In an interview with Jim Grey for MSNBC’s ‘Countdown,’ Barry Bonds said he would boycott the Hall of Fame if they display his record breaking 756th home run ball marked with an asterisk.
On September 25, fashion design Mark Ecko announced that the public had voted to brand the ball with an asterisk and offer it to the Hall of Fame, one of the options from his online poll. The Hall of Fame, noting their status as a non-profit organization, agreed to accept and display the ball however it came. Ecko has said he and the Hall were working together to determine how the asterisk would be added to the ball.
Bonds clearly doesn’t believe an asterisk has any place in baseball, including the Hall of Fame.
I don’t think you can put an asterisk in the game of baseball and I don’t think that the Hall of Fame can accept an asterisk in their Hall of Fame. You can’t, you cannot give people the freedom, the right to alter history, you can’t do it. There’s no such thing as an asterisk in baseball.
When asked specifically what he would do if the Hall of Fame does display the ball with an asterisk, Bonds said he wouldn’t even attend his induction ceremony if he was elected.
I will never be in the Hall of Fame. Never. I will never be in the Hall of Fame… I won’t go. I won’t be part of it, I won’t be there, you can call me but I won’t be there.
Bonds reserved the right to change his mind, but maintained that the Hall of Fame would have to change its position between now and then.
Like I said at this time I will not be there. That’s my emotions now, that’s how I feel now. When I decide to retire, five years from now, we’ll see where they are at that moment. We’ll see where they are at that time and maybe I’ll reconsider. But its their position and where their position will be will be the determination of what my decision will be made at that time.