Fate of Bonds' HR ball

[CHRIST]

Well for people who didn't know the ball sold for $752,467

but this is what the guy is going to do with the ball:

The fate of Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run ball is now in the public's hands after its buyer announced Monday he was taking votes on whether to give the ball to the Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk or blast it into space.

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[LvDevilsFan]

750k paid just to give it to barry??? and who says hes H.O.F.??????

[CHRIST]

Bond's is a Hall of Famer, his career was amazing even before he was accused of doing steroids and since he hasn't been proved of taking steroids he will be in the H.O.F. anyways.

Plus they always put sports memorabilia (sp?) in the HOF, like they are going to send Jim Thome's 500th HR that he hit yesterday to the HOF

[captnjeter]

I say put a large, unmistakable asterisk on the ball, and THEN send it to Cooperstown. Send a message to Bud Selig that Bonds will be remembered as a cheater, even in the HoF.

[Zabka]

What about McGuire? HOF? Shouldn't his HR record be erased too?

What about all the ball players in the late 80s early 90s who juiced?

What about the fact that major leaguers were recently nailed for HGH and nothing happens to them?

It's all BS. Just because Barry is an a-hole, the media has the public using different standards for him than others. Either you are against cheating or not. Either you don't believe that performance enhancers should be used or you do.

[captnjeter]

1: Yes, McGuire's records should be erased (or asterisk-ed)

2: Yes, those players' records should be erased (or asterisk-ed)

3: I think the main thing with "mediocre" players using steroids is that they are mediocre and not a lot of people pay attention to their statistics. I'm not saying that's right, but someone chasing a home run record is going to get more attention than someone like Matt Lawton (who hit a walk-off home-run for the Yankees in 2005, during a pennant race and then tested positive a few weeks later), who was an average player, at best. And by the way, Matt Lawton has dropped off the face of the planet since testing positive. Good riddance.

To tell you the truth, I've held disdain for Giambi since the BALCO leak in 2003. I was happy to see him off the team in 2004 (although tumors are nothing to celebrate at) and praying he'd get released in 2005 and this past May. My reasons are more "team oriented" (he doesn't fit in the Yankee line up, which is more singles and doubles oriented, rather than HRs), but the steroids thing doesn't help it. It's a distraction to the team and to the player. They don't need that distraction.

The three people recently implicated in steroids/HGH, Glaus, Ankiel and Gibbons now have that taint towards them. Ankiel, though he says he used them under to recover from shoulder surgery with a prescription, still used it. Personally, I find that story a little shaky, considering his amazing season.

Glaus is someone I'm not terribly surprised at. Although his story is the same as Ankiel's. He allegedly used them in 2003-04 to recover from injury (shoulder surgery) and has since stopped using them. But now that he's injured again, is he going to use them again? It's a terrible excuse to use.

Jay Gibbons was a complete flop for the Orioles in the early half of the decade. He had a good rookie season, and has never been great again. What better way to try and become great than using steroids? Not surprising that he has used them.

The whole steroids thing is incredible to the point where you almost can't do anything to any player or team. Look at the playoff teams (and pardon me using the Yankees as an example)

2002: Yankees and Angels in the ALDS. Angels won it, but their team leader (who killed the Yankees in that series) was Glaus, who is implicated in steroid use. BUT, you couldn't do anything to the team because Jason Giambi, a leader for the Yankees, used them as well.

2003: Yankees and Marlins in the World Series. Again, the Marlins win the series. Pudge Rodriguez, the next season with Detroit, shows up to Spring Training 20-30 pound lighter than last season, and significantly slimmer. I highly doubt it was his off-season eating regiment that was the cause of it. But, again, you look at the Yankees and see Giambi.

And don't even get me started about Luis Gonzalez in 2001, and his little run with roids. The guy never hits more than 30 HRs before that, gets 13 in April, 57 for the year, and gets a bloop shot off Rivera to win the World Series. Hasn't even come close to the success from that year.

But my hatred for Bonds stems from his vehement denial that he has done them, despite evidence against him. Giambi at least had the "class" to eventually come clean about it and talk to George Mitchell. I'm not giving Jason a free pass, but it does redeem him slightly, in my book. Now he talked to Mitchell because Selig gave him an ultimatum, but in 2005 he apologized in Spring Training for using "that stuff". It still shows he's not beyond reason.

Although he most certainly is back on HGH since May 2005, another reason he needs to go from the Yankees. I'm starting a Fan Club for bringing Aaron Boone to play first base next year for the Yankees. Boone is a free agent, is coming off an injury so he won't be sought after too much, and he'll never get booed in New York. They're not booing him, they're Boone-ing him!

[Zabka]

Nice post, Jeter. You raise a point that I struggle with---the likelihood that nearly every championship has been tainted by some sort of performance enhancer over the last 20 years is very high. The owners have turned a blind eye to it. So how do you set it straight?

My issue is that there are certainly dozens if not hundreds of players out there who haven't even been asked the questions that Bonds has--so they haven't even had to vehemently deny it yet. So Bonds is getting the scrutiny and the venom for something that nobody (in baseball) seems to want to admit is epidemic. Bonds shouldn't be absolved, but certainly I would like to see consistency in the application of the standards. Ehh...I gave up on MLB back in 95 when the players had the strike. The league has really tarnished a great game.

[Master_Ian]

Id brand it with the leaters CHEATER and chuck it through his ****in window.

[Rdaug27]

It's just a ball, play catch with a kid with it ;)