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11-15-2007 Earlier this month, Barry Bonds said if he was ever invited to the Hall of Fame he would not attend, presumably including his Hall of Fame Induction five years after he retires. Baseball's all-time home run leader issued this proclamation when asked about the Hall's acceptance of his record breaking home run ball which will have an asterisk branded on it. The asterisk was put there by Mark Ecko, the man who bought the ball in an auction, and is meant to emphasize the fact that many believe Bonds used performance enhancing drugs to break Hank Aaron's sacred record. Despite overwhelming circumstantial evidence, not the least of which is Bonds' ever increasing head size (a symptom of steroid use) the slugger has been arrogant in his denials that he ever used illegal means to accumulate his record numbers. It reminds us of another sure-fire Hall of Famer who refused to admit his mistakes and probably cost himself a shot at ever being elected to the Hall of Fame: Pete Rose. If Rose had admitted he bet on baseball after he was banned for doing so in 1989, he probably would be enshrined today. Our advice to Bonds: Fess up. Admit what you did, how much you did and why, and get it over with. Otherwise, Bonds may very well end up like another slugger, Mark McGwire. McGwire would have been inducted into the hall this past summer along with Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn, but the baseball writers failed to induct him after he refused to answer questions about his steroid use at a congressional hearing. Bonds had Hall of Fame numbers even before he suddenly transformed from skinny and fast to muscle-bound and slow several years ago. Bonds has also been legendarily aloof with writers over the years and there's no reason to think they will be in a hurry to elect him whenever he becomes eligible. Bonds, a free agent, plans to play next year so there is at least six years before Bonds will be eligible for enshrinement. Bonds is the poster boy for everything that is wrong with sports figures today. He's arrogant, spoiled and used to getting his way. So let's give him his way one more time and hope he never has to come to Cooperstown to see his oversize head adorn a plaque, unless that is, it has an asterisk attached. |
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