Will probe affect Bonds' feat?

Friday, March 30, 2007 | Feedback | Print Entry

George Mitchell wants the players to talk about steroid use. Mitchell expects to complete his investigation in the coming months. Keep this in mind: If Mitchell's report includes a conclusion that Barry Bonds did, in fact, take steroids, this would be the excuse Major League Baseball might use to distance itself from Bonds' accomplishments, as he chases Hank Aaron's home run record.

It appears Bonds will surpass Aaron's statistical milestone -- the man hit five homers in 37 at-bats this spring, and looks like he's in great shape, as he nears the finish line. But that does not means MLB has to necessarily endorse Bonds' record, in the same way that Ford Frick distanced MLB from Roger Maris' home run mark in 1961. Bud Selig could cite the Mitchell investigation results and say, in so many words: Barry Bonds might have hit more homers than Hank Aaron, but he is not our home-run champion.

We'll see. It feels like a game of "Beat the Clock."  
 

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

    Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN

    Ask Buster a question: Buster's Mailbag

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