The Asterisk

Barry Bonds of the Sanfrancisco Giants holds the record for the most homeruns. He has overcome Hank Aaron’s record of 755 with a whooping 762. His record-breaking ball was voted to go into the Baseball Hall of Fame but with an asterisk on it. The ball was original caught by New York resident Mark Murphy, who sold it on an online auction for $752,467 to fashion designer Marc Ecko. Marc Ecko then set up a website where fans could go and vote on whether the ball should have an asterisk on it or just be sent to the Hall of Fame untouched. The asterisk shows in Ecko’s statement as “this was shrouded in a chapter of baseball history that wasn’t necessarily the clearest it could be.” This asterisk shows that the record-breaking home run may have been tainted due to suspected steroid use of Bonds.
Steroids have been an increasing issue in sports and consequences are starting to be more intense. Why did Cooperstown accept the ball with an asterisk? The hall of fame president Dale Petroskey said they accepted it but didn’t endorse the viewpoint that Bonds used drugs. This sounds like an easy way out of avoiding controversy with fans that are die-hard Bonds fans. If I were Barry Bonds I would be really pissed by the asterisk. It is almost saying that he cheated to break a record. I think the Hall of Fame should have either accepted the ball or not. Don’t give it a mark and then put it in that’s just dumb.