Run King.


Let that sink in

The Baseball Hall of Fame is Tarnished without Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens

Baseball Hall of Fame Bonds Clemens Schilling

The Baseball Writers Association of America has yet again tarnished the Baseball Hall of Fame by leaving out Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling. They weren’t left out because there is any question about their place amongst the greats. They have been denied because of their controversies with PEDs or writers who are punishing them for not being “nice guys”. Denial of these greats is not only unfair and biased, but it also crushes the integrity of the Hall of Fame itself. 

The criteria for entering the Baseball Hall of Fame: Can you tell a history of the era without mentioning this player? If we are talking about Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, or Kurt Schilling, the answer is a resounding no! It is laughable that neither Bonds, Clemens, or Schilling received more than 60% of the required 75% votes.

MLB Turned a Blind Eye To PEDs

First and foremost, the MLB league office, owners, coaches, writers, and even fans have completely fumbled the handling of the PED/steroid era of baseball from the beginning. This includes commissioner Bud Selig who is in the Hall of Fame. The best approach would have been to put the past behind them with a strong hand moving forward. Let the league know you will have strict drug testing, but you can’t change the past. This would have gotten rid of the retroactive witch-hunts. When you look back in sports history, actively searching for “misdoings” such as performance-enhancing drugs, it is almost impossible to do so fairly and unbiased. Hindsight detectives narrow their search on the biggest names of the eras. They aren’t searching through the thousands of MLB players during that time. There is no chance to find all of the people who used PEDs.

The league turned a blind eye to steroids/PED usage while capitalizing financially from the home runs chases after the 1994 strike. Then the league turned on its players after the Mitchell Report came out. It has let the writers conspire to keep some of the games greatest players out.

The Time Has Come to Let the Greats In 

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were baseball titans. Bonds is not only one of the best players from his generation, but he is also considered by many, the greatest hitter of all time. Bonds, in his 22-year career, is a 7-time MVP, a 14-time All-Star, in addition to setting many records in his time. Clemens was an 11-time All-Star, an MVP and tallied 7 total Cy Young Awards. When fans thought of hitters, they thought of Barry Bonds. When they thought of pitching, Roger Clemens came to mind. They defined the era.

However, because of baseball“purist”, neither Bonds nor Clemens has been entered into the hall because of their PED scandals. It is a travesty to the game to leave these greats out. Especially when the Hall of Fame has inducted players such as Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, and Tim Raines. Even the commissioner Bud Selig who presided over the “steroid era”  was voted in. Piazza has admitted to having used Androstenedione and amphetamines during his career before they were listed on the banned substance list. Bagwell likewise admitted using it, but only admitted using it up to the 1998 season. Jose Canseco, in his book “Juiced”, accused Pudge Rodriguez of using PEDs. Most absurd of all is the case of Tim Raines. Raines confessed to playing while under the influence of cocaine, while also concealing a vile of cocaine with him on the field. He did this for years. While many performance-enhancing drugs are “illegal” in accordance to the rules of professional baseball, Tim Raines used drugs that are criminally illegal. Each of these players, as good as their numbers were, have drug controversies surrounding them.

Bonds and Clemens were Hall of Famers Before PEDs

With that being said, let’s review Clemens and Bonds pre-1999. As Piazza and Bagwell have defended their drug use in the steroid-era, we can also defend Bonds and Clemens. Before the 1999 season, Bonds already had 3-MVP awards, 8 Gold Gloves, and had become the first MLB player with 400 stolen bases and 400 home runs. Clemens himself had 3 Cy Young Awards, an MVP Award, led the league in ERA four times and strikeouts three times. This was all before the 1999 season. Before the circus. Before the controversies. Those stats alone would be argument for his Hall of Fame enshrinement.

Baseball Hall of Fame Bonds Clemens Schilling

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not arguing against players like Piazza, Bagwell, Rodriguez, or Raines. They were great players. Pudge was the 2nd-best catcher of all time and the others certainly have their numbers. But Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens lifted the league higher than any of them did. But because the PED stories surrounding Bonds and Clemens were louder than the others, they are denied their glory. It’s another case of sports history becoming a shadow of itself due to “morality”.

Good Guys Don’t Go to The Hall of Fame, Great Players Do

Unlike Bonds and Clemens, Curt Schilling finds himself without induction due to his personality. The writers and many fans don’t like him for some of his political and public remarks and posts. He’s certainly said many things that would disqualify him for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. While this may be true and his character may be in question, that should not hold any weight in voting on his play. His stats and accomplishments should put him into the hall, yet he was refused acceptance.

The Baseball Hall of Fame needs to be consistent. It can’t give into identity politics, popularity contests. This is professional sports, not election season, or a good guy of the week award. Retroactive research and biased opinions should equally lack validity in defining the greats of their times. Baseball needs consistency and a stance. Doing otherwise is a disservice to the game.