2 ways to look at it -

A) the greatest sports record lies in ruins, or...

B) 755 & 61 remain the records since Josh Gibson's 962 isn't codified.

either way it's a sad day for baseball.

Nope, not a tainted record.
Plenty of baseball players are doing steroids, but you don't see them crushing home runs like Bonds.

The last time I checked, he hasnt been charged with anything.

Also Matt, you never posted the keywords for the google alerts you receive concerning the democrat corruption. You can email them directly if you want or just post them here.

I have one thing to say: "*"

I agree.

We may want to do that to show the difference between Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds, but both played in different conditions. If Bonds bulked up, so did plenty of other players, including the pitchers he faced. It's the Steroids Era, and Bonds excelled in it.

If anyone deserved the asterisk -- that despicable appendix with which Ford Frick cursed Roger Maris -- it's Babe Ruth. Ruth, however, played in an era that excluded some of the best talent in baseball because of segregation. He never had to face the excellent players in the Negro League, while Maris and Aaron played against a level field in their careers. Ruth hit 714 home runs (and set many other records as well) against a whites-only league. It's not his fault -- he didn't make the rules -- but it's the one era in baseball which limited competition and talent, and all records set in that era have to be taken with a grain of salt.

Bottom Line: Every player has played in their own, different conditions. Congratulations, Barry.

King of Squat!

With all the scrutiny, Bonds has never tested positive, at least in the last three years since they started testing. He's still hitting home runs, so it is fair to assume that it is "All Barry". That being said, I think BB is a jerk, and the game will be better off after he is done.

Is Barry's trainer STILL sitting in jail?

You still have to hit the fastball to hit it out of the park. However, I have mixed feelings--I've had them since McGuire and Sosa were battling it out to break Maris' record. They were juiced too, IMHO, but their records still stand.

Personally, I don't care much for Barry Bonds' attitude, but what the hell, he's the new HR king of MLB. He's still not the all-time king; I think Sadaharu Oh is. Also, if A-Rod stays healthy, he has a good chance of hitting more than 800. Is he juicin' too? Jose Cansucko thinks so...

Tainted indeed! There should be an asterisk by his name!

When Bonds reaches his mid forties and he either finds his health quickly deteriorating, or he suddenly has a heart attack because of his steroid abuse, I don't want to hear any sob stories from him or the media.

He took his chances that he wouldn't fly into a 'roid rage' and beat some fan up, or he didn't keel over from a premature coronary, or be crippled from arthritis.

I don't care if it was the era of steriod abuse; it's a stupid, dangerous thing to do and all it does is glamorize further abuse.

He may be on the cover of magazines, and emblazoned on teeshirts, but will Barry Bonds do anything for those who wanted to emulate him, and turned to steroids to get fame and fortune? Will he speak at the funerals of those whose abuse of steroids cause their premature deaths?

I doubt it.

"Is this record tainted because of the steroids allegations?"

Absolutely! His so-called record is an utter sham and shame.

When I was a kid my dad took my brother and I to Yankee stadium. I think I was about 10, and it was the biggest thrill of my young life. We took the train down, which was a thrill in itself. And we got off in the lower Bronx, in New York City, which was a thrill in itself. We got off and walked down the steps and the trains were running ABOVE US, which was pretty amazing. Around us there was nothing but buildings that disappeared into the sky. You couldn't see the tops, because of the tracks. Then we walked across the street and there it was... Yankee Stadium. YANKEE STADIUM!! To me at the time, is was like approaching Mecca.

And it was bat day. They gave ME a real, honest to God BAT! A Louisville slugger. My brother too. Just for being kids! If anything, I felt like WE should be giving THEM bats, for the priviledge of going to a Yankee game.

My dad never spent more than he had to on anything, so from the seats we had the players were basically dots on the field. But still, to see Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Bobby Richardson, Cletis Boyer, and Whitey Ford, and all the rest of them in the flesh was so cool! Even if they were dots.

I was an avid baseball fan back then. The only magazines I read were about baseball. The only books I read were about baseball. I knew every player on every team, read the box scores in the paper, and followed all the stats religiously. My dad taught me how to use a slide ruler so I could figure out batting averages and ERAs. I flipped and tossed baseball cards with my friends, and practiced relentlessly until I could get them to come up heads or tails at will, or hit a dime from 10 feet away (does anyone know what I mean by that?). I managed to accumulate just about every card Topps published for years that way. Then using the stats on the cards I invented a game with dice, which was how I introduced myself to probability theory -- I set up different probabilities depending upon different player's batting averages and the ERAs of the pitchers they faced. On rainy days my brother and I played it for hours on end. We'd keep meticulous records of each game (my dad also taught me how to score a game so you could re-live it on paper), and how each player did and stored them in looseleaf binders. Lots of them. And every year we'd have a world series pitting the team that came out on top in the games I played against the the one that came out on top in the games my brother played, using the statistics we compiled, rather than what was on the cards.

