While sportswriters who vote for the Hall of Fame haven't relaxed their stance against "steroid era" players, it doesn't seem that MLB The Show 25 players care about their transgressions at all. In recent years, we've seen Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Rafael Palmeiro all enter the baseball sim and be embraced. Players are hoping the biggest name from that era will finally appear, and Sony San Diego Studio seemed to tease in a recent stream.
The stream teased an upcoming content drop on April 25, saying it would be a "Barry" good day. Now the superstar slugger isn't the only legend named Barry. Cincinnati Reds star Barry Larkin would qualify, but he's been in the game for years now. New York Mets legend Darryl Strawberry would also technically count, but the fanbase might riot if that's what Sony was teasing.
It's worth noting that whoever this mysterious new player is will drop on April 25, and Bonds wore the number 25 for his career with the San Francisco Giants. It was in San Fran where he went on his insane power tear, breaking baseball's single-season home run record in 2001 with 73 bombs.
Bonds was well-known for not appearing in baseball video games, retaining control over his own image. For its MVP Baseball 2005, EA would create the infamous Jon Dowd, who had Bonds' signature swing and prodigious power numbers.
If this is happening, at least one version of Bonds would surely be in Diamond Dynasty packs. The market will then look like something out of the Wolf of Wall Street. My wallet and I are starting to hope it's Barry Larkin or Darryl Strawberry. Don't worry, MLB The Show 25 and App Trigger faithful. We'll keep you posted on whatever baseball legend we receive on April 25. It will be "Barry" interesting, for certain.