Do you think Bonds' new HR record deserves an asterisk, or is tainted, or totally legit?

tainted with a big fat asterisk...

but didn't Aaron do it in fewer games? and fewer at-bats?

definitely asterisk. since he DID use steroids, we will never know if he could have broken the record otherwise. he DID break the record, but under questionable circumstances.

we also have to consider that other things have changed since aaron's record was set... the bats, the balls, the length of the fences, etc.

I think I'm in the minority. I say make steroids legal in any sport because a sporting event is just entertainment. I find big hits in football and long, frequent home runs in baseball to be more entertaining.

As for Barry, he is an ass. But where I cut him some slack is the likely amount of pitchers he's faced that are also juiced. I think most of the players caught since MLB started serious testing have been pitchers using 'roids not for muscle mass, but to hasten recovery . Even those players that aren't juicing are in better shape and higher caliber than when Aaron, Ruth, etc. played. And lets not forget that Bonds was an MVP slugger prior to his mysterious skull growth.

I read Game of Shadows and came away with no doubt in my mind that Bonds was a juicer. I just don't care.

Further thinking on this.

Isn't there a famous saying in baseball, "If you aint cheain', you aint tryin."? What makes Barry any worse than the baseball cheaters we celebrate. Gaylord Perry never threw a pitch where the ball wasn't doctored up. Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford did the same. How about Hall of famer Ty Cobb sharpening his spikes to keep players from wanting to block a base? How about stealing signs? That starts back in little league.

Why is some cheating cool and steroids are taboo?

BTW - That was a straight up class act by Aaron last night to film that congratulatory video to be played when the record was broken.

I dunno Sman, I disagree with some of that. Big hits and homeruns existed long before steroids became popular. Do you think Dick Butkus or Jack Lambert, two of the biggest hitters EVER, used steroids? Can you imagine some of the football players today on steroids? I love big hits, but I don't want to see people killed on the field. Additionally, if every baseball player juiced and there were 3 homeruns hit every inning, that just cheapens the act of hitting a homerun. Sports are for entertainment, but athletes should be celebrated for natural talent... not what artificial substances can enable them to do.

On the spikes... I have a hard time calling that cheating. Might be a dirty trick, but I don't think its cheating. Same with stealing signs... heck, that's just part of the game IMO even though it is a little shady. It happens in football too... teams have lip reading specialists.

I just don't think you can compare those two things to steroids.

Either way, it doesn't really matter because an asterisk won't be needed. Everyone will know that Barry was associated with steroids and in all probability, used them. His record, in my opinion, doesn't mean anything. I have a feeling that he will be found guilty at some point and his record will be erased.

Finally, look at professional wrestlers that used steroids... there is a long history of deaths and many others with health issues. Chris Benoit. Eddie Guerrero. Curt Hennig. Davey Boy Smith. Rick Rude. Brian Pillman. All steroids users that died before they were 40 yrs old, with the exception of Hennig. Other notable users like Hulk Hogan and Billy Graham have major joint issues.

The spikes stuff might be a stretch, but the rest are against the rules, so it's cheating. Very comparable. Does Gaylord Perry get 300 wins without greasing the ball? Does the Niekro's knuckle ball break and become unhittable without scuffing it? Does Barry get 756 without the juice? See where I'm coming from? One should not be acceptable, while the other isn't.

Of course there were great players in each generation of pro sports. I contend that the 2nd/3rd tier players nowadays are in much better shape and playing at a higher skill level than the filler players from previous years in all pro sports, not that today's elites are better than the old timers. With all the players on the field being better, not just superstars, it makes records more difficult to break.

Bonds will never be proven guilty, short of an admission. Any physical evidence is long gone and the key witnesses against him, for whatever reasons, aren't going to rat him out. Proven guilty or not, he's already guilty of steroid use in my mind.

Steroids abuse is hard on the body, but so is being a pro athlete. Look at some of these crippled NFL players from years past. It's risk/reward for anybody that makes a living at professional sports. The individual player has to decide what fame and fortune on the field is worth at the price of their health.

Wasn't there some technique too with the bats? They'd drill them out and fill them with cork or lead or something to make the ball fly further when it was hit.

And now with aluminum bats and possibly better technology with manufacturing baseballs?

A few cheaters (Sammy Sosa, Albert Belle, and Craig Nettles) come to mind for corking/stuffing their bats. When Sosa's bat shattered and sprayed cork all over the infield a few years ago, he had the nerve to say it was his "practice bat" for showing off in batting practice and he got confused. Craig Nettles bat was drilled out and stuffed with super balls.

Metal bats are only in college. All wood in the pros.

I still feel that any technological equipment advantages of today are offset by the skill levels of the average players being higher nowadays.

I don't disagree with you on things like scuffing the ball... that is cheating too.

I wouldn't be surprised either way if Bonds was found guilty or not, but now that he's broken the record, I'm sure that the folks that want to indict him have more pressure on them than ever, and I don't think Bonds will ever admit it. He'll go to his grave denying it because it would be one of the biggest embarrassments in the history of sports.

Do you then have two columns for records? One for non-steroids users and one for steroids users? I just don't believe that steroids should be legal in sports because it cheapens the value of the records and accomplishments. People will always say, "Yeah he broke that record BUT he used steroids." or "Oh he was a steroids user.". It also puts pressure on athletes to use steroids, and is breaking a record worth organ/joint failure, hormonal issues, or dying at 45? Not in my opinion. Fortunately I don't think we'll ever have to worry about whether the professional leagues will legalize steroids for a very long time.

Roids or not, #757 was an impressive shot last night. Splash!

Setting an all-time record is different in my mind than getting to a milestone, like 300 wins for Perry. But, if caught cheating either way it should be dealt with harshly. Corked bat? Banned for life on a second offense, big penalty, and random frequent checks for life.

So if he would have retired at 755, it wouldn't have been as bad to you?

Superstar players, cheating or not, put asses in the seats and bring tv ratings. I don't think MLB, or any league for that matter, cares about much else.

What I mean is that if Bonds hit 600 homers on 'roids, well, that is bad, but at least an all-time record set w/o 'roids was not tainted by it.