Barry Bonds -- one of the greatest hitters and outfielders in MLB history -- had the Baseball Hall of Fame doors slammed shut in his face on Tuesday ... as he was not voted into Cooperstown in his final year on the ballot.
Bonds -- who was getting Hall consideration for the 10th and last time -- was ultimately denied by a group of baseball writers who believe his connection to performance-enhancing drugs overshadowed the brilliance he displayed on the diamond.
The argument for Bonds' enshrinement into the Hall of Fame is simple -- the former San Francisco Giants outfielder put up jaw-dropping numbers throughout his storied 22-year career in the big leagues.
BB is the all-time leader in home runs (762), owns the single-season home run record set by a player, is a 14-time All-Star and won seven NL MVPs -- by far the most in MLB history.
On another note, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens also fell short of the 75% of votes needed to be formally inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame. David Ortiz -- one of Bonds' contemporaries -- did receive the percentage of votes needed to make it in.
FYI, Ortiz -- aka "Big Papi" -- got in on his first try ... and although David had a legendary career with a ton of home runs (541) and multiple World Series titles, he wasn't the player or defender Bonds was.
Cooperstown is calling! pic.twitter.com/de1K5bHxlZ
— Red Sox (@RedSox) January 25, 2022
Bonds still has a chance at making the Hall via the Today’s Game Era ballot in December ... but it will fall into the hands of a 16-person group that focuses on bringing contributors from 1988-2016 into Cooperstown.
The San Francisco Giants put out a statement, saying, "We remain hopeful that he will gain election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame through the next phase of the voting process."