ESPN is releasing BONDS on Sunday. An E:60 special feature on the life, career, and controversy that surrounds Barry Bonds to this day. Bonds has failed to crack the Baseball Hall of Fame every year of his eligibility so far and he’s running out of chances.
Bonds is entering his final year of eligibility and will be left to sands of baseball time should he not get 75% of the vote this winter.
The slugger was a famously prickly personality who rubbed a lot of his teammates and the media the wrong way. Bonds didn’t do his quest for the Hall of Fame any favors by acting like a heel to the media—especially at the end of his career.
One of the media members synonymous with Bonds during that time was Pedro Gomez, who unfortunately passed away in February at the age of 58.
ESPN did not list Gomez among the 18 names released as interviewees for the special, but he had plenty of first-hand interactions with Bonds throughout the years.
“This was inevitable,” Gomez said when Bonds returned to San Francisco Giants Spring Training in 2014 as a hitting instructor. “The Giants and Barry Bonds will be linked forever. There’s no denying that. Bonds accomplished his greatest feats in a Giants uniform, so having him be a guest instructor is a no-brainer.”
Gomez was on the “Bonds Beat” in 2005 and 2007 as the star winded down his career.
“He was warm towards me today, reaching out to say hello and shake my hand,” said Gomez. “That was, to say the least, not always the case during my seasons of covering Bonds. He admitted [in Monday’s news conference] that was a ‘character’ that he may have needed [to portray] to play at such a high level.”
Gomez later joked that he wouldn’t be surprised if ESPN sent him back out to the Bay Area for another extended stint covering the all-time home run leader. We’ll see if the “Bonds Beat” sparks up again—from a hall of fame induction speech this time.