Henry Aaron confirmed Tuesday that he will not be on hand if and when Barry Bonds smashes his record of 755 career home runs.

"I will never reconsider my decision," Aaron told the Associated Press.

Henry Aaron won't be on hand to see Barry Bonds break his homer record.
(W.A. Harewood/Associated Press)

Bonds has belted 745 home runs, leaving him just 10 shy of Aaron's record set from 1954 to 1976, but he is suspected of using steroids.

Aaron, 73, is a senior vice-president with the Atlanta Braves and oversees several car dealerships in Georgia, but has chosen not to follow the homer chase in person, even if Bonds is poised to break the mark when the San Francisco Giants visit Turner Field during a mid-August series.

"No, I won't be there," Aaron said.

Asked why, he replied: "I travelled for 23 years and I just get tired of travelling. I am not going to fly to go see somebody hit a home run, no matter whether it is Barry or Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig or whoever it may be.

"I'm not going anyplace. I wish him all the luck in the world."

Aaron has refused to advise Bonds as he pursues baseball's most cherished record, which Aaron has owned since breaking Ruth's record of 714 homers on Aug. 8, 1974.

"I don't have any advice whatsoever," Aaron said. "No advice to anybody."

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, a close friend of Aaron, has yet to decide whether he will attend games, claiming only that: "It will be handled the same way that every other record in baseball that has been broken was handled."
 
"He [Selig] has every right to say, 'I am willing to congratulate him but I don't honour him by presence,'" said Fay Vincent, who served as commissioner before Selig.

"I think if nothing changes, I would say to Bonds, because you haven't told us what you did, because we assume and because we believe you cheated and because you haven't helped clean baseball up, we'll recognize your record, but we'll not honour you."

Suspected of steroid use

Bonds, 42, is the most prolific slugger of his generation, with a .299 average, 735 home runs, 1,953 runs batted in and 2,179 runs scored in 2,900 games over 22 MLB seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Giants.

He's also stolen 510 bases and tops all major-leaguers with 2,473 walks.

Bonds has earned an unprecedented seven National League Most Valuable Player Awards, 12 Silver Slugger Awards, and eight Gold Glove Awards.

Yet everything he has accomplished is shrouded in controversy because he is suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds remains the target of a U.S. federal grand jury investigating whether he committed perjury in 2003, when he reportedly testified that he never knowingly used steroids.

With files from the Associated Press