Selig can claim ignorance — in his case, a believable defense — and voice disgust. But he’s as much a part of the record as anyone. He allowed the conditions that gave birth to the home-run explosion. He and Barry are joined at the hip on this one.

So Selig’s got to go. It’s his job. Besides, a lot of other players were taking everything they could get their hands on, including the pitchers who couldn’t get a ball past Bonds, and only Bonds is on the verge of history.

And whether the record is tainted or not, it’s still a record.

Hank Aaron has sent his regrets already. Personally, I think it would be nice if he were there. Aaron, after all, was of the generation that gobbled greenies — amphetamines — like jelly beans before games. Maybe the pills didn’t help players hit the ball farther, but they helped them get awake for the game. Plus, they were illegal before steroids were.

But I understand Hammerin’ Hank’s reluctance. In his mind, Bonds cheated and that’s that. I can tell Selig to stuff his piety in the overhead storage bin, but not Aaron. Heck, even if Bonds were as clean as a germophobe’s countertops, I could still understand Aaron not wanting to see his enormous accomplishment eclipsed.

It does put Aaron in the minority. According to a new ABC/ESPN poll, three of every four African-Americans want Bonds to break the record. Only 28 percent of white Americans share that desire.

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I truly don’t get that one. It’s hard to say anything other than whites are holding Bonds’ skin tone against him. And it would seem to be clear that blacks are rooting for one of their own, even though the man who owns the record now is one of the most honored and beloved African-American athletes the game has ever known.

Personally, I want to see the record fall. It’s an incredible number, no matter how it’s achieved. And I’ve always said you can’t blame any player for taking things that weren’t against the rules of the game, especially when baseball has celebrated other players who admitted breaking the rules nearly every time they took the field.

Besides, the bigger a number Bonds puts up, the harder it’s going to be for A-Rod to break it. If he stays healthy, he’ll reel Bonds in anyway, but if it means A-Rod having to work harder, you’ve got to be for it. I think that’s a rule.