When the doors to the Hall of Fame open Friday morning, Barry Bonds will have an entire display dedicated to his setting of the all-time home run record.
Hall Vice President Jeff Idelson has been collecting Bonds’ artifacts for days.
“It’s our responsibility to history,” Idelson said. “It is a major milestone and the events need to be documented. We present the facts that visitors can interpret however they choose.”
Among items on display from games in which Bonds passed Hank Aaron with home runs No. 755 and 756 will be helmets he wore — and we’re assuming they will be size 7 3/4 and not the 7 1/8 from the late 1990s.
Eventually, Bonds’ uniform will be part of the display — and we’re assuming it will be the new size 52 and not the 42 from the late 1990s.
Also included are balls used in the games at AT&T Park and a scoop of dirt from the home plate area — and we’re assuming the Hall of Fame is not intentionally piling more “dirt” on what many consider a sullied record.
“We don’t pass judgment,” Idelson said. “Like him, hate him, respect him or not, he set a record for home runs.”
Very soon the Hall may have to deal with the “if” issue. If it is determined Bonds is guilty of using steroids, what happens?
“At some point the museum will address this era, the steroid allegations,” Idelson said. “But right now it’s way too premature to put it into historical context. All the facts aren’t there yet. It is not a topic we will shy away from. We show baseball for better and worse and how baseball has dealt with adversity.”
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In fact, the 1919 segment in the historical timeline display, Idelson said, “contains artifacts from the Black Sox and why they were called the Black Sox.
“We have displays from the Big Red Machine and Phillies teams that Pete Rose played on and we also mention that he is on baseball’s permanently ineligible list.
“Those are facts, and as a history museum we’re not serving history if we avoid a topic.”
Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire still have displays from their 1998 home run chase, which at the time rejuvenated baseball but since has been tainted by steroid charges.
The Hall does not intentionally collect and display any “illegal” items, such as vials of “cream” and “clear,” a Gaylord Perry greaseball or a Joe Niekro nail file.
“We don’t have any corked bats,” Idelson said. “We did X-ray all five bats that Sosa gave us [after his bat incident]. None of them was corked, but if they would have been, they would have stayed. We don’t change history.”
Idelson found Bonds very cooperative during the home run chase and personally carried the new items on display from San Francisco to Cooperstown.
He did the same from St. Louis for McGwire-Sosa, when he needed a police escort to get from Albany to the Hall because of public interest.
No such happenings this time. One large case containing Bonds’ items will be on display Friday, without comment, as the Hall chronicles the events of the national pastime.
“We display the artifacts, tell the stories and let the baseball public, which is very intelligent, form its own opinion,” Idelson said.
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