The Bonds Trial

When you look up the name 'Barry Bonds' on Wikipedia, you will find this description:

Bonds' accomplishments during his baseball career place him among the greatest baseball players of all-time He has a record-setting seven Most Valuable Player awards, including a record-setting four consecutive MVPs. He is a 14-time All-Star and 8-time Gold Glove-winner. He holds numerous Major League Baseball records, including the all-time Major League Baseball home run record with 762 and the single-season Major League record for home runs with 73 (set in 2001), and is also the all-time career leader in both walks (2,558) and intentional walks (688).

Immediately following that glorification of Bonds, the truth is laid out plain and simple for the reader in this passage:

Bonds has led a controversial career, notably as a central figure in baseball's steroids scandal. In 2007, he was indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying to the grand jury during the government's investigation of BALCO by testifying that he never knowingly took any illegal steroids. The trial began March 21, 2011.

You cannot talk about Barry Bonds or the home run record without associating him and it with ‘roids. With that being said, the perjury trial will begin Monday, March 21st in San Francisco, California. This trial comes in response to his trial in 2003 where he stated, on that stand, that he never knowingly used or consented to steroid usage. Witnesses such as Bonds' ex-mistress, Kimberly Bell, his former friend, Steve Hoskins, the personal trainer (who injected the steroids into Bonds), Greg Anderson, and others will be asked to testify.


Many believe, myself included, that this trial has been put off for too long; everyone is well aware of the crimes that Bonds committed and the lies he told to get them pushed aside and now is his time for punishment. It makes me sad to know that the man who holds one of the most prestigious records in the sport of baseball is one who thinks he can ride above the law and get away with it. In my personal opinion, he shouldn’t even be considered the home run leader and his number of home runs should not be included in the record at all. He chose to give himself an unfair advantage by taking the steroids and therefore should not be recognized for something he did not naturally earn. I hope the jury can see that and that they punish him justly.