Story in the LA Times (may require registration) discusses a recent fan movement: displaying a foam asterisk at MLB games to protest the steroid-injected home run king Barry Bond's assault on Hank Aaron's record. Apparently sold online, the foam asterisk can be worn like the #1 fingers that get in your line of sight you see at college football games.
A baseball fan who points a finger at Bonds --Tom Wilson-- lugs these things all over MLB-dom, with a good response. Seems some fans are 'foaming at the mouth...or finger'
Tom Wilson doesn't buy it. He's a fan, a producer from Los Feliz. He loves nothing more than a day at Dodger Stadium.
Baseball sacrificed its integrity, he says, and there ought to be a way for fans to express their disgust without depriving themselves of a trip to the ballpark. He has just the way, or so he hopes.
He'd like to sell you a foam asterisk — same as those foam fingers fans wave, except in the shape of a star. Booing isn't enough, he says, and throwing a syringe on the field is too much. Wave the asterisk, and take a stand.
He lugged 100 of them to Dodger Stadium two years ago, on a day the Giants were in town. He says he sold out, before guards shooed him away. He carted 1,000 to Shea Stadium in New York last year, on a day the Giants were in town, and he says he sold out there too.
Despite the novel idea, MLB must feel that the foam asterisk is too in Bond's face. Would MLB go 'roid rage at the vendors?
He (Wilson) approached two major novelty manufacturers last year and said both refused to make the asterisk, for fear of losing huge accounts with Major League Baseball. After he found a guy in Texas to make the asterisk, he called around the country but could not find a sports store that would carry it, for the same reason.
Thus, baseball will be left with a tainted record. The fans will be left still searching for a way to make their protests known.
What a douche. Bonds is a great hitter - steroids or not. Committing your life to foam finger asterisk-ing his record is a gigantic waste of time. Enjoy the freaking show and quit grandstanding.
Ugh - I hate people.
From the Nation:
As one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, Bonds deserves some respect. However, Bonds brought this disdain on himself.
Is there any other sports figure as polarizing as Bonds? Not even Pete Rose.
Posted by: PB | 04/23/2007 at 09:21
Fans need to stand in unison turn their back on Bonds when he breaks the record. Do not turn around. Do not acknowledge the moment.
Posted by: Ted V | 04/23/2007 at 14:06