With a good month, Barry Bonds could pass Babe Ruth for second on baseball's home run list next April. With a good year, he could pass Hank Aaron for the all-time record next season.

Bonds figures to keep his records, no matter how tainted they might become considered.

He used substances identified in a grand jury investigation as steroids, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday, although he testified he believed he was taking a nutritional supplement and applying an anti-arthritis balm.

Steve Hirdt of the Elias Sports Bureau, official statisticians of Major League Baseball, said he could not recall baseball revoking a record retroactively.

Even the asterisk once attached to Roger Maris' record of 61 home runs in one season -- because he had more games in which to top Ruth's standard of 60 -- has long been removed.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers star Steve Garvey said the scarlet letter worn by Bonds or any player proved to have used steroids would tarnish any record.

"It won't be as revered as it would be if it was done on natural ability and heart and soul, and done without cheating," Garvey said. "Long after these people are done playing, these people will wonder whether they could have done it the natural way. They'll have cheated themselves ... and the fans and public."

Bonds set the single-season record by hitting 73 home runs in 2001. Last season, he won an unprecedented seventh MVP award, also set the career record for walks as well as single-season records for walks, intentional walks and on-base percentage.

No matter if Bonds cheated, though, baseball officials are unlikely to erase records.

Pete Rose, suspended for life after violating baseball's rule by betting on major league games, still owns every one of his record 4,256 hits, even those from games on which he wagered.

The records stand, too, of Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, who mastered an illegal spitball, and of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, some of whom conspired with gamblers to throw the World Series.

Although the Chronicle reported that documents presented to the grand jury indicate Bonds did use steroids during the 2001 season, the one in which he claimed the home run record, major-league rules did not forbid the use of steroids until 2003.

Also, revoking Bonds' mark might create other headaches.

Mark McGwire broke the Maris mark by hitting 70 home runs in 1998, fueled in part by androstenedione, a steroid since banned by baseball. If Bonds' record is nullified, what of McGwire's?

If you strip Bonds of a home run, do you take one away from the pitcher who gave it up?

If you decide steroids gave Bonds an extra 10 feet on his drives, do you calculate which home runs landed within 10 feet of the fence and eliminate only those?

Still, the court of public opinion needs no permission from Selig to view Bonds as a cheater.

"There are a lot of people thinking about that right now," Dodgers vice president and Hall of Famer Tom Lasorda said. "If they know he's definitely used an enhancing drug, that would have to make a difference."