It bothers me that the Baseball Hall of Fame will display the record breaking home run ball of Barry Bonds. Not because Bonds doesn't deserve the recognition, but because the ball has been defaced in an attempt to belittle a great achievement. It also sets a terrible precedent which I discuss below in a message I sent to the Hall.
"Hello. I'm writing to you today to express my concern over the news that your Hall will be displaying the asterisk laden baseball of Barry Bonds. If the Hall of Fame goes through with this, it will set a horrible precedent. For one thing, if this is allowed to happen, dozens if not hundreds more asterisks will be required throughout the Hall. You will be required to place an asterisk next to all of the items related to ####lord Perry, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and countless others. And if you allow donors to deface items prior to their donation, it could end up turning the Hall of Fame into some kind of circus sideshow in the future.
It has yet to be proven that Barry Bonds cheated in order to obtain the home run record. In fact, alleged drug use took place before they were actually against the rules. For this reason, the asterisk is an insult to the record. And if the ball ends up being displayed in your Hall with the asterisk, I will be forced to boycott. I love baseball, but I need to avoid the Hall of Fame from now on if it contributes to sullying the name of the greatest baseball player I have ever seen. Thank you for your time."
If you would like to contact the Hall, either in support of their decision or to oppose it as I have, here is a link:
Jay, here is my version just emailed to the hall...
I understand that the National Baseball HOF plans to display the Barry Bonds record breaking career home run ball with the asterisk that was attached to it by the person that purchased it. The Hall can do what it wants, but if you go ahead and display this ball in that manner, I will consider it a slap in the face of one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He stands accused but not proven to have done something illegal during his pursuit of the record and has been villified by a sports media that he never honored. That is his crime at this time, he didn't kowtow to the God Almighty sports media! If the Hall carries out this action I will never, in good conscience visit your museum and I will go out of my way to voice my opinion on this subject. I have been a baseball fan all of my life and have always wanted to visit the HOF. I don't know how else to impress on you folks the importance of this issue. Thank you for your time.
Thanks for the comments guys. And nice message there Dwindy.
I wonder if they will put an asterisk next to the Hank Aaron exhibit, seeing as how he took amphetamines during his career. That's just the kind of trend they may be starting here.
Sisko, you and I completely disagree and nothing will change that. Still, we have civil discussions.
Bonds and the generation of criminal drug takers deserve the asterisks. The players from the previous generations are #### in HOF voting, due to the inflated stats of the drug users.
sls, your opinion is completely valid. But if the asterisk is allowed to be used in this instance, then the entire baseball record book could become one giant asterisk.
While I don't really agree that Bonds didn't cheat, you're right in saying he didn't use during the time baseball began testing (aside from an amphetamines test he failed last year). And even if you don't like that he holds the record, it deserves to be displayed in the HOF. If they do this, what's next? Do we asterisk Mickey Mantle because he was a drunk? The same for Babe Ruth? And lastly, when did we allow people like the guy who branded the ball to do stuff like that. Good argument all around, although I simply don't have the time to write the HOF.
Jay, the greatest point you make is that if they display this ball with the asterisk on it then they should, by all logic associated with this problem, adhere an asterisk to all that you mentioned and some other things you didn't mention. While the HOF may not be run or controlled by MLB (someone told me that when I wrote a post last year on roughly the same issue)it follows the same hypocritical path. I agree with you.
Jaysisko,
Please look up your facts, "Steroids have been part of baseball's banned substance list since 1991". "In September 1989, Francis T. ("Fay") Vincent was elected to succeed A. Bartlett Giamatti as Commissioner, after Giamatti's sudden death. Vincent was the first Commissioner to expressly include anabolic steroids among the substances prohibited under baseball's drug policy, which he did in the June 1991 version of the memorandum. Steroids were added to the drug policy at that time, apparently as a result of the enactment of the Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990. Under that statute, anabolic steroids had been reclassified as Schedule III controlled substances, and the illegal use of them became subject to substantially increased criminal penalties.
rtl, you are confusing your facts. Yes, certain steroids were outlawed by the government with the 1990 Act, but not in baseball. And the list of banned steroids did not include substances that BALCO was working with and the act has had to be revised multiple times.
There was no official drug policy in baseball until this century. The memo that you refer to was just that. A memo. It was not a drug policy of any kind.
Jay, Good luck! Maybe in numbers our voices will at least be discussed. I sent my objection about the time Coach discussed his views. I did get a reply from thm but it was not incourging.
I have already lost any favorable thoughts or concern for the HOF. They can GFT's.
actually sisko they were, just not like today. back then, steriods were treated like narcotics(like cocaine and what not). although there was no set list of banned substances, it was widely understood that drugs of any kind were not allowed in baseball. now, this is not to say that anyone really got punished for it, but it was still not allowed.
you know you have a point, well said!!! but in all sports lets have the asterisk!! NBA, NFL maybe in hockey??? hey if we can get pickey over things then lets!!!!! comeon im not downplaying drug use!!!! its bad and sad when they abuse anything!!!! but im sure like in MLB other sports have had their barry bonds...
you know you have a point, well said!!! but in all sports lets have the asterisk!! NBA, NFL maybe in hockey??? hey if we can get pickey over things then lets!!!!! comeon im not downplaying drug use!!!! its bad and sad when they abuse anything!!!! but im sure like in MLB other sports have had their barry bonds...
hey lite bulb went off!!!!! lets start an asterisk hall of fame!!!! all the players that have broken a record by some other means???? i put it to a vote!!!!
Poor Jaysisko he likes to confuse and twist the facts. Truth is Jay THE GOVERNMENT made steriods illegal in 1990 through the Anabolic Steriod Act. So what does that mean JAY. That means BASEBALL DIDN'T HAVE TO BAN THEM. Anabolic steriods were against the LAW JAY. So tell me Jay when did professional athletes become above the LAWS of the U.S. of America. Don't they have to follow the same laws? Baseball only officially banned steriods to covered it's bases because U.S. LAWS don't extend into CANADA. Your argument is because baseball didn't ban steriods earlier that made it LEGAL for baseball players to use them? No JAY...ILLEGAL is ILLEGAL whether MLB banned them or not.
Someone needs to put an *ASTERISK* on all your BARRY BONDS LOVING ARGUMENTS.
Last edited by socratesofswat1 on March 8th at 10:56 AM.
Jaysisk in this country people can't pick and choose which laws to follow or not. And the Government does not state that because you are a professional athlete then you are exempt from those laws. The law applies to all. That's why your argument borders on complete idiocy.
You say it yourself...the government banned it...but baseball did not. Baseball falls under the LAWS of the U.S.
The Government didn't only ban steriods for public consumption without a prescription...it also made it a CRIME with stiff penalties including INCARCERATION. And what BALCO was involved with DOES fall under the 1990 Act.
Twist away Jay....twist away
Last edited by socratesofswat1 on March 8th at 11:07 AM.
socrat, your logic is so flawed. Because a person breaks federal laws doesn't mean that they have broken rules within MLB. Using cocaine would break federal laws, and even enhance performance in many cases, but it did not mean that Steve Howe's stats didn't count.
This blogger is a New Yorker, born and raised. I'm a huge sports fan, following pretty much every major sport out there. Sadly, this does not include hockey, NASCAR, or boxing. Hockey lost my affection during the lockout, NASCAR is not a sport, and boxing has become incredibly boring since the dawn of MMA. If you want to talk football, baseball, basketball, or MMA, then I'm your man. I could also debate NASCAR with anyone, but we would probably end up just going around in circles...
