Let me drive this point home similar to the way Barry Bonds drove baseballs over fences: I LOVE BASEBALL. I am addicted to our National Pastime, especially my Cleveland Indians.

However, there are times that I must go off the dugout-edge, every now and then — and I’ve been going off the dugout-edge for the past eight years.

It once again hit me that Barry Bonds may never get into the Hall of Fame. He is 0-8 at after not being voted in this past year. That leaves two more opportunities for his election, and my last hope is that the voters wait until the last year just to make him “twist in the wind” before finally letting them in.

The truth is that Bonds should have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Bonds was the greatest player in the history of baseball. The hardest thing to do in sports is hit a baseball consistently, and he did it better than anybody.

Bonds does have the most home runs in the history of Major League Baseball, the fifth-most RBI in the history of game, and is the single-season home run king.

Bonds is not in the Hall for two reasons, and neither should be used to keep him out.

First, Bonds was not a good guy. I don’t like Bonds as a person, but I love Bonds as a player, but he went out of his way to be a bad guy to the media, who are the people who vote on the Hall of Fame.

“To me, Barry Bonds is the greatest player I have ever seen,” John Perrotto, baseball writer, told me before he added, “I did see him be a jerk to people.”

But that should not matter.

Bonds would see maybe two good pitches a night, and would crush them.

The other reason I believe he is not in the Hall is because he allegedly resorted to using PEDs. Now he never tested positive for PED use, but we all assume he did.

Before using PEDs, Barry Bonds won three MVPs, won eight Gold Gloves, was an eight-time All-Star, led the league in home runs and RBI in the same season, and had a 40-40 season (steals and home runs). That’s Hall of Fame.

Seriously, how can we have a Baseball Hall of Fame without Barry Bonds?

The man won eight Gold Gloves. In Pittsburgh days he would steal bases. He currently holds the record for on-base percentage, on-base plus slugging and slugging. He was an absolute savant at the plate. He was nearly impossible to get out.

He holds the record and 2nd place (along with 7th place and 11th place) for single-season on-base percentage.

It was the first time a hitter had the advantage over the pitcher.  I truly don’t know why they didn’t just walk him every time. Just ask the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In May of 1998, with two outs in the eighth inning and San Francisco down 8-6 to Arizona, Bonds came to the plate with the bases were loaded. The Diamondbacks decided to do the unthinkable. They walked Bonds with the bases loaded. They gave the Giants a run.

He was once walked a record-232 times in one season.

The few times teams would try to pitch to him, and he almost always made them regret that decision. Nobody in the decade of the 1990s had more home runs, more RBI, or more runs scored than Barry Bonds.

Barry Bonds has waited long enough. He was a giant among Giants, so let him join a hall of them.