What an asterisk means in sports records
In sports, saying a record "has an asterisk" means it comes with a catch: a longer season, a shortened one, or a cloud like performance-enhancing drugs. The phrase is famous, but the most famous asterisk was never actually printed.
Roger Maris and the asterisk that wasn't
In 1961, Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth's record of 60 from 1927. But the season had grown from 154 games to 162. Before Maris passed Ruth, baseball commissioner Ford Frick ruled that a record set after the 154th game would be listed separately from Ruth's.
The press summed it up as an "asterisk", and the word stuck. In fact, baseball never printed an asterisk next to Maris's name. Separate listings were the official practice, and in 1991 a committee on baseball statistics recognised Maris as the sole record holder.
Barry Bonds and the branded ball
In 2007, Barry Bonds hit his 756th career home run, passing Hank Aaron amid suspicions of steroid use. The fashion designer Marc Ecko bought the ball and let the public vote online on its fate. Voters chose to brand it with an asterisk, and the marked ball was then given to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Asterisk seasons
Today "asterisk" is shorthand for any achievement that some fans think needs a qualifier. Championships won in seasons cut short by strikes, lockouts or the 2020 pandemic are often called "asterisk seasons", usually by fans of the teams that didn't win.
Why an asterisk?
Because an asterisk sends the reader to a footnote. Calling a record an asterisk is a way of saying "this needs a footnote", without ever writing one. See how the real thing works in our guide to asterisk footnotes.