Barry Bonds stated, "You can't, 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."
He has gone further to say that we would refuse induction if this happens. "I won't go. I won't be part of it, I won't be there, you can call me but I won't be there."
How do you feel about this, should this be as big an issue as he is making it?
2007-11-01 18:01:17 · 13 answers · asked by Expat 6 in Sports ➔ Baseball
I remember Gerry Templeton, shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1980. He said of the All-Star Game, "If I ain't startin', I ain't departin'!" Well, he departed - for San Diego, for a little-known shortstop named Osborne Earl Smith. The rest, they say, is history!
The moral of the story: Barry, don't let the door hit ya, where the good Lord split ya!
The more he whines, the less likely he's going to get elected in the first place. Personally, I hope they keep him off the ballot for a few years just for spite! LOL
2007-11-01 18:21:47 · answer #1 · answered by pricehillsaint 5 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Of course there's such a thing as an asterisk in baseball. Baseball has had so many scandals over the years, right from the "Black Sox" onwards. No one's altering history. Altering history would be if we decided to throw old-time players out of the Hall because they were racist, for example. We are not passing judgment on the past, we are passing judgment on the present, as we have the right to do as contemporary public baseball fans.
Right now, whether or not you believe Barry took steroids or not, you cannot deny that there is a huge controversy that involves most baseball fans and even most sports fans. Almost everyone has a view, as shown by how many went to vote. The asterisk represents that view. It represents that whether right or wrong, a large proportion of baseball fans of this era believe that the record is tainted.
Whether you believe Barry did it or not, the controversy exists, and as a guardian of baseball's history, the Hall of Fame should record that a controversy existed. The ball with an asterisk is a perfect record of the controversy. Altering history would be if we pretended there was no controversy at all. Future fans have the right to know what others before them felt and believed in, both the bad and the good. Barry should accept that like every other living person, he has both bad and good in him and take his place in history, rather than insisting that people only remember the good.
2007-11-01 18:35:05 · answer #2 · answered by The Camel 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The guy who owns the ball said that he will brand the ball because that s what the poll said to do..not the HOF. I think it is kind of silly to put the asterisk on the ball, but thats up to the owner, and then it will be up to the Hall if it will accept it. As far as Barry goes, in 5 yrs all the steroid stuff will be legally out of the way and the air will be clearer one way or another. If its found he did do steroids, he may be banned and the point moot...and if not, the HOF may just put the ball on a shelf in the basement and Barry, no matter what he says, will have the first flight booked for upper NY before the phone call is over
2007-11-01 22:53:05 · answer #3 · answered by allenmontana 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Ah Barry...baseball season is over and he's still begging for headlines.
Hey, you know what...somehow I don't see Bonds skipping his induction ceremony, considering how jealous he was of McGuire and Sosa in 1998, which was one of the reasons why he started juicing (according to Game of Shadows). The guy LOVES attention. He won't skip it. But if he did, that would be just fine by me. Sit that asterisk ball in the HOF along with whatever else they might have of Bonds, just to show future generations what we had to put up with out of the All Time HR leader at the end of his career.
Most people didn't want to see him break that HR record, I'm sure those same people wouldn't care if he wasn't at the HOF induction ceremony, either.
2007-11-02 03:46:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Throughout his career friends would rip Barry for being a jerk all the time and I would always support him by reminding everyone his teammates did not rip him and that he was the best player in all of baseball. After the steroid scandal and seeing former teammates turn on him I have had enough of sticking up for Barry and am A-Rod's biggest fan in his quest to take Bonds title of HR King. With all of that said nobody has proved that he did steroids, but most, including me, believe him guilty. Steroids did not give him superior eye sight and that sweet swing, but it did give him the ability to play more games. If it is ever proved that he did take steroids I say keep him out of the hall, but until then ...
2007-11-01 18:26:17 · answer #5 · answered by j_gatsby94 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hell yeah it is a big issue. I fully support Barry Bonds and if the Hall of Fame decides to accept the asterisk'd ball, I am positive he wont go in it, that's just him. He will still always be the best baseball hitter of all time.
2007-11-02 02:11:09 · answer #6 · answered by Nick T 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
As big of an issue that HE is making this???
As if Marc Ecko didnt knowingly ruin an incredibly important piece of baseball history just so the whole of america would buy some jeans from him?
Ecko took a lifetime of history and turned it into 2 weeks of pop culture. He let people who care nothing about baseball [but still hate Bonds, because its the "thing" to do] vote on what to do with the ball. Thats a disgrace.
Even if his shameless little promotion would have been exclusive to only baseball fans, that could have eased the pain a little, because it would have been based on general baseball fan perception [just like HOF voting]...but to let jr high kids, who sPeLl LiKe tHiS, and dont know how to spell Barry [not Berry] vote on what to do with the ball, jus cuz itz kool????
I would do the same as Barry. Dont invite me to the Hall, if you also have a piece on display that ridicules the biggest accomplishment of my career.
2007-11-01 18:31:01 · answer #7 · answered by Black&Orange 4 · 2⤊ 4⤋
bonds* already thinks hes in the hall of fame.. he is not.
the ball* is more deserving of the hall of fame than bonds*
if this dope doesnt think that the ball should be messed with he should have shelled out 763,000 and bought the darn ball himself.....
2007-11-01 19:11:11 · answer #8 · answered by the bison 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I hope he gets busted for steroids and his record gets thrown out. The homerun ball should absolutely be branded.
2007-11-02 03:55:35 · answer #9 · answered by Bob 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hey Barry, is that a threat or a promise? It's just the control freak trying to control a situation he really has no control of.
2007-11-01 18:05:31 · answer #10 · answered by Laying Low- Not an Ivy Leaguer 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