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Baseball was very very good to Barry Bonds and he was probably not very good to baseball. Scandal-rocked records are dubious no matter what the color of the player. They asterisked Roger Maris' 61 home runs not because of the number of games (although they used that reason) but because they hated him (and loved the Babe).

If it's proved that Bonds cheated and lied about it, do you want to hold him up as a paragon of sports virtue to little kids because he's black? Does that trump ethics and honesty? Are you willing to hold Bonds up as a hero if he's convicted of lying under oath surrounding drug use in baseball? (Heck, they impeached a President for similar charges.)

Yes, baseball was racist before Jackie Robinson and so was every other major pro sport as was most of the country. Penance, performed by honoring the Negro Leagues whenever they can, doesn't amount to changing history, but at least it brings honor to the men who were very talented and unjustly denied their due. Barry Bonds is hardly in the same league as Satchel Paige. (see: Hank Greenberg's predecessors of which there are precious few, if any at all).

No, Allen, asterisk'ing Bonds' record isn't racist. It surprises me that either you or DeWayne really thinks it is. Drug-using and lying felons (**IF** he's proved guilty) aren't the icons with which to hold baseball accountable for past racism.

I didn't say I agreed with DeWayne.
I just thought he raised an interesting point worth linking to.
My personal take on Bonds is that he is getting what he deserves.

You are always preaching diversity!
Could it be its time to preach unity.
We had a great conversation today about the way a local golf course had treated blacks in the past.( not a damn thing we can change, its water over the dam)Now that its rumored its up for sale, the question is, can we put the past behind us and make some money. If the other black americans look at things the way you do, I suggest we put our money in a 1% savings account.

Maybe I should have said, the way it appears you think. Did not mean to be judgemental.

Marion Jones' Olympic medals are being taken and her named rubbed out of the books because of her drug cheating. Should baseball treat Barry Bonds more leniently?

I do believe in diversity. Baseball didn't, and shut out some of the most talented players in the game for years.
Maybe that doesn't deserve an asterisk but Wickham raises a valid point.
Those pre-Jackie Robinson-era MLB players did not play against the very best competition.
That said, I am no Barry Bonds fan.
He is arrogant and self-absorbed. More significantly, he cheated and deserves an asterisk AND a snub from the Hall of Fame.

Just say no to bonds...

The Barry kind and the School Board kind.

Allen,

It seems that you originally said that Wickam was right.."... "Baseball officials would venture out onto a very slippery slope if they use that reasoning to stigmatize Bonds' record."

And, once you were challenged on it, you slipped into..."He is arrogant and self-absorbed. More significantly, he cheated and deserves an asterisk AND a snub from the Hall of Fame."

So, what is your final answer?

If steroids were an exceptional thing, then asterisking Bonds would be conceivable. They aren't; it isn't. Every record of the past 20 years is in some way affected by steroids. For a non-juicer, hitting stats are diminished by pitchers who juice, and vice-versa. There's no "fair" calculus by which to handicap statistics.

You're right. I spoke out of both sides of my mouth. I do agree on Wickham's point about asterisks and moral inconsistency. But I am not a Bonds fan.