A-ROD has now become even more of an attraction to the Yankees, as Barry Bonds has been indicted by a federal grand jury following a four-year investigation, for five counts of obstruction of justice and perjury. In other words, the Feds are now convinced that they can prove that Barry Bonds knowingly and willingly took steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs just like track star Marion Jones. They also believe that Bonds has protected the identity of others who have taken steroids and well as those who aided and abetting his acquisition of performance-enhancing drugs. This indictment indicates that there is about a 95% probability that he will be tried and convicted for at least one of these felonies, as federal indictments are not handed out like candy. You can be sure that the ducks are all in a row for a conviction against Bonds. It has been incorrectly reported in places that the statute of limitations on perjury is four years, implying that the grand jury had until December 4th, 2007 to indict Bonds. This is incorrect. The statute of limitations on perjury is five years, so you have to believe that this indictment suggests that Bonds is already contained in the Mitchell Report and the cat is already out of the bag.
The indictment comes three months after the 43-year-old Bonds, one of the biggest names in professional sports, passed Hank Aaron to become baseball’s career home run leader, his sport’s most hallowed record. Bonds, who parted ways with the San Francisco Giants at the end of last season, also holds the game’s single-season home run record of 73. While Bonds was chasing Aaron, a grand jury was working behind closed doors to put the finishing touches on the long-rumored indictment. Bonds has repeatedly claimed that he has not taken performance-enhancing drugs. However, others, such as his mistress Kimberly Bell (above), have claimed that Bonds has admitted off-the-record that he has taken steroids.
We are still waiting for the Mitchell Report in six weeks which is strongly rumored to contain many names that are going to shock people. There have been accusations in the past that as many as half of MLB players have taken performance enhancing drugs. However, the Mitchell report is said to contain the names of 11 free agents, and considering there are 144 free agents in the 2008 class, that represents less than ten percent of a fairly large sample of players. Nobody expects Alex Rodriguez’s name to be on this list, and therefore he can be the first to legitimately break Hank Aaron’s home run record, and he can do so as a New York Yankee.
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