On Thursday afternoon, Barry Bonds was indicted on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. The U.S. government says he lied under oath when he said he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs, and Bonds faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
The timing aside (the indictment coincided with the first day Bonds could sign with a team as a free agent), the indictment as a whole smells funny. We all remember Rafael Palmeiro pointing his finger, under oath, at the U.S. Congress and saying, quite plainly, that he had never taken steroids. Four months later, he was found to have been lying. Where is his indictment? Where is his guilty plea and jail time? Oh, that's right. Rafael Palmeiro didn't break baseball's greatest record this year.
The number of players who have taken steroids in all sports, never mind baseball, is growing by the week. Numerous players are found to have taken steroids or human growth hormone, and they are met with a slap on the wrist and a "you shouldn't do that again, young man" attitude.
Bonds is met with the full force of the United States Government.
The closest competition to this is American sprinter Marion Jones, who was also indicted on similar charges last month, and promptly pled guilty to them, and returned her 5 gold medals.
But they don't care about track and field. No one does.
It's all about Bonds, and if they can find him guilty, they can ignore his accomplishments and pretend the whole thing never happened.
This is an unacceptable course of action. The government allows Palmeiro to lie and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to dodge the questions about steroids, but wants to hang Bonds out to dry?
Barry Bonds, steroids or not, is the greatest position player in the last 30 years, and that is undisputed. Even before the alleged steroid use began, Bonds had won 4 MVP awards and was on pace to hit over 600 home runs.
Because he hit 762, the feds want a piece.
No one should be able to cheat in sports and get away with it. But the game suffers when one individual gets sacrified, while the other cheaters in his sport get a free ride to Cooperstown.
Let him stand trial, because that is the law. Just start the paperwork on everyone else involved.
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Jamie,
You raise very valid points here. Bonds is being treated unfairly while other current and past players have flown under the radar.
Bonds has never tested positive in a league drug test and therefore should not be considered as breaking the rules.
He deserves to be in Cooperstown. So does Mr. McGwire. So does Mr. Rose.
Unfortunately, I don't think any of them will ever make it. I dare anyone to prove that every single player in the Hall has followed every single rule at all times throughout their entire career.
Baseball is a religion. Bonds is my God.
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