That's Some Fine Handiwork There

photo from the Baseball Hall of Fame

Hope You Didn't Have Barry Bonds Skedded for Your Fantasy Team

...because he's going to be busy in court. From ESPN.com:

The U.S. attorney's office filed 14 counts of perjury and one count of obstruction against Barry Bonds on Tuesday.

The filing was first reported by ESPN's T.J. Quinn.

The counts were filed in what's known as a superseding indictment that broke up the four counts that baseball's all-time home run king was charged with in November.

The new indictment was issued in response to a prior ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, who agreed with a defense motion that the initial indictment was potentially vague and ambiguous. The primary point was that the government charged several different lies in single counts, presenting potential problems for a jury.

This indictment alleges no new lies and doesn't suggest Bonds could serve additional time if found guilty. The next hearing in the case is skedded for June 6.

"Skedded"? Skedded? What is this, Daily Variety?

Barry Who?

From "Giant makeover: Bonds' images gone from AT&T Park" at ESPN.com:

SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Giants have now removed prominent tributes in the stadium to Barry Bonds, who has steroid allegations and perjury charges hanging over his head.

Take a good look: The left-field wall at AT&T Park will look much different this season than it did in 2007.

The left-field wall no longer bears an image of Bonds chasing Hank Aaron for the home run crown, nor elsewhere is the number of Bonds' home runs in relation to Aaron posted.

There are no "756" signs -- signifying the home run he hit to break Aaron's record -- anywhere in the park, in fact. A team spokeswoman said the Giants would put up a plaque to note where he had hit his last homer with the team.

All Lines Are Open, and Barry Bonds Is Standing By...

...waiting for your call. As he said to mlb.com yesterday:

"I'm not going to retire. I don't think that's going to happen," he said by telephone from Los Angeles. "I'm working out, I'm training. If my phone rings, it rings, if it don't, it don't. I have a cell phone. I have a Blackberry. They work. If something comes up, I'm sure they'll let me know. I'll come back in July if I have to. It depends on the circumstances."

Maybe if Barry gave out his telephone number or email address in the article, people would know how to reach him. Heck, I could make some use of that phone number.

It's Never About Money. It's Always About Money

Thanks to commenter Bryan for this tip on the Cardinals and Barry Bonds:

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa acknowledged Sunday that he recommended to club brass this offseason that St. Louis sign all-time home run champion Barry Bonds. The suggestion didn't get far.

"What I've said each of the last two years is that when you're looking for somebody dangerous to hit behind Albert [Pujols], Barry was a guy that I thought," La Russa said.

"And for whatever reason, at the general manager or ownership level, they didn't agree that he would be a guy that they thought we should add. I understand. Organization chart -- they're my bosses. That's exactly what happened."

It was the second year in a row that La Russa explored the possibility of bringing Bonds to St. Louis. This time around, the notion didn't get as far as it did a year ago. During the 2006 Winter Meetings, La Russa discussed the possibility with Bonds but found the slugger not entirely receptive.

"I was excited about Barry because I had spent the winter around California that year and I had heard all the things Barry said he wanted," La Russa said. "And so I told him, 'We've got everything you want except money. And you shouldn't want money. You've already got money.' We never got past that."

Seems like Bonds and Clemens are the new Radioactive Twins.

UPDATE:

Not so fast? Rays manager Maddon confirms internal discussion about Bonds (AP/ESPN.com)

Asterisk Ink Darkens, As Does Bonds' Future

UPDATE 9.42P: Whoops, it's a typo! Their mistake. The federal government meant to say he failed a test in November 2000, not November 2001. Yeah, that makes it all better. Original post follows:

ESPN just broke news that Bonds failed a steroids test back in November 2001, one month after he set the single-season home run record with 73*.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds tested positive for steroids in November 2001, just a month after hitting his record 73rd home run of the season, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday.

The allegation came in a legal filing in his steroid perjury case that referred to Bonds' long-time trainer, Greg Anderson.

"At trial, the government's evidence will show that Bonds received steroids from Anderson in the period before the November 2001 positive drug test, and that evidence raises the inference that Anderson gave Bonds the steroids that caused him to test positive in November 2001," U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello wrote.

