Good numbers before are overshadowed, and in my case negated and trampled upon, by the juicing issue. Any player who gets caught with their hand in that particular cookie jar deserves to be denied a place in the Hall.

A jerk no doubt, but aside from the juicing matter, unquestionably a hell of a player even before the juicing / inflated hitting era.

Ok, he took steroids. Its unfortunate because like others have pointed out he was already an alltime great. I looked up his MVP finishes since 1990 and heres what I found. 1990 1st, 1991 2nd, 1992 1st, 1993 1st, 1994 4th, 1995 12th, 1996 5th, 1997, 5th, 1998 8th, 1999 22nd(injured), 2000 2nd, 2001-2004 1st. That is 7 1st, 2 2nd, 1 4th, 1 5th, that means in 11 of 15 years he was in the top 5 of league MVP. Whether or not he was on steroids (and nobody is saying he was throughout the entire last 15 yrs.) thats a pretty amazing record. Also of note, if what Canseco, Caminiti, et al are telling the truth (I beleive they were)then somewhere around 50% of all players were on the juice, yet Bonds still stood head and shoulders above his contemporaries. Its a shame that hate tends to cloud facts. Top 3 alltime player along with Ruth and Mays.

Leaving the steriod or not steroid question aside for the moment, it is clear that this guy has been one of the greats of the game. Back when there was no evidence of steroids, in the late eighties to mid-nineties he was easily the best at his position, and possibly the best in the game. I hear all the arguments about tainted records, and they may have considerable merit, but they cannot erase the clear memory of this man at his un-enhanced best.

He's circling the wagons and preparing his Johnny-Cochrane-like defense and backpedaling on steriods. He wants out because he cheated. He attacked the media, but he wants no part of a federal investigation or grand jury- his bad-attitude you're racist against me persona won't keep him out of deep trouble. A liar and a fraud. How does the S.F. media keep protecting this guy? He would've been killed on the east coast. . .

a great player who got greedy and wanted to be the greatest. who knows what Barry's hitting stats would've been like had they not been chemically enhanced. all the same i enjoyed his play in left field, except for the 1992 NLCS, for that i'd like to kick Bonds in the face.

I agree that Barry Bonds is one of the greatest baseball players but, the whole point is that he has cheated the game of baseball by using steroids to enhance his game. Ruth, Mantle, Aaron, etc.. Yeah they did their thing off the feild that people now and even then looked down upon. What they did off the feild had nothing to do with how they played the game. What Barry did is a slap in the face to the game of baseball. In 1919 eight White Sox players were thrown out of the game for cheating and Pete Rose was also thrown out for gambling. Some people think Barry Bonds and anyone else using steroids or doing anything against the rules should be too. The three strike rule they now have in baseball for steroids is letting things go way to far. Over all Barry Bonds is one of the greatest ball players of all time hands down. He never needed steroids to prove it, the number were already there. And the reason why Barry Bonds is hated by so many is obvious, he has a BAD attitude.

This is my rating of him right now. If his performance drops significantly in 2005 with steroid testing, I'll lower my rating to reflect that. But Bonds is one of the greatest players of all time. Hits for average and power... and can run and field as well as anyone in baseball. A complete player.

Barry Bonds is the greatest ball player of the last 50 years not just the greatest left fielder. This steroid scandal is much to do about nothing- fodder for his detractors. He had exceeded Stan Musial is just about every category by 2000 before he hit 73 hrs and been allegedly accused of using steroids, which by the way don't put the bat on the ball. Bonds literally misses on average only ONE PITCH a week. He had blasted over 500 home runs by 2000 and stolen over 300 bases. I suggest before everyone starts subtracting all the homeruns he hit after 2000 they factor in all the ones he hit off juiced up pitchers like Roger Clemens. His stats now are simply off the charts as is his ability to carry a team. The lines between performance enhancing supplements that are illegal and those that are legal (which all were if he was using them) is extremely gray. Barry has been unfairly singled out simply because the press has always hated him and that's it.

Without the juice he wouldn't even be in the top 10

I would like to have seen him without steroids. He choked in the playoffs for years. Steriods and rudeness equal a 0. I'll give him a 4.

This is not a personality contest. For sheer baseball talent, Bonds is the best leftfielder ever and the best player in the past 35 years. Williams and Musial might have been a better pure hitters, but Bonds puts him away on power, speed and defense. He has five MVP awards. No one even has four. All-time single season home run leader.

Steroids are an issue. Just compare his rookie card to today's look. He isn;t the only one, but it don't make it right. This category is about the BEST Left Fielder. In that case, Bonds doesn't deserve anything more than a 1. When is that last time he actually tried to make any play in the field. He is lazy/too focused on his own well being than that of the team.

I wish that steroids weren't an issue, but Barry Bonds still has a chance at becoming the all time homerun leader. Pretty impressive. And if steroids were involved in that situation, Bonds was still a great player before he bulked up.