Bonds "fine" with MLB not celebrating #715

From MLB.com:

Bonds fine with MLB not marking 715

Giants will honor slugger once he passes Ruth in homers

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds said Monday he is "just fine" with Major League Baseball's decision not to universally celebrate his imminent passing of Babe Ruth into second place on the all-time home run list.

Bonds went into Monday night's game at AT&T Park at 711, three behind Ruth's 714 and 44 short of Hank Aaron's all-time leading 755. Aaron passed Ruth into first place 32 years ago.

"I've always understood Major League Baseball's position on it," Bonds told MLB.com before the game. "When Roger Clemens won his 300th, the Yankees did it. When Greg Maddux did the same, it was a team thing. This isn't the record. Hank has the record. This is just passing Babe Ruth, who's a legend. But the record is Hank's. It wouldn't be fair to him.

"I'm just fine with it. It's no big deal."

The Giants will stage a brief celebration when Bonds hits the milestone homer, said Peter Magowan, the club's managing general partner. When Bonds hit his 700th homer in San Francisco on Sept. 17, 2004, the club set off fireworks and lit up a bright "700" near the batting eye in center field.

The Giants conclude their current homestand Tuesday against the Padres and then hit the road Wednesday for five games, two in Milwaukee and three more at Philadelphia. They return next Monday night to open a seven-game stand with a makeup game against the Houston Astros.

Magowan said he didn't want to divulge any details of the club's plans.

"If I absolutely knew, I wouldn't tell you what we're doing because we want it to be a surprise," Magowan said Sunday. "But what I will say is that it will be short and sweet. We don't want it to be disruptive in any way to the game itself. If it happens on the road, then we would do something before the first following home game."

Bonds said he wasn't fazed when Commissioner Bud Selig told a gathering of Associated Press Sports Editors last week that MLB had no plans to celebrate the slugger's milestone home run even though No. 715 will give him the all-time record for left-handed hitters when he passes the "Sultan of Swat."

"Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record," Selig said. "We don't celebrate anybody the second or third time in. We celebrate new records, that's what we do. We're being consistent. There's nothing to read into that."

Selig added that the controversy surrounding Bonds amidst an MLB investigation into the sport's steroid era has nothing to do with the decision.

"He's had a remarkable career," Selig said about Bonds. "Whatever happens, happens. 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 was not in attendance in 2004 when Bonds homered into the left-field bleachers off Padres right-hander Jake Peavy to become only the third player in MLB history to reach the 700-homer plateau.

At this point, the Commissioner doesn't plan to go to the games at Miller Park against the Brewers in his hometown of Milwaukee on Wednesday night or Thursday afternoon, either.

"They're taking a position which is totally understandable," Magowan said. "They celebrate records and this would not be a record. I think if it was Aaron, then it would be a completely different situation."