Barry Bonds Claims MLB Gave Him A ‘Death Sentence’ Following His Retirement

Former San Francisco Giants’ legend and all-time Major League Baseball home runs leader Barry Bonds, claims he’s been shunned from baseball since his retirement in 2007. In a full-fledged interview with The Athletic on Sunday, Bonds explained his feelings regarding his intricate legacy.

While discussing his relationship with the MLB, Bonds said his heart has been “really broken” and claims the league has somewhat banished him. “A death sentence. That’s what they’ve given me,” Bonds said. Less than two months ago, Bonds missed out on being selected for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his eighth year of eligibility receiving only 60.7% of the vote. The requirement to be enshrined at Cooperstown is a minimum vote of 75% and 2022 is the last year of Bonds’ eligibility.

“If they don’t want me, just say you don’t want me and be done with it. Just be done with it,” Bonds told The Athletic. The 55-year-old has been working as guest hitting instructor with the Giants in spring training, but hasn’t had a full time role with a team since he was the Marlins’ hitting coach in 2016.

Bonds later added that he feels like a “ghost in a big empty house, just rattling around.”

His 762 home runs are the most in MLB history and he also holds the record for most home runs in a single season with 73 in 2001. In July 2015, federal prosecutors dropped their remaining part of criminal case against him regarding steroid use that has spanned almost a decade. Bonds referred to the decision as a huge “weight lifted.”

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“I know what I did out there,” Bonds told The Athletic, in reference to his playing career. “I know what I accomplished between those lines. It’s outside those lines that I would have done some things different.” Bonds never admitted to using steroids, but supposedly told a grand jury that he took a substance that prosecutors claimed contained steroids, according to ESPN.