Hey, Bud, it's awful hard to get fired up for spring training when every single MLB headline is about steroids. Way to go, shoulder-shrugging commissioner.

Spring Training Is Here, Bonds Is Not

Enough with the Barry Bonds hatred introspection, which I suppose I'll just add to the list of things to bring up to my therapist.

ESPN's Jayson Stark has a nice piece getting us all psyched up for pitchers and catchers reporting to camp, and (no surprise), he mentions the Dodgers and their rivals many times:

Most Intriguing Story, #3: Didn't this used to be Dodgertown?--Say it ain't so. No more spring training drives down Duke Snider Street or Vin Scully Way? No more open-air dugouts? No more street lights disguised as giant illuminated baseballs on a pole? No more living legends leaning against the batting cage on the same, coconut-tree-lined field where Branch Rickey and Walter O'Malley once presided? Progress has never been more overrated than it will be this spring -- when the Dodgers vacate their hallowed, historic spring home of the past six decades.

Having never been to Vero Beach, I have to say I'm split on this. The LA Times reporters seem to have been pressured by the McCourts into writing a cavalcade of "good riddance" pieces trashing the historic spring training site (which as a conspiracy theorist I found both odd and extremely convenient, even at the risk of impugning Ross Newhan with whom I usually agree). But it will indeed be nicer to have the Dodgers' spring training camp closer to Los Angeles next year.

And if everyone is up in arms about losing the street names (Stark is not the first person to lament the loss of all these street names around the Florida facility), why don't we just build a couple of new streets and move the street names? Doesn't seem that difficult to me. Heck, Frankie can even stand to charge higher parking fees for those who want to park on Vin Scully Way. It's a win-win!

Most Improved Team: 1) Mets, 2) Diamondbacks, 3) Cubs--Here's how much of a difference maker Johan Santana is: Before the Mets traded for him, they were viewed as one of the National League teams that had done the least to get better this winter. But drop the best pitcher of his time into this mix, and people start changing that tune, faster than you can say, "Whatever happened to Deolis Guerra?" Can one player really make that much of a difference? Sure. When he's this player. Heck, the Twins went 105-47 when Santana started over the past five years (and only 335-323 when he didn't). So the Mets might go undefeated when he's out there.

Poll tidbit: The Mets got 14 votes from our panelists. The D-backs got 10. And no other NL team got more than three.

No one thinks the Dodgers have improved, which makes me wonder if this poll was taken before the Mark Sweeney signing.

Best Free-Agent Signing: 1) Kosuke Fukudome, Cubs (4 years, $48 million); 2) Hiroki Kuroda, Dodgers (3 years, $35.3 million); 3) To quote one exec, "Was there such a thing [as a good free-agent signing] this winter?"--What a nutty winter. Once we'd finished disqualifying free agents who re-signed with their old teams in this category, the only free agents who mustered any real enthusiasm from our poll voters were guys who came with their own translators. Not that anyone is sure that Fukudome is going to generate the same productivity or electricity as some of his Japanese predecessors. But his left-handed bat is a perfect fit for the Cubs. And we're betting that if there are any curses out there he's familiar with, at least they have zilch to do with goats.

Poll tidbit: All you need to know about this free-agent market is that five players got votes for best and worst signings: Hunter, Francisco Cordero, Pedro Feliz, Eric Gagne and Andruw Jones.

The pressure's on, Andruw. Hope you didn't subsist on donuts and beer dring the off-season.

Worst Free-Agent Signing: 1) Carlos Silva, Mariners (4 years, $48 million); 2) Scott Linebrink, White Sox (4 years, $19 million); 3) Aaron Rowand, Giants (5 years, $60 million)--So many choices for this award. So few places to rank them. But in a category in which 17 (count 'em, 17) different players got nominated, the Silva and Linebrink signings squashed the rest of the field. It's a great country when a guy like Silva -- who hasn't had a winning record since 2005 and has struck out fewer hitters over the past three years than Jake Peavy struck out last year -- can rake in 48 million bucks. But as a whole, no category of fat contracts seemed to offend our panel more than excessive bullpen contracts. And $19 million for Linebrink, whose opponent OPS has swelled from .583 to .678 to .742 over the past three years, made him the bad-bullpen-contract poster boy of 2008.

