Bonds not helping Hall
New York ? As Barry Bonds nears his record 756th home run, he’s stockpiling quite a collection of souvenirs – bats, balls, helmets and spikes, pieces of baseball history perfectly suited for the Hall of Fame.
Whether he’ll donate any of them to Cooperstown, however, is in doubt.
“I’m not worried about the Hall,” the San Francisco slugger said during a recent homer drought. “I take care of me.”
No wonder those at the museum are getting concerned, especially with Bonds only 10 homers shy of breaking Hank Aaron’s career mark.
“There’s uncertainty,” Hall vice president Jeff Idelson acknowledged.
Around 35,000 artifacts are shown and stored at the shrine, and about a dozen pertain to Bonds.
There is a bat from his rookie year and cleats from him becoming the first player in the 400-homer/400-steal club. Unsolicited, he sent the bat and ball from his 2,000th hit. A batting practice bat from the 2002 World Series was the last thing Bonds provided.
“Doesn’t everybody have the right to decide to do it or not do it?” he said last week.
The most prized items, the ones that fans would really want to see, are missing.
Nothing directly from Bonds to highlight his 500th homer. Ditto for homers 714 and 715, when he tied and passed Babe Ruth.
So far, Bonds has not indicated he intends to share any Aaron-related memorabilia.

