I can’t help it, maybe I was raised this way. Maybe I watched PBS’s the ‘History of Baseball’ one too many times. Or maybe I’ve read one too many books about Shoeless Joe.

Maybe it’s one, all or a combination of those things which makes me proud to say I think Barry Bonds should have an asterisk by his name like Roger Maris received when he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record back in 1961.

Why an asterisk, you may ask. If Marris got one for having a longer season to assuage Ruth’s record, then Bonds should have one for the science behind his muscles, a longer season to showcase them, and he still hasn’t taken a leak to prove anyone wrong.

If the Major League Baseball Players Association had its way, no one would ever get in trouble for steroids. League rules prohibit testing, or test only for specific drugs, allowing other performance enhancers to sneak through the randomized testing systems now in place. 

I can remember when it all started. In 1998 when Mark McGwire was set to break Maris’s record and all of a sudden he had Sammy “I didn’t know it was corked” Sosa and Bonds trying to keep up with him. I remember suddenly feeling like baseball was back to receiving the top billing it used to warrant.

I remember tuning in every night with my dad to watch and see history being chased, bringing back the nostalgia of an old man’s childhood and bringing together families like mine all across the country by allowing generations to share in The Great American past time.

I remember Big Mac telling everyone he was using a healthy work out routine, a nutritionist and, oh yes, Androstenedione and Creatine. Is Bonds on this same program? After all, Big Mac retired, got his red Corvette, held the record for a year and possibly gave the sports supplement market a giant heave into the $1 billion a year industry it is today.

However, this goes beyond supplements. Greg Anderson, Bond’s personal trainer, is the target of the grand jury investigating BALCO Laboratories for his involvement with BALCO owner Victor Conte and suspected distribution of performance enhancing drugs.

The home run is so beloved a feat that the players association won’t force its players to test. Perhaps if it were truly interested in its players’ health and well being it would think about the long term effects that have haunted athletes.

I’m not trying to take anything away from the talent and skill it takes as a batter to accomplish what Bonds has.

His home runs of mammoth distances have become commonplace and a reason he is more likely to take a walk than a dog owner. He’s struck fear into opposing pitchers. He also has a batting average over .500 when he’s hitting in his home stadium this season.

Bonds is approaching yet another record after surpassing his god-father Willie Mays for No. 3 on the all-time home run list. He holds the record for most home runs in a seasons set in 2001 with 73. Even if Bonds is – or ever was – guilty of juicing up on steroids, the fact of the matter is that he still has to put the bat on the ball for a chance at a hit, let alone a home run. 

Last, Bonds has been around the league ever since his debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 30, 1986. If not for his longevity Bonds would never have had a shot at the record books. He wouldn’t be one of the greatest hitters of all time had he not stayed healthy enough to compete year in and year out. You can ask Griffey Jr. about that.

An 18-year career, a career slugging percentage over .600, a career batting average just shy of .300 and hundreds of intentional walks later maybe the asterisk isn’t needed at all. In fact maybe all he really deserves is a round of applause, a “thanks for the memories” highlight reel and a bust in a certain Cooperstown Museum.

Barry, please, please, please take The Test. Your career numbers may speak for themselves and win over an avid fan like me, but without a piece of proof saying that you’ve done everything ‘the right way’, you will forever be a statistical enigma.

Zachary Lint is a graduating senior in journalism. He cries everytime he watches “Field of Dreams”, especially when Kostner asks his dad for a game of catch. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].