Later this month, the Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to release the names of the franchise’s 2024 Hall of Fame inductees. It would be wise to include Barry Bonds’ name on that list.

They should also include plans to retire his No. 24.

People who have read my posts or listened to me on the radio over the years might be surprised to read those opinions.

Honestly, I’m surprising myself by writing this right now.

There was a long time when I felt that I’d be the last person alive to write or say such a thing. I strongly disliked Bonds. As a teenager, rooting for the Pirates while he was on the team was an actual, internal conflict for me.

His unparalleled talent aside, I hated Bonds’ caustic personality. His standoffish arrogance. His public foot-stomping over his contract status in the winter of 1991. His spring training blow-up with Jim Leyland. Attempts to victimize himself in the media. His inference that racism in Pittsburgh caused the negative treatment of former teammate Bobby Bonilla when he came back to town as a New York Met.

That’s before we get to the steroid scandal that hung over Bonds’ career after he left Pittsburgh, which is keeping him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

But Bonds is the most talented player to ever put on a Pirates uniform. He’s not the greatest Pirate ever. There’s a difference. The greatest Pirate ever was Roberto Clemente. Then Honus Wagner. Then Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Paul Waner, Ralph Kiner and a few other players one could advance before Bonds.

In terms of raw talent, though, it was Bonds. Yes, even before his numbers blew up in San Francisco in conjunction with the PED allegations.

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And when you induct players into a team’s Hall of Fame (or retire numbers), you aren’t doing it for curmudgeonly old sports media guys like me. You are doing it for fans who want to remember good times.

Or, maybe better said, you are doing it for fans who want to forget the bad times. Like, most of the past 30 years for this organization.

Or, maybe even better said, you’re doing it for fans who never knew Bonds or his personality when he was here. You are doing it for fans born after 1985 to make them aware of how great Bonds was when he wore a Pirates uniform. You are doing it to forever remind fans that a two-time MVP once patrolled left field in Pittsburgh and that he probably should’ve won three of those awards in a row.

That there was a time when the Pirates were good enough to win three straight division titles and No. 24 was the biggest reason why.

I’m not even approaching this from the standpoint of “time heals all wounds.” Forget that. I’m talking about the 20- to 30-year-old Pirates fan who was never wounded in the first place.

That’s who the Pirates need to care about. Not the 45- to 60-year-old guy like me who still may be bitter about watching Bonds leave for San Francisco in 1993. The Pirates either still have guys like us in the fold, or they don’t.

Honestly, if they win another division again for the first time since Bonds left, they’ll probably have us back regardless.

I’m saying induct Bonds for the kid who stumbles upon old Barry Bonds highlights on YouTube and says, “Wait, he used to play … here? Should I, like, know that or something?”

Yeah, kid. You should.

The best way to facilitate that is for old folks like me to stop worrying about why he left and maybe remind ourselves why life was good while he was here.

I can’t get beyond what I saw at PPG Paints Arena in February when Jaromir Jagr’s No. 68 was retired. It wasn’t just old heads like me getting misty at the nostalgia videos of Jags hoisting the Stanley Cup.

I saw teenagers walking around that building in 68 jerseys. I saw 20-year-olds wiping tears out of their eyes, feeling connected to a player they couldn’t possibly have remembered watching play.

At the nadir of what had been a wayward season for the Penguins (to that point anyway), “Celebrate 68” festivities were a weeklong ecstasy trip for the franchise. It was a tidal wave of goodwill and good times … even though the team lost twice.

Before anyone points it out, yes, I get it. Bonds and Jagr aren’t exactly an apples-to-apples comp.

• Jagr won two Stanley Cups here and was repeatedly great in the playoffs. Bonds never won a World Series here and was often at his worst in the playoffs.

• Jagr was a joyful symbol of the Penguins at their best early in his career before things went sour. With Bonds, even when times were good, he was often sour.

• Bonds was at the epicenter of the MLB steroid saga. Jagr got a few too many speeding tickets.

• Getting over the sting of his departure, the Penguins have won three Stanley Cups since Jagr left. The Pirates have won a total of three playoff games since Bonds left.

However, regarding that “time heals all wounds” angle, as recently as 2014, Jagr was a pariah in Pittsburgh. He was a New Jersey Devil. He left in a trade to Washington under a cloud of pouting and petulance in 2001. He had spurned Pittsburgh for the hated Philadelphia Flyers in 2011. He helped beat the Pens in the 2013 Eastern Conference Final with the Boston Bruins. He was booed ad nauseam anytime he returned to PPG Paints Arena.

It’d be another decade before Jagr felt comfortable enough to come back to Pittsburgh for a jersey retirement, thanks to Phil Bourque talking him into it.

Conversely, in April 2014, with much less fanfare, Bonds helped present Andrew McCutchen with his 2013 MVP award at PNC Park.

Yet by February 2024, Jagr got the red-carpet treatment.

Are the Pirates worried that Bonds may not be received the same way? It appears not.

“We are very much open to welcoming Barry back to Pittsburgh for a meaningful recognition,” Pirates team president Travis Williams said via text. “His return to Pittsburgh post-retirement to help us present Andrew with his MVP award on Opening Day of 2014 was a welcomed event by the organization and fans alike.”

I reached out for a comment from Bonds’ representation. I didn’t hear back.

Does that mean anything? Probably not. Does much of the past 30 years mean anything?

It didn’t for Jagr.

If the Pirates are wise, they’ll stop acting like it matters for Bonds.

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