I never heard anything that made me think he wanted to impress the writers in particular, so I don’t see a lot of irony there. Sure, the writers were like the fans in that they were paying more attention to the guys hitting home runs. But I think people would have recognized in time that he was a much better all-around player than a Sosa or McGwire, and if Bonds had stayed clean and the rest of the steroid era had played out the same way, he would have been regarded as a vastly superior player. Think about the way people look at players they are sure were clean like Frank Thomas or Ken Griffey Jr.
I meant to respond to this. In time I think that’ll happen. It’s a large chunk of baseball history and with enough distance, I think the hall will figure out a way to put the period in context. Possibly while downplaying a nickname that screams “illegal drug abuse.” 
Just to quibble with this a bit- it’s not the hall of numbers and I don’t mind if they refuse to honor guys who cheated. In time Clemens and Bonds guys will probably be elected and I expect McGwire and Sosa and probably even Palmeiro won’t. There was a time you were definitely in if you have 500 homers, let alone 600, but the era they played in (and the drugs they took) devalued their achievements relative to other players and eras. For Bonds and Clemens, there’s enough evidence they were hall-worth guys before the cheating.
The irony (a bit of a stretch, admittedly) is that the BBWAA both puts players in the Hall and decides who wins the MVP. Their ineptitude in the latter helped create the Barry-beast.
I know, and I’ve never thought that Bonds cared.
Marley23:
Maybe his contract had an MVP bonus?
You don’t think Bonds cared about being recognized? I think he cared deeply and I’ve heard several anecdotal stories over the years stating that he felt slighted. For an ego-maniac like Bonds, it would be a matter of getting the respect he felt he deserved. I’m sure he didn’t care what a bunch of pencil-necked geek writers thought of him personally, but anoint McGwire as the best player in the game? No way.
Sure he did. I just don’t think he particularly cared about the writers so much as he thought everybody should agree he was the best. So I don’t think the BBWAA is particularly responsible.
So, to re-cap:
Barry thinks everyone should agree he is the best.
The BBWAA fails to recognize his awesomeness, awards Sosa the MVP.
Barry decides he wants to hit a bazillion home runs, eats, injects, snorts and rubs on every steroid known to man.
Hiits a bazillion home runs.
The BBWAA might keep Bonds out of the Hall because they think he cheated.
IT’S FUCKING IRONIC, MOTHERFUCKER!
Look, writers may not have liked Barry Bonds, but how many MVP awards did they give him?
SEVEN! Including three they gave him BEFORE he bulked up and started hitting homers.
Got that? Even BEFORE he started juicing, the writers gave Barry Bonds as many MVP awards as they did to Mantle, Musial or Dimaggio.
He has NO real, legitimate beef with the press on that score.