We were such geeks, lol!

Anyway, if it wasn't for baseball, I'd probably be illiterate and know nothing about statistics, lol!

Needless to say, I'm an oldster. And as far as baseball goes, I remember the oldsters with fondness. I grew up worshipping legends like Babe Ruth, Lou Gherig, Joe Dimaggio, Ty Cobb, Satchel Paige, and Josh Gibson. But I didn't see any of them play. I admired people of my era like Carl Yastremski, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Tom Seaver, Sandy Koufax, and Roberto Clemente. I remember the grief Roger Maris had to endure when he chased the Babe's single year record back in 61. I remember the grief Henry Aaron had to endure when he was chased the Babe's career record. I remember Denny McLain's 31 win season with the Tigers. I remember Jim Bunning pitch a perfect game against the Mets. I watched every pitch. I remember watching Joe Conigliaro get beaned. That was horrible. I remember watching Roger Clemons pitch for the UT Longhorns, and you could hear the ball whistle no matter where you sat in the stadium. That was amazing.

That's the thing about baseball to me -- it's all about legends, and memories, and the best and the worst.

As for Barry Bonds, good for him. Maybe it's my age, but I have a hard time putting him on some kind of pedestal. To me, he's no Henry Aaron. And he's no Michael Jordan.

My grandfather used to say "winners never cheat and cheaters never win."

What do I tell my grandchildren?

Welcome to America 2.0: "Truth, Justice OR the American Way!"

But still, to see Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Bobby Richardson, Cletis Boyer, and Whitey Ford, and all the rest of them in the flesh was so cool!

I, too, grew up a Yankees fan, but a few years later. I remember Mickey Mantle at the very end of his career, playing 1B. ("Dad, you mean he played centerfield?") Along with him, my Yankees included Mel Stottlemyre, Stan Bahnsen, Fritz Petersen, Lindy McDaniel, Joe Pepitone, Tom Tresh, Horace Clarke, Jake Gibbs, Frank Tepedino and Roy White, and then Bobby Murcer, Danny Cater, Ron Woods, Curt Blefary, Johnny Ellis, Gene "the Stick" Michael, Ron Blomberg, Steve Kline, Mike Kekich, and a Rookie-Of-The-Year catcher named Thurman Munson. As the 70's rolled along, some of these guys left, to be replaced by Graig Nettles, Felipe Alou, Matty Alou, Sparky Lyle, Chris Chambliss, Jim Mason, Lou Piniella, Elliot Maddox and Sandy Alomar.

When he retired, Mantle was actually #3 on the all-time home run list, exceeded only by Babe Ruth and (the still-active) Willie Mays. I remember my mother, a season or two later, reading about someone passing Mantle, someone who turned out to be Hank Aaron.

Although a fan of the American League, the first few games I saw in person were in the National League, on family trips. The first was in Atlanta, with the SF Giants visiting. I thus got to see Hank Aaron and Willie Mays on the same day. The Giants also had a young talented outfielder named Bobby Bonds, at the time one of the few who hit 30 HRs and steal 30 bases in the same season. Although far removed from the Yankees, I still got to see Ricorun's 3B-man Cletis Boyer, at the time on the Braves.

A few years later, my favorite NY Yankee Bobby Murcer was traded to the SF Giants for Bobby Bonds. A year after that, Bonds was traded away for Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa, who along with other newcomers Willie Randolph, Carlos May and Oscar Gamble led the Yankees to their first World Series in 12 years, only to be wiped out by the Cincinnati Reds. With the subsequent addition of Reggie Jackson and Bucky Dent, the Yankees would return twice more to the World Series, prevailing both times over their decades-old rivals, the LA (formerly Brooklyn) Dodgers. Too bad that with the clashing personalities and owner George $teinbrenner's money, the team became known as "the Bronx Zoo". Along the way, Dent acquired a knickname that I must refrain from repeating.

Several years before his brief stint on my favorite team, Bobby Bonds played alongside the man who could only reach #2 behind Ruth, and against the man who finally exceeded Ruth, both right before my eyes, and also fathered the man who has now exceeded all of them, whether we like it or not.

When Aaron hit #715, I was reminded of that first group of Yankees I had watched on TV, those who were around for Mantle's retirement. This might seem strange, but it for me it was natural, because among that group was a young pitcher named Al Downing.

What do I tell my grandchildren?

Tell them about your real heroes--Keith Olberman, Chris Matthews, and David Broder...

Dad used to take us to an occasional Senators game back in the sixties. It was great--a big stadium, with about 3,000 in attendance. We'd get general admission seats, and by the fifth inning, we'd move down to the mostly-empty box seats. The Senators were a pretty lousy team--cellar dwellers almost every year I can remember, except for one when they actually played .500 ball. The whole city was overjoyed that year.

