An Asterisk It Is

Fashion designer Marc Ecko bought Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run ball - number 756 - for over $750,000. He then put the fate of the ball in the hands of the public. The results are in...

Finally, some news about Barry Bonds - the big-headed one - I want to hear. It's official - the ball Bonds hit over the fence for home run number 756, to break Hank Aaron's record, will be branded with an asterisk and sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Shoutout to Marc Ecko. The dude's pulled some crazy stunts in the past, but his decision to buy Bonds' home run ball and leave it up to the public to decide what to do with it was pure genius.

Bonds is the all-time home run record holder, and likely a first-ballot hall of famer. There's no doubt he is going to Cooperstown. But he's going to Cooperstown with an asterisk next to his name. Bonds has testified to a grand jury that he took steroids, but claimed he never thought they were steroids. The bottom line is that the steroid allegations that have dogged him over the last few seasons will never, ever go away. Already, thousands of baseball fans have put their own asterisk next to his name. In the end, his legacy will be determined by the fans. Some guys love him and think he is the greatest baseball player of all time. Others believe he is a full-fledged cheater, and hate him and everything he stands for. You can put me in the latter.

After buying the baseball Ecko started a website - www.vote756.com - and left it up to the public to decide what to do with the ball. We had three options:

A) Bestow it intact to Cooperstown

2. Permanently brand the ball with an asterisk before sending it to Cooperstown

D) Launch it into outer space

Over 10 million votes were cast, including nine of my own. 47% of voters chose to send the ball to the Hall of Fame branded permanently with an asterisk. It's music to my ears.

On a side note, there was a great post in the Globe on Baseball Blog in regards to option C - let Josh Towers pitch the ball and anyone could knock it into outer space. I couldn't agree more.

I, too, voted to brand the baseball. I truly believe in my baseball heart that the ball is important and belongs in Cooperstown, but it deserves to go in tainted; branded with an asterisk to let the future generations of baseball fans know that Bonds knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs.

You can tell me until you're blue in the face that Bonds has never been proven guilty in a court of law, or that hundreds of other baseball players were cheating at the time. It doesn't matter. Bonds testified to a grand jury that he took banned substances - that's the only thing that matters. The book Game of Shadows proves it without a doubt.

Years down the road, if I have a son of my own, I want him to ask me why there's an asterisk on Barry Bonds' record-setting home run ball when I take him to Cooperstown. I want to be able to sit little SportsAndTheCity Jr. down on my lap, and explain to him the asterisked legacy of the big-headed one, Barry Bonds.

Thanks to one Marc Ecko, I'll be able to.

Say It Ain't So, Troy

Sports Illustrated is reporting that Troy Glaus received steroids from a Florida pharmacy in 2003 and 2004. I guess it was only a matter of time before a Toronto Blue Jays player got caught up in the steroids storm...

I am not happy. All the talk about steroids was supposed to have been done and gone. Barry Bonds, and his mammoth head, hit home run number 756. Finally he was gone from the sporting landscape, along with the cloud of steroid allegations that will hang over his head for the rest of his life.

And now this.

First, Rick Ankiel. What an idiot. Everyone fell in love with him over the past month. He was the perfect tonic after seeing Barry Bonds night after night on my television. Ankiel, the pitcher who forgot how to pitch but who went down to the minors and became a home run hitting machine. Today, we have a clearer idea of just how he became a home run hitting machine.

And now Troy Glaus. The Toronto Blue Jays' own Troy Glaus. My Troy Glaus. Ouch. This one hurts. Earlier this year I said that if Troy Glaus were a hockey player in this town, he'd be a local hero due to his penchant to play through injuries. Hero? I'm not sure I can mention that word and Troy Glaus in the same sentence anymore.

Glaus reportedly received multiple packages of nandrolone and testosterone in September 2003 and May 2004. Not just once, but multiple times.

Although they are right now only allegations, Glaus, the perennial all-star and World Series MVP in 2002, has lost a lot of respect in my books. He shouldn't even be mentioned in a story that has anything to do with steroids. It's despicable. Those who take steroids are cheaters, and I won't stand for them. I won't respect them and I won't cheer for them. Glaus has embarrassed himself, the Toronto Blue Jays organization, his teammates, and the city of Toronto.

