Bonds has another chance to enter Baseball Hall of Fame originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds spent his Sunday night at the Castro Theatre for the West Coast premier of the "Say Hey, Willie Mays!" documentary that airs Tuesday night on HBO. The doc included a passionate plea from Mays for Bonds to be included in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and on Monday, Bonds got another shot.
Bonds was one of eight players included on the Contemporary Baseball Era ballot, a secondary way to get to Cooperstown.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
A 16-person committee will meet at the Winter Meetings on Dec. 4, and players who reach 75 percent of that vote will be inducted as part of the 2023 Hall of Fame class. Bonds is joined by Albert Belle, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro and Curt Schilling on the ballot.
The Contemporary Baseball Era consists of players who took the field from 1980 to the present day. If Bonds is not elected by the committee next month, his next shot at Cooperstown will come when more recent players are back under consideration in 2025.
Next year, the committee will consider contemporary managers, executives and umpires, and the following year will deal with players from before 1980.
Sports
Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and more
Bonds fell short of induction in his 10 years on the writers ballot, the more traditional way to get into the Hall of Fame. Last year, his final one on the ballot, he reached 66 percent of the vote.
It's hard to tell if he'll fare better or worse when it comes to the committee, which has not yet been announced. While Bonds has a fresh shot at the process, the committees, which are filled with former players, can be just as harsh to players who were connected to performance enhancing drugs.
RELATED: Everything you need to know about Giants' important offseason
On accomplishments alone, Bonds and Clemens stand well ahead of the rest of this year's nominees, several of whom have PED connections. Bonds and others will need 12 votes this time around to finally get into the Hall of Fame.
