Looks like that home run ball may need to be branded with prison stripes, not just an asterisk.

Barry Bonds, who holds two of baseballÂ’s most cherished records, was indicted in San Francisco today on four counts of perjury in connection with his testimony about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

He was also indicted on one count of obstruction of justice. The charges stem from his testimony to a federal grand jury in December 2003 when he denied knowingly taking steroids.

Whispers about Mr. Bonds’s record-setting performances — becoming the career home-run leader with 762 and the single-season record-holder with 73 home runs in 2001 — grew louder because of his links with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. The lab, also known as Balco, has been the subject of a federal investigation on illegal steroid use. Other athletes, including the former track star Marion Jones, have pleaded guilty in connection with the case. Ms. Jones recently returned the five medals she had won in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.

But Mr. Bonds’s lawyer, Mike Rains, said: “I am utterly confident that this case will absolutely dissipate when the misconduct of the government comes to the forefront in this case. Barry is innocent of the charges, this is ridiculous.”

So let's see.

Bonds testified that he didn't knowingly take steroids.

He's now been indicted for perjury because of that testimony.

If he is convicted, that should be a sufficient basis to conclude that he did, in fact knowingly take steroids.

Seems to me that should be a sufficient basis for MLB to ban him from further connection with baseball, and from the Hall of Fame. Heck, one could legitimately argue that it is sufficient grounds to nullify his home run records.

Posted by: Greg at 10:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 298 words, total size 2 kb.