Right now, he gets the benefit of the doubt. I'm looking forward to what he has to say to the media. And a "no comment" simply won't cut it. If the allegations are true, it's of my humble opinion that he does not deserve to wear the Blue Jays uniform ever again.

Look me in the eye, Mighty Troy. Look me in the eye and say it ain't so. Tell me the "Might" in "Mighty Troy" did not come from steroids. Otherwise pack your bags, because it's over.

756

It's finally, mercifully, over. Barry Bonds went yard for the 756th time Tuesday night, surpassing the great Hank Aaron and ending an awkward chase to one of pro sports' greatest records.

I want to pinch myself. I can't believe it's over. I'm so sick of seeing Bonds' bulbous head on my television screen. There's only so much Barry Bonds I can take, and I'm probably the happiest dude out there now that he's broken the record.

Seven hundred and fifty six home runs. When you write it out like that, it's even more impressive. That's a lot of home runs. I'll give credit where it's due, because I know that Bonds hit the majority of his home runs before he started juicing. He was a legitimate hall of famer before the steroids. At the end of the day, he got to 756 home runs in approximately 3000 fewer at bats than Hank Aaron. That simply blows my mind.

Three thousand at bats! At the same time, Bonds has walked more than any other baseball player as well. Everyone tries to pitch around him, but he still hits home runs. He's a marvel. A freak of nature. What he's been able to accomplish at his age is stunning, and goes against all conventional wisdom. You don't get better with age. Not in any sport. Especially baseball. The body breaks down and the timing is the first to go. Hitting a 90 mile-per-hour fastball is one of the most difficult things to do, but Bonds does it with ease as a 43 year old. He is special. But there's no doubt in my mind he took steroids, and knew that he was taking steroids.

The home run. It's the ultimate play in baseball, and maybe even in all of pro sports. The home run revived baseball in America, after the lockout in 1994 cost MLB its World Series, and put the game on life support.

I was a huge baseball fan in the early 90's, but baseball lost its appeal during the strike of 94. I fell for the game of hockey, and it remains my true passion today. Baseball still holds a dear place in my heart, and I'll never forget the summer of 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa rewrote the history books. That's when I went back to baseball. McGwire's 70 home runs were pure drama. I watched his every at bat when he was chasing Roger Maris' record of 61. I watched him hit number 62, and 65, and ultimately, number 70. It was magical. It was only revealed after the fact that McGwire too, was on the juice.

Bonds' chase for 756 was different. To see him get booed in every stadium but San Francisco is amazing. Only in one city is he embraced. The steroid cloud follows Bonds where ever he goes, and while baseball celebrated the exploits of McGwire and Sosa, no one except for the fans of San Francisco knew how to react to Bonds' pursuit of the all-time home run record.

I watched Bonds smack number 756 into the bleachers live. It was history in the making, yet I sat there emotionless. It didn't effect me. I don't like Barry Bonds. I never really have. Maybe it's because he's been in the National League his whole career and I've never really gotten to see him play. Or maybe it's because he's known to be one of the rudest and most ungrateful athletes on the planet.

In my heart, I know Bonds cheated. I know McGwire did too, but for some reason I see Bonds in a different light, and I'm not sure why. I'm still trying to figure it out.

I've heard the argument on behalf of Barry Bonds - that the majority of ball players take steroids and cheat. I fear we'll never know the truth about how many players really were, and still are, on the juice. Many players have been suspended thanks to baseball's new drug-testing policy. What I do know is that some guys have to take steroids in order to stay in the big leagues. To get that extra two miles on their fastball, or to let that shoulder heal just a little bit quicker, in order to keep their job.

Barry Bonds didn't need to take steroids to keep his job, or to earn his paycheck. He was already one of the greatest ball players of our generation. A five-tool player who could do it all. A man who could hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases. But 40 home runs in a season wasn't enough for Bonds. He wanted more. He took the juice for all the wrong reasons, and that's why I can't forgive him.

Asterisk or no asterisk, Barry Bonds has hit number 756. There will be no celebration on this end. Just an acknowledgement. I'm just glad it's over...