Hank Aaron said it all...
Aug 1, 2009 at 7:00 AM 
"For the Love of Baseball". If I could of done it again, I would of taken Barry's ball and put a diamond encrusted asterisk on it. Get all Damien Hirst. 755 still stands.
I wrote an op-ed last week for U.S. News and World Report. Feel free to read here. I wrote the thing before Aaron spoke at Cooperstown.
from the NY Daily News...below...
Hank Aaron says steroid cheats in Hall of Fame should get an asterisk
Sunday, July 26th 2009, 4:00 AM
COOPERSTOWN - Hank Aaron, who had his all-time home run record erased by Barry Bonds, Saturday spoke out for the first time about putting an asterisk or other special writing on the plaques of any steroid cheats who might get elected to the Hall of Fame.
Speaking before a small group of voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Aaron was asked for his opinion about how the writers should treat players such as Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro and others whose Hall of Fame-type achievements have been tainted by steroids.
"You guys have got a tough job. I don't envy you," Aaron said. "But if a player is elected who's known to have used steroids, then I think there ought to be an asterisk or something mentioned on the plaque that he used steroids.
"To be safe, that's the only way I see you can do it. I played the game long enough to know it is impossible for players, I don't care who it is, to hit 70-plus home runs. It just does not happen."
Aaron never mentioned any player by name. But when he talked specifically about 70-plus home runs in a season, he didn't seem to be targeting Roger Maris. Bonds set the game's single-season home run record of 73 in 2001.
"Somewhere on the plaque beside his name, "Hey, 73 home runs, he was accused.' That's the only way you can do it," said Aaron, who recorded a tribute video that played on the scoreboard at San Francisco's AT&T Park on Aug. 7, 2007, the night when Bonds passed Aaron with No. 756.
However, Aaron stopped short of saying he would not come back to the Hall of Fame inductions or walk off the podium if a steroid user was elected. Fellow Hall of Famer Bob Feller, in particular, has been outspoken in that regard.
"If you guys elect someone like that," Aaron said, looking directly at the writers, "I would welcome them to the club."
Yankees special adviser Reggie Jackson, who in the past has been supportive of admitted performance-enhancing drug user Alex Rodriguez, said yesterday it should be "duly noted" if a steroid user made the Hall of Fame.
"It bothers me," Jackson, 63, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV earlier this month. "A lot of Hall of Famers are very offended by this. I am starting to get affected and I am hoping that those guys that get caught don't get into the Hall of Fame."
A-Rod hit his 564th home run last month, moving past Jackson and into 11th place on the all-time list. He now has 572, one behind Harmon Killebrew, who is in ninth place.
Aaron, 75, also addressed the issue of Pete Rose, who is permanently banned from baseball and ineligible for the Hall of Fame because of his admission that he bet on baseball when he managed the Reds.
"Pete knew what he was doing," Aaron said. "He belongs here, but his situation is different because everybody knew the rule."
Reader Comments (1)
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