Today, I watch baseball, love the game, but am not much of a fan. I liked it better when players stayed with the same team. Now they're in it for themselves mostly, just like the NBA and NFL. I've got better things to do than watch sports all the time--there's blogging to do!!!

To hit home runs, it takes more than strength to put the ball over the wall. You have to have to see the pitch, know what the pitch is,time your swing, not just make contact but hit the sweet spot of the bat, have the proper swing with the proper weight distribution and not every professional can do it as consistently as Bonds has. The record Bonds is breaking deals with longevity, Bonds has hit home runs over his entire career. Because he has shown the capacity to hit home runs, even before steroids ever was an issue, it doesn’t matter if he hit the ball out in the first row at Three - Rivers Stadium, where he started his career, or out to McCovey Cove, it’s still a home run.
At the time of steroids use being debated , it wasn’t illegal. A problem? MLB looked the other way, McGuire and Sosa were filling the stadiums. Shame on them, not the players. When a reporter snooped in McGuire’s locker and made it a issue, McGuire said OK, no more, then, McGuire crumbled. McGuire had several chronic medical problems throughout his career, it helped him heal faster. Without it, he probably would have retired years before he did. If that was the case, America would have missed one of the most exciting years of baseball ever seen in a long time. I’m glad I got that chance.
I’ll add, I grew up in St. Louis but I rooted for the Giants. To me, Willie Mays was the greatest growing up. As a kid, I use to go to the game and walk around the ramps looking for old box seat ticket stubs. I’d wait until the 4th or 5th inning and flash the ticket with my thumb over the date and find a seat behind home plate or the dugouts. Before the game, kids were allowed near the dugouts and being in St. Louis, most of the kids would go around the Cardinals dugout, to see the players and try to get a autograph. I hung around the visitors dugout, I got Willie’s, Roberto Clemente, and Sandy Koufax, to name a few. I also got to go to the 1966 All Star Game, it was hot, 103. Stengel said of the new stadium, Busch Stadium, “It holds the heat well.” Baseball was very much a part of my life growing up.

I honestly don't know how I feel right now. As a person, I think he's a jerk..but my son who is in the professional baseball world..and knows him , thinks differently. and he has no illusions about sports figures...if anything he is a cynic...so, I can't figure out why he likes the guy...oh, well.
I thought what Hank did was classy!!!

keefer: Dad used to take us to an occasional Senators game back in the sixties. It was great--a big stadium, with about 3,000 in attendance.

Lol! Clippers games were like that. My step-son and I used to go to a lot of Clippers games for that very reason -- for a $15 ticket you could end up in the 10th row. My step-son was a huge fan of the A-Team TV show, and who showed up one night but Mr. T. Normally I'm not very good at picking out celebrities, but there was no mistaking Mr T. He still had his mohawk and his sideburns and a ridiculous amount of jewelry. After the game we went down to say hello. I told him my son Jason was a big fan and he invited us to walk with him (and his crew) out to the parking lot. I don't know if he was putting on an act or if he was always that way, but he was SO Mr T. Jason was delighted.

But I'm not much of a baseball fan anymore either. I've been dragged to a couple of Angels games (that's Anaheim dammit, NOT LA) and a Padres game this year. But for the most part I prefer to watch minor league baseball. It's far more intimate, and considerably rowdier. I like that. If I'm out of town and someone asks me what I'd like to do, I'll suggest baseball. The usual response is, "you're kidding, right?" No, I'm not. If you've never been to a minor league baseball game you might want to check it out. So far I've seen the New Haven Ravens, the Memphis RedBirds, the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees, the Lexington Legends, and of course my (sorta) hometown Lake Elsinore Storm. Storm games are a gas. It's a great stadium, and the crowd they draw is nuts. It's a lot of fun. I haven't been there in a couple of years though. Ortega highway isn't fun to drive anymore. Too much traffic.

It's baseball, I don't care. :p

Personally I know all the baseball stats nuts will come down on both sides of this one. So in the end it'll probably have an Asterix on it.

I am surprised no one is jumping on the "corruption loves company" angle considering THIS BLOG ENTRY BY PELOSI without a single asterisk.

There's your bone. Chew away.

BB thanked everyone but his trainer! God, family, friends, teammates, owners, coaches. But not his trainer? Does that mean steroids don't help?

MLB players in Hank Aaron's era routinely used "greenies" to get up for games when they were tired.Surely that affected fielding and other game statistics. Did artificial stimulants taint the game?Yes. If he committed a crime the legal system will find him guilty, if he violated the rules of baseball, baseball should ban him. I play basketball, if I travel with the ball and the official doesn't make the call... the officials are ineffective and incompetent. MLB is letting Bonds play... blame them...He plays and probably used steroids,but baseball needed long balls to win new fans(many of whom don't care about drug use only long highlight film homers).MLB used him, McGuire, Sosa (all probable steroid users) and now Selig can't honor the home run king? Hypocrite!