BARRY BONDS’ ASTERISK

When Barry Bonds hit his 755th career home run Saturday to tie Hank Aaron’s all-time record, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, stood up, but left his hands in his pockets. His reaction reflects America’s ambivalence about Mr. Bonds. To change that attitude, the commissioner will have to do more than stand by while steroids increasingly taint baseball.

In 1974, when Mr. Aaron broke the home run record – then 714, set by Babe Ruth in 1935 – America, baseball fans or not, cheered. While Mr. Aaron battled racism – death threats were sadly routine – Mr. Bonds is dogged by allegations of steroid use. The rumored drug use has left many wondering if his records should carry an asterisk, noting doubt about Mr. Bonds and baseball in general.

We’ve been through this before. In 1998, America was immersed in the home run battle between St. Louis’ Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, who raced to see who would be the first to break the record for home runs in a season. Mr. McGwire won, but the duel was forgotten in 2005 when he testified before Congress, tearfully and vaguely, about steroid use.

Mr. Bonds was hitting about 30 home runs a year in his mid-30s, when players typically reach their peak. His numbers grew dramatically beginning in 2000, as did his bulk. In 2001, he set a new record for home runs in a season with 73.

Two years later, he was connected with a federal investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative. Mr. Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson, was indicted by a federal grand jury for supplying anabolic steroids to athletes, including several baseball players. Mr. Anderson now is in jail for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating whether Mr. Bonds committed perjury in his 2003 testimony in the BALCO case in which he denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

Mr. Bonds has never failed a drug test. In an odd twist, Clay Hensley, who threw the pitch that became home run No. 755, failed a steroid test while in the minor leagues.

Mr. Bonds has accomplished a lot in his career – a record seven MVP awards, eight Golden Glove awards and 14 All Star Game appearances – leaving a conflicted legacy. In an ABC News and ESPN poll this spring, 52 percent of fans were rooting against Barry Bonds becoming the all-time career home run champion, although 57 percent stated that they would recognize his achievement. Fifty-eight percent said he should be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.

Mr. Selig must do more than stand with his hands in his pockets. Using as a guide the league’s steroid investigation, led by former Sen. George Mitchell, the commissioner will have to take action to rid baseball of drugs to rebuild the public’s trust in America’s pastime.