I'm with you, Barry.

In an interview with MSNBC last night, Barry Bonds said he would boycott the Hall of Fame if they accepted his record breaking home run ball, and it has an asterisk.

The reason is could have an asterisk is because fashion mogul Mark Ecko bought the ball via an auction. He then had a poll on his website for the fans to chose what to do with the ball. The options were to donate it to the Hall as is, donate it to the Hall branded with an asterisk, or blast it in to outer space.

Next is Bonds quotes from the interview...kinda long, but worth reading. My thoughts are below.

Bonds said, "I won't go. I won't be part of it. You can call me, but I won't be there. I don't think you can put an asterisk in the game of baseball, and I don't think that the Hall of Fame can accept an asterisk. 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. I will never be in the Hall of Fame. Never. Barry Bonds will not be there. That's my emotions now. That's how I feel now. When I decide to retire five years from now, we'll see where they are at that moment. We'll see where they are at that time, and maybe I'll reconsider. But it's their position and where their position will be will be the determination of what my decision will be at that time. I have nothing to hide. I have said that before and I will say it now and I will look you in the face. I have nothing to hide, nothing. So look all you want to."


I'm with you, big fella. Who the hell does Mark Ecko think he is? He has no right to shit on history like that. As much speculation as there is, it's just that. Speculation, and nothing more.

Barry, you're 100% right that the game of baseball doesn't have an asterisk. There wasn't an asterisk next to Roger Maris' single season home run record, even though the number of games jumped from 154, when Babe Ruth held the record, to 162 when Marris broke it. instead, there's a story next to the ball in the Hall of Fame.

Second, let it be pointed out that Barry Bonds has never once, ever, failed a drug test. He hasn't tested positive for steroids once, ever. Is he an ass to the media? Yup. Does that mean he's a cheater? Nope.

"But come on, Mike. You KNOW he's done it."

No I don't. You see, I don't actually know Barry Bonds and haven't seen him getting juiced. Neither do you. And since he hasn't failed a test, you have to assume he's innocent.

Think about this. They've been trying to prove he's on steroids for at least 5 years. And they haven't. They've been digging and digging, and still nothing. About a year ago, they were even talking about tax evasion. It's a whole ordeal just to make Barry Bonds look bad. I'm not buying it.

Looking at his stats, there's only one year, 2001 that looks any kind of out of wack. But he's not allowed to be hot for a year? Well, let's take out that 73 home runs from 2001. Let's take the aveage of the year before and the year after (49 in 2000, and 46 in 2002.) That's 47.5. We'll take it down to 47 for argument's sake. That puts him at 736 right now. That's only 21 away from the record. Assuming he plays another year, as a designated hitter, and hits his average HR over the last 2 years (26), he would have broken it next year anyways.

But you can't say that, because he never failed a test. So, the record stands, untainted in any way, in my eyes.

Barry Bonds is THE Home Run king.