Bonds gives Selig little to celebrate

The summer of mum rolled on for Bud Selig, another day with little to say about what should be a glorious time for his sport.

The Barry Bonds Home Run Chase rolled into town Friday, into this city where the commissioner lives and works. Selig showed up to watch, but said he did not talk to the most recognizable player in the game.

Bonds stalled at 753, two home runs shy of Hank Aaron’s all-time record. He went hitless in four at-bats, with a walk, as his San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-4.

Selig said he would also be on hand today and Sunday. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said Bonds would play one of the two days but not both. Bonds shooed reporters from his locker before and after the game.

The Giants open a seven-game homestand Monday, and Selig was expected to follow Bonds to San Francisco at some point. On Friday, however, he would not discuss his plans to watch Bonds beyond the weekend.

In a sport that cherishes records like no other, the toppling of its most hallowed record should evoke words of awe and wonder from its commissioner and a marketing blizzard from his staff.

Remarkably, Selig downplays the occasion. He distances himself from it, not entirely unreasonable given the steroid allegations and perjury investigation surrounding Bonds.

Selig said he had not decided whether to attend Friday until “the last day or two.” He said he was not influenced by Bonds’ homering twice Thursday and arriving in Milwaukee at 753 instead of 751.

“He’s playing here,” Selig said, “and the game is important to the pennant race.”

For the Brewers, that is, the team that leads the National League Central, the club Selig and his family ran for 35 years.

Selig met with reporters during the game, preferring to deflect questions about Bonds rather than answer them. Selig sells his sport every day, by job description and by nature, but he appears to have no interest in selling Bonds.

Would he meet and greet Bonds when he ties the record?

Selig wouldn’t say.

When was the last time he spoke with Bonds?

“Not for a long time,” Selig said.

How would baseball celebrate the record?

“That’s up to the Giants,” he said.

Would he cheer if he witnessed Bonds tying or breaking the record?

“Whatever happens, happens,” he said. “My reaction will be, if he’s closing in on the record: If he hits them, he hits them.”

With weeks of resolute refusals to answer the simple question of whether he would watch Bonds set the record, Selig has more than done his part in stirring debate about the legitimacy of the record rather than focusing on the glory.

And, with the record now a few swings away, Selig still won’t reveal whether he’ll be there, raising the question of why a fan should celebrate the record when the commissioner won’t even say if he’ll show up.

“I’ll do that at the appropriate time,” Selig said. “I really don’t think that’s a fair judgment.”

Selig showed up Friday without even a day’s advance notice, apparently feeling more obliged than thrilled to be there.

So let’s put it bluntly: Does he consider this a legitimate record?

“We won’t get into that.... I’m not passing judgment, nor should I,” Selig said.

Silence speaks volumes. So does his citation of one of his predecessors.

Did Selig decide to attend this weekend based on the oft-criticized decision of then-Commissioner Bowie Kuhn not to attend when Aaron set the record in 1974?

“That didn’t really enter into it,” Selig said. “Ford Frick wasn’t there in ’61. I find that interesting.”

Frick was another oft-criticized commissioner.

In 1961, Roger Maris hit 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season record. Frick proposed separate records -- Maris for a 162-game season and Ruth for a 154-game season -- essentially attaching a symbol to Maris’ mark.

An asterisk.

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com