Aaron: Get rid of steroids, get on with playing baseball

MILWAUKEE – Hank Aaron, baseball’s home-run king, hasn’t read “Game of Shadows,” the new book that says San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds and other stars used performance-enhancing substances.

Nor does he plan to read it. But he knows the game he dedicated his life to needs to rid itself of steroids and other drugs.

Aaron, in Milwaukee last week to attend a dinner in honor of his longtime friend, civil rights pioneer Vel Phillips, said he had not talked lately to baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. But he said he thought Selig, who named a panel to investigate drug use in the game, is trying to put at end to the controversy.

“I think what the commissioner is trying to do is trying to put an end to all of this,” Aaron said after a news conference at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee. “I know people have said, ‘Where is this investigation going, and what purpose?’ But I think he’s trying to put an end to it.”

Aaron said Selig was trying to do what is right. Asked if the allegations about drug use hurt the game, Aaron sidestepped the question.

“This game has got so much to offer,” he said. “You look at the Brewers, with all these fine young athletes. We should be concentrating on what this game can offer, not only to the City of Milwaukee but to the country. Yet we are focusing on one thing, and that’s steroids. We need to get rid of it once and for all and, hey, let’s get on with the job of playing baseball.”

Asked if Bonds’ records should be erased or altered if the allegations against his use of performance-enhancing substances are true, Aaron declined comment.

“I’d rather stay away from it,” he said.