NEW YORK -- Barry Bonds will have to wait until he passes
Hank Aaron before baseball throws a party for him.
Major League Baseball is not planning any celebration for Bonds
if and when he tops Babe Ruth's mark of 714 home runs, commissioner
Bud Selig said Thursday.
"Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record," Selig said. "We don't
celebrate anybody the second or third time in."
Bonds has been the subject of steroids speculation for several
seasons. The recent book "Game of Shadows" detailed allegations
against him, and a federal grand jury is investigating whether he
committed perjury when he told another grand jury that he had never
knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.
Bonds hit his 711th homer Wednesday. His San Francisco Giants
were off Thursday, and open a three-game series Friday night at
home against Arizona.
Selig does not figure to be in San Francisco -- or in Milwaukee
or Philadelphia, where the Giants play next week -- as Bonds nears
Ruth.
"We celebrate new records, that's what we do. We're being
consistent," Selig said during the Associated Press Sports Editors
annual meeting with league commissioners. "There's nothing to read
into that."
Ruth is second on the career home run list, trailing Aaron's
total of 755. When Aaron broke Ruth's record in 1974, commissioner
Bowie Kuhn was not in attendance. Kuhn's absence rankled many,
including Aaron.
Bonds has been hobbled by bad knees, and missed most of last
season.
"He's had a remarkable career. Whatever happens, happens,"
Selig said. "We're going to let nature take its course.
Commissioners don't sit around and say, 'I hope this guy breaks it
or not.'"
Selig said he had read "Game of Shadows" but not seen "Bonds
on Bonds," the ESPN reality show about the slugger's life.
Selig said the book was among several factors that prompted him
to launch a baseball investigation into steroids, headed by former
Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. There is no timetable for
completing the probe.
Baseball's investigation, Selig said, is "not affected at all
by the grand jury" looking into whether Bonds committed perjury.