Poll: Majority of fans believe Bonds used steroids

7/20/06

More than three-quarters of Americans believe Barry Bonds knowingly used steroids on his way to his home run records, but a majority believe the San Francisco Giants slugger should not be immediately suspended if he is indicted, according to an ESPN/ABC News poll released Thursday.

Federal prosecutors said Thursday that Bonds would not be indicted immediately, but the ongoing federal investigation of steroids and possible perjury and tax-evasion charges against him will continue.

The ESPN/ABC News poll, a national random sample of 500 adults, was conducted by telephone on July 19 and has a margin of error of plus/minus 4.5 percent. Among those sampled, 55 percent identified themselves as baseball fans, with another 10 percent saying they're "somewhat" of a fan.

The poll also indicated that fans are less willing to forgive Bonds when it comes to baseball's record books, with a majority believing the marks should either remain with an asterisk or be removed from the books.

A growing majority of Americans surveyed have grown more suspicious of Bonds, according to the poll results. Eighty percent of fans polled think he knowingly took steroids, up from 65 percent in March 2005. Only 12 percent of those polled believed he had not knowingly used steroids.

But 55 percent say Bonds should be allowed to keep playing pending the outcome of his trial. Forty-four percent would prefer his immediate suspension.

As for Bonds' records -- he passed Babe Ruth's 715 home runs this season and trails only Hank Aaron at 755 for most career home runs by a major-leaguer -- only 37 percent said they should remain in the record books. Thirty-eight percent said Bonds' record should remain with an asterisk, while another 24 percent said they should be stricken from the records entirely.

Fans were split about evenly, on whether Bonds should be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, with 48 percent in favor and 47 percent opposed. But that support drops precipitously if Bonds were to be indicted and convicted, in which case just 30 percent said they would support his election to the Hall.