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Home Run King Bonds Charged With Perjury
Barry Bonds is accused of lying to a grand jury in a steroids probe.
(By Mike Zarrilli -- Getty Images)
VIDEO | Federal Grand Jury Indicts Bonds
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Only three months ago, Bonds became baseball's all-time home run king, hitting career home run No. 756 off Washington Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik to break Aaron's cherished record. Although Bonds, his family and teammates, and much of San Francisco reacted to the moment with all the emotion one would typically expect from such a momentous occasion, much of the rest of the country -- including Selig, who wavered for months on whether to attend the record-breaking game -- reacted with ambivalence or worse, owing largely to Bonds's attachment to the steroids scandal.
"This is ugly," former commissioner Fay Vincent said of yesterday's news. "But the lesson of history is that baseball can take more severe shots than this. I think the public has pretty well digested that this could happen."
Bonds, who has won an unprecedented seven most valuable player awards, is the third athlete and fourth sports figure to face perjury charges in connection with the Balco probe. Last month, five-time Olympic medal winner Marion Jones pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about her steroid use before and after the 2000 Summer Games. Track cyclist Tammy Thomas and Jones's former coach, Trevor Graham, were indicted last year on perjury charges; both cases could go to trial next month.
"All those who value clean sport commend the federal investigators for their vigilant pursuit of the truth in order to hold those involved in the Balco doping conspiracy responsible," Travis Tygart, chief executive of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said in a telephone interview.
Six people, including Jones, have been convicted in the Balco probe. The others are Balco founder Victor Conte; Balco vice president Jim Valente; Anderson; Balco chemist Patrick Arnold; and track and field coach Remi Korchemny. None went to trial; all accepted plea bargains.
Staff writers Amy Shipley, Barry Svrluga and Michael Abramowitz and staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
