Barry Bonds shouldn’t still be fighting for a plaque. He shouldn’t still be a political football tossed between committees, grudges and revisionist history. And yet here we are — another Hall of Fame cycle, another shutout, and now a brand-new rule that feels tailor-made to shove one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived further into the shadows.
Bonds didn’t reach the five-vote threshold from the Contemporary Baseball Era committee this weekend, meaning he won’t be eligible again until 2031. And if he fails to reach five votes again in 2031?