Ipsos poll on public attitudes about baseball was conducted May 29-31 and June 4-6 and is based on telephone interviews with 2,000 adults and 825 baseball fans from all states except Alaska and Hawaii.

Results were weighted to represent the population by demographic factors such as age, sex, region, race and income.

No more than one time in 20 should chance variations in the sample cause the results to vary by more or less than 2 percentage points from the answers that would be obtained if all U.S. citizens were polled and 3.5 percentage points for baseball fans.

There are other sources of potential

error in polls, including the wording and order of questions. Results may not total 100 percent because of rounding. An “X” signifies less than one percent. Results from the October 2006 poll are in parentheses.

Are you a fan of professional baseball or not? (Asked of all adults)

• Yes, 36 percent (32)
• No, 59 percent (64)
• Somewhat, 5 percent (4)

(The rest of the questions were asked only of baseball fans)

Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants is very close to breaking Hank Aaron’s record of 755 lifetime home runs. Are you rooting for Barry Bonds to break Hank Aaron’s record or do you hope he will fall short of it?

• Hope he falls short, 42 percent (48)
• Rooting for him to break it, 40 percent (33)
• Don’t care, 17 percent (16)
• Don’t know/Not sure, 1 percent (3)

Do you think baseball fans are treating Barry Bonds fairly or unfairly when it comes to the allegations of steroid use made against him?

• Fairly, 57 percent
• Unfairly, 31 percent
• Don’t know/Not sure, 12 percent

Should Barry Bonds be allowed into baseball’s Hall of Fame, or not?

• Yes, 53 percent
• No, 36 percent
• Don’t know/Not sure, 11 percent

How much do you care if professional baseball players use steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs?

• A lot, 71 percent (58)
• A little, 18 percent (23)
• Not at all, 11 percent (18)
• Don’t know/Not sure, X percent (1)

When it comes to curbing the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, is Major League Baseball doing:

• Too much, 4 percent (7)
• Not enough, 61 percent (51)
• About the right amount, 32 percent (37)
• Don’t know/Not sure, 3 percent (5)

Which comes closest to your view? Would you say:

• I take baseball records less seriously than I used to as a result of allegations of steroid use by baseball players, 58 percent
• Allegations of steroid use by baseball players haven’t affected how seriously I take baseball records, 37 percent
• Don’t know/Not sure, 5 percent

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