Bonds Won't Be at Hall of Fame if His Asterisked Ball Surfaces There

By now, most of us have heard of the stunt fashion designer Marc Ecko pulled with Barry Bonds' 756th home run ball. He bought it, had the people vote on its fate and, in the end, "brand it" won out -- he's set to put an asterisk on the ball and ship it off to the Hall of Fame.

But Bary Bonds does not like that. In fact, he claims he'll have nothing to do with the Hall of Fame if said ball shows up there.

"I don't think you can put an asterisk in the game of baseball, and I don't think that the Hall of Fame can accept an asterisk," Bonds said. "You cannot give people the freedom, the right to alter history. You can't do it. There's no such thing as an asterisk in baseball."

[ ... ]

"I will never be in the Hall of Fame. Never," Bonds said. "Barry Bonds will not be there.

"That's my emotions now. That's how I feel now. When I decide to retire five years from now, we'll see where they are at that moment," he added. "We'll see where they are at that time, and maybe I'll reconsider. But it's their position and where their position will be will be the determination of what my decision will be at that time."

All third-person references aside, I can't say I blame Bonds here. No matter how he achieved the hallowed mark, it's still a bit of a slap in the face to show up at the Hall of Fame and see the ball with a big, fat asterisk on it. But dude, you've said yourself you could care less about the ball or getting it back or what have you; so why all the angst?

Clearly you do care if you're going to spit this much hate. In the end, I have a feeling that if the ball ever shows up there and Bonds is inducted into the HOF, he'll be there. He seems like the kind of guy that revels in this kind of stuff.

Although, this is Barry Bonds we are talking about here, so anything is certainly possible.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-02-2007 @ 1:28AM

waynew said...

Its funny when he says you cant alter history after he altered history by choosing to cheat and break a record. You cant have it both ways. He's right when he says there is no asterisk in baseball. There is now because he just created one. I hope he never shows up at the Hall. JMO

11-02-2007 @ 6:02AM

tallpauld said...

Hey. I have no sympathy for Bonds or the fiasco that is the MLB record book, or the fans for that matter. You all chose to turn your backs and let a bunch of jacked-up steroid monkeys make a mockery of the record book, and now you're voting to put an asterisk on the one true baseball genius involved in the mess?
Let's face it, McGwire, Sosa, Canseco and the rest are just Gorman Thomas on juice, but Bonds is the real deal.
Let's see how many Aaron would have hit against pitchers throwing 97mph in the 8th thanks to their HGH and testosterone diet.
Bonds should stay home when Cooperstown calls.

11-02-2007 @ 7:38AM

Jack said...

Give me a break, why should he be treated any better than anyone else that's cheated? His ego is as big as his head.

11-02-2007 @ 9:27PM

Rollie Jacobs said...

Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Cheated but they but they do not want anyone to say so. They cheated all of the other players and Basball.
This is what they need **********.
When cheaters get in the HALL OF FAME it makes the
Great players that are in the HALL less great.

{MrDoItRight}

11-02-2007 @ 9:37AM

GUS said...

Wait.

Let's think about this for a second.....as we warm up the branding iron.

MLB's HOF is being told that if the asterick is branded on the baseball, Bonds won't go into the Hall?

The Hall of Fame has already went on the record as saying they would accept the branded ball, saying it is the will of the people to decide.

All Selig has to do is keep his mouth shut and his head buried in the sand, like he has all along on this subject, and everything will work out perfectly.

Karma is great and there is a God.

Sizzle...Sizzle

11-02-2007 @ 9:47AM

Martin said...

Not only should the ball with the asterisk go into the hall, but next to it should be a syringe, a test tube, and maybe photographs of Victor Conte and Greg Anderson. After all, I'm sure that Bonds would want to give credit where credit is due.

11-02-2007 @ 11:33AM

nyranger26 said...

There's not enough bronze in the world to make a bust of Bonds' head.Besides who said he was going to be elected?

11-02-2007 @ 12:24PM

Jon Yoon said...

Who's to say that Hank Aaron didn't cheat in some sort of way?
And who's to say that Barry Bonds did?

Why is there no asterisk on McGwire's bat? How many hitters have broken records in recent memory that cheated?

Oh yeah, and the most obvious question: how many times has Barry Bonds been found guilty by the MLB for taking steroids or any other performance enhancers? ZERO.

This all begins with Bud Selig, which is what makes it so comical that he's taking a huge step back on this whole ordeal. It's because of Selig's lax policies that allowed a huge chunk of baseball players to cheat. Pretty simple: if Selig was serious about banning steroids, Barry would've been caught years ago and there would be no debate about an asterisk. But as of right now, you're all asking to put an asterisk on a ball for an infraction that nobody can officially prove existed.

It's like putting someone in jail for a crime they can't prove he/she committed. The ball should have no asterisk. Maybe Selig should get an asterisk tattoo instead.

11-02-2007 @ 12:30PM

hopnaz51 said...

BARRY BONDS IS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF CRAP TO EVER PLAY THE GAME OF BASEBALL. NOT ONLY IS HE A CHEATER, BUT A LIAR AS WELL. OH HE WONT BE AT THE HOF. HE MAY JUST BE SITTING IN A PRISON CELL WITH ANOTHER LOSER. ........ O J SIMPSON

11-02-2007 @ 12:46PM

Jon Yoon,

I'll skip the sarcastic banter that and just remind you that Mr. Bonds was indeed proven to have used steroids by a United States Grand Jury.

I assume you haven't heard about it, or you wouldn't have based your whole argument on the fact that he has never been proven to take steroids.

Good day sir

11-02-2007 @ 1:51PM

stanfordfan said...

Let's continue this discussion after Bonds has been indicted for perjury before the Grand Jury or after Major League Baseball disciplines Bonds for the use of anabolic steroids following the release of the findings of the Mitchell investigation. As of today this is just speculation and everyone is entitled to their opinions. The facts have yet to reveal themselves.

11-02-2007 @ 2:10PM

Greg said...

I am going to have to agree with Jon Yoon...

11-02-2007 @ 2:20PM

Here's a reality check: 33 of the 48 major and minor league players suspended by baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs since the start of 2006 were pitchers. That's a stunning 69%...

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1640390,00.html

11-02-2007 @ 2:34PM

Don said...

Waynew said it all--short and sweet--right in the first comment!

11-04-2007 @ 11:27AM

Java said...

The Asterisk Society of America (ASA) has issued a statement praising the Hall of Fame's decision to display Barry Bonds' record-breaking 756th home run ball in Cooperstown. "Ever since they removed the asterisk from Roger Maris' 61st homer," said an ASA spokesman in an interview with eTrueSports.com, "we've been shut out of the Hall. It's great to be back where we belong!"