Yankees and the Hall of Fame: Bobby Bonds
- James Vlietstra
- Feb 19
- 1 min read
by James Vlietstra
***
Over the next many weeks, and months, I am going to review the credentials of several former Yankees.
I will present these players one at a time.
Together, we can discuss if we believe that these players are deserving of being included in the Hall of Fame or not.
I hope you read along and share your opinions.
Bobby Bonds...
Spent 14 years in the Major Leagues on eight different teams.
He spent the 1975 season with the Yankees, when he was an All-Star, had a 5.0 WAR, and 151 OPS+.
He had a career WAR of 57.9, which ranks 139 all time among position players and is above Willie Stargell, David Ortiz, Hank Greenberg, Tony Perez, Fred McGriff, and Kirby Puckett.
He had 100+ RBIs twice. He had 100+ Runs scored six times, including three times over 120.
He held the record for most leadoff homeruns (35) until Rickey Henderson passed him.
His career OPS+ was 129. He had seven seasons with a WAR of 5.0 or higher.
His 332 homeruns and 460 stolen bases rank 121th and 51st, respectively.
At the time of his retirement, those rankings were 38 and 31, respectively. At the time of his retirement, his WAR ranking was 77th among position players.
He accumulated 300+ total bases four times.
In 2025, Jazz Chisholm became the third Yankee to eclipse 30/30, joining Alfonso Soriano and Bobby Bonds as the only three Yankees to do so. Bonds had 10 seasons of 25/30 or better.
Bonds was on the ballot for 11 years, getting as high as 10.6% of the vote.
Not a Hall of Famer in my book. He was one of the early Power-Speed guys who fundamentally changed what a MLB leadoff hitter should look like. Had a lot in common with a slightly more modern version of this player in a young Eric Davis. Member of the HOVG - Hall of the Very Good.
Notably he was acquired from SF in exchange for Yankee legend Bobby Murcer. He had a great year in 1975, but a year later Bonds was somewhat shockingly traded for two key pieces of what would become NYY championship teams in 1976-77-78 in sp Ed Figueroa and cf Mickey Rivers.
All in all, I am in favor of a bigger Hall.
So naturally I would like to see more players make it.
Based on his stats compared to some players currently in the Hall, he’s extremely borderline.
If lowering the bar at all, I’m going to probably say that he is worthy.
An interesting case.
I didn’t realize that his career WAR was so high. What a player he was in his prime.
I’m not ready to automatically support him for the HOF on WAR alone, but it sure looks like he’s more deserving than 10% on the vote.
Maybe we’ll see him on an Eras ballot.