Major League Baseball will honor Barry Bonds if he passes Henry Aaron, but many big-name corporations will not participate in a celebration because of the steroid suspicions that enshroud the San Francisco Giants slugger, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

"We are a company where confidence and trust is held high," Cathy Bessant, Bank of America's global marketing executive, told Bloomberg News. "A company like ours is always going to choose the untainted opportunity. There is no reason to stand up for controversy."

Home Depot also said it would not help celebrate Bonds, unless an investigation proves that he did not use steroids or other performance-enhancing substances.

Bank of America signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Major League Baseball in 2004 after having sponsored various teams.

"We are longtime partners of baseball, and with their perception on drugs, I could stand on the roof and scream that this issue has to get resolved," Bessant told Bloomberg News. "Baseball has got to get the perception of drugs out of the spot. It matters. Cheating matters. It isn't OK to cork a bat. Cheaters shouldn't prosper."

Said Pepsi-Cola North America president and chief executive Dawn Hudson, "As brand stewards we are going to be careful that what we are doing is right by youth and having the right symbols of what achievement is in this country," Hudson told the conference audience.

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A baseball official said Tuesday that the sport will honor Bonds if he passes Aaron.

"There will likely be ads, either national or local, and that will be determined in the days coming up," said Tim Brosnan, executive vice president of business for the league. "We are basically going to be consistent with the policy we've been following for the last 10 years against many of the milestones that have been achieved in baseball."

Brosnan suggested that baseball would not do much if Bonds passed Ruth. Bonds has 708 homer, Ruth 714 and Aaron 755.

Special report Comparing Bonds with Ruth, Aaron

"The big record is 755," Brosnan said. "That's where we bring in partners and create national marketing campaigns and celebrations."

Brosnan spoke to ESPN on a panel at the Street & Smith's World Congress of Sports in New York City.

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ESPN polled 155 sports business executives at the conference and found that that 29 percent of them would not celebrate Bonds, 45 percent would have a "very muted congratulations," and 26 percent they would consider a full celebration.

Giants marketing agent Jeff Bernstein told ESPN that the team would have plenty of merchandise available if Bonds passes Ruth, including T-shirts, hats, coins and lapel pins.

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