The long expected indictment of baseball slugger Barry Bonds has come down as the four year investigation into his shady dealings with steroid supplier Victor Conte and his sports supplement company BALCO resulted in charges that Bonds lied to a grand jury and obstructed justice:
“During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes,” the indictment read.In August, the 43-year-old Bonds passed Hank Aaron to become baseball’s career home run leader. Late in the season, the San Francisco Giants told the seven-time National League MVP they didn’t want him back next year. He is currently a free agent.
While Bonds was chasing Aaron, the grand jury was working behind closed doors to complete the long-rumored indictment.
“I’m surprised,” said John Burris, one of Bonds’ attorneys, “but there’s been an effort to get Barry for a long time. “I’m curious what evidence they have now they didn’t have before.”
The indictment charged Bonds with lying when he said that he didn’t knowingly take steroids given to him by his personal trainer, Greg Anderson. He also denied taking steroids at anytime in 2001 when he was pursuing the season home-run record.
Bonds told the grand jury that he thought his friend and personal trainer Greg Anderson was injecting him with vitamins, not steroids. His ex-girlfriend, who will almost certainly be a key witness against him at any trial, told the grand jury that Bonds knew exactly what was in the injections, even joking about how much muscle the steroids and human growth hormone regimen that BALCO was supervising at the time put on his physique.
There were other incredible lies told by Bonds, according to leaked grand jury testimony. He said that be believed one of the anabolics he was taking – “The Clear” – which was administered by placing a small amount underneath the tongue, was actually “flaxseed oil.” And he testified he thought his trainer was applying an arthritis treatment when actually, the creme Anderson was rubbing into Bonds’ arms contained a potent and unregulated anabolic steroid.
As I made clear in my article back in August for PJ Media, today’s indictment was a foregone conclusion:
The Feds have him cold. Not only grand jury testimony from a dozen people connected Bonds directly to steroid use, but Victor Conte—owner of the sports “supplement†company BALCO—produced voluminous records tracking Bonds steroid use over several years. The ledgers and calendars Conte gave the Feds show exactly what steroids Bonds took, his levels of testosterone from month to month, and other evidence that left absolutely no doubt that Bonds used banned substances to enhance his performance.
And so another superstar athlete goes on trial. I’m dead sure we can expect another media circus, another wall-to-wall cable free for all. The case will be analyzed ad infinitum until we and the press are so sick of it that the inevitable “Whither the Press” stories begin to come out and the media wrings its hands and bemoans its inability to resist the siren call of scandal. They will blame us, the viewer, for their dilemma, taking us to task for our compulsion to watch these train wrecks masquerading as trials, whining that they are only giving the people what they want and it’s not their fault if the American people are obsessed with celebrity.
Meanwhile, the world becomes an even more dangerous place and real news is confined to 5 minute updates at the top and bottom of the hour. And 24 hour news channels can’t find the time to outline what is at stake in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, or any of the half dozen other vital areas of the world that will lose out to Barry Bonds and his soap opera trial for lying to the grand jury that he cheated while playing a kid’s game.
Just thought a little perspective might be in order before the circus begins…
8:02 pm
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11:20 pm
Does Bonds have any friends left? Selig avoided him, his team dumped him and the experts (sports media) treat him like a diseased rodent when he set the record last summer. I could care less if Bonds “soiled” the sanctity of the sport. MLB allowed Bonds and his ilk to happen just as the Catholic church allowed pervert priests to happen. Bonds should be sentenced to six years of hard time signing autographs following the Pete Rose table at sports memoribilia expos. Modern professional sports in general is in a real pickle. The college and amateur game is not too far behind. Sad, really.
2:48 am
Bonds indicted on perjury, obstruction charges…
Barry Bonds was indicted Thursday for perjury and obstruction of justice, charged with lying when he…
8:43 am
This is just another milestone in baseball’s long descent from America’s Pastime to just another ESPN sport to cover. Giving awards like the Cy Young to Sabathia instead of the obvious winner, giving the rookie award to a loud-mouth like Braun [& I’m a Brewer-backer] and I could enumerate a few more of the thousand cuts that baseball has inflicted on itself just this year.
Yes, ticket sales are booming and salaries are skyrocketing, but the game needs to kick BBonds out today—-no ifs, ands, or buts. K.M. Landis may have been a nasty hypocrite, but he knew how to administer tough love. Bud Selig should go back to selling cars.
11:38 pm
This is/will be a huge waste of time and legal resources.
Note that it is not the steriods he is being tagged for, but perjury. This is a procedural charge used against people that a prosecutor just has to “get”: Scooter Libby, Martha Stewart.
I just do not get what is gained in this type of prosecution, other than an excercise in raw power.
This will also – as Rick has pointed out – gain far too much media attention.
Myself I don’t understand what whole steriod problem is. If it is against the sport’s rules then it is from there that the discipline should issue.
What somebody does to his own body is his own affair – opps! Am I sounding Libertarian?
All of this screams that government is acting as a vengeful governess. It is the nanny state spanking any and all that it cannot control in all aspects of life as it sees fit.
2:59 am
Yeah, Pakistan, the war and all that is more important but they made fun movies during WW2. We can fight the war AND watch the Bonds trial at the same time. Fire up the popcorn!
2:10 pm
Rob said:
I just do not get what is gained in this type of prosecution, other than an excercise in raw power.
Before I found this discussion I sent the following email to a friend:
I just saw on the net that Bonds has been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice surrounding the steroid investigation. I don’t really know the details, but I have to say that this sounds like a bunch of assholes are trying to build careers around attacking Bonds. I mean, do you ever see the millions of junkies in North America getting the book thrown at them for lying about their drug use or who is using and selling it?
I have never been a Bond fan or a Bond hater, but it just sounds like some more power tripping by people whose main aim in life is to use any fascist niche they can find to dominate others, build their careers and solidify their positions of power.
If I were in charge I’d say, “You guys go find some real criminals or you’re fired, or you have to manage the Yankees.”
4:26 pm
Knew it wouldn’t take long for the moral relativists to show up and make excuses for Bonds. Players of the ‘race card’ can’t be far behind.