Poll tidbit: Rowand would never have shown up on this list if he'd gotten, say, a three-year deal. But those fourth and fifth years, which the Giants so charitably guaranteed him, allowed him to edge Cordero, Gagne, Jose Guillen and Jones for that prestigious No. 3 ranking.

Hey, the Giants got a mention!

And have you stopped to realize that Barry Bonds is not on any team's roster? No one wants the all-time home-run leader, one year after he set the record? No one wants the extra attendance virtually guaranteed by his at bats? No AL team thinks that, even in a DH role, he brings more positives than negatives? Seriously, this is shocking.

Hank Aaron was able to find a new team the year after he he broke Babe Ruth's record, and he played two more seasons and hit 22 more home runs. Why doesn't anyone want Barry? (This is a rhetorical question, one need not comment with the answer.) (Oh, what the hell, comment if you'd like.)

The Clemens Aftermath: Bucketed with Bonds?

Much has already been written and analyzed about Roger Clemens’ and Brian McNamee’s day on Capitol Hill yesterday, and I found Howard Bryant’s ESPN piece to be a nice summary and post-mortem. Both Clemens and McNamee ended up sullied, arguably even ruined, but at least McNamee (whose account was corroborated by accounts from Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch, Clemens’ wife, and the Mitchell report) maintained his credibility in this matter. Clemens, on the other hand, came out looking like a liar who can’t even look in the mirror:

Clemens, meanwhile, revealed himself as incapable of introspection or culpability. When cornered, he attempted to bully, but Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building is not a pitcher's mound and he did not hold the gavel. Not being in control frustrated Clemens, and he did not know what to do.

He avoided accountability for his role in his own drama. At no point during the day did he take responsibility for the direction of his career or the choices he's made. As much as McNamee, by being a signature player in the steroids era, Clemens has been part of a drug culture that has diminished his standing and that of his sport, but he never once acknowledged his part in its, or his, downfall. There was always someone else who should have done something for Roger. Clemens had an answer for everything the committee asked him, and each answer, when sifted to its essence, was that nothing was his fault.

On the stand and under oath, Clemens claimed his protégé and friend, Pettitte, “misremembered” the situation. His use of B-12, which MLB cautioned teams against, was blamed on advice from his late mother. His choice to contact his nanny, ahead of Congress reaching out to her on their own behalf, was “a favor” (as if Congress didn’t have the resources on their own and needed Clemens’ intervention). That he never even knew about HGH until the last month.

Come on. How stupid do you think we are, Roger?

I’m troubled by all of this since I have admired Clemens’ career, his amazing beginning and late-career rebirth, his off-season workout regimen of legend, even his irascible bat-throwing personality that we call “being a ‘gamer’.” And now, it’s pretty clear that it’s all on a mountain of fraud, illegal drug usage, personal denial, and lack of public accountability or personal introspection.

But I’m even more troubled by this when I juxtapose Clemens against Barry Bonds, another purported steroid abuser and liar under oath. I’ve hated Bonds for years—though admittedly admiring his prodigious offensive talents--for the same list of reasons that now bother me about Clemens. Bonds is (allegedly) also a user, he’s also in denial, he lacks public accountability and personal introspection (and is probably even more frosty with the media). Like Clemens, Bonds has played the “victim” card, to extremely poor and ineffective results.

And throw in the fact that Bonds has achieved most of his career highlights as a San Francisco Giant, and it’s easy to see why Bonds is a fitting recipient for boos, for disgust, for even hatred.

If you're a true Dodger fan, I know you have been right with me: up in the top deck, booing Bonds as he emerged from the dugout and walked to the on-deck circle, vitriol spewing from one's mouth during every pitch of the at bat. Uproarious laughter and cheering, with high-fives all around, should Bonds strike out or even ground out to a heavily shifted infield. More booing, but perhaps some pangs of awe, should he take a pitch deep into the night, the ball traveling so fast that it disappears faster than you can gasp. Booing Barry has been such an integral part of Dodger-Giant games, I can even recall debating the Dodger fans' right to boo as if it was mandated by the Bill of Rights.

But now, in the aftermath of the latest round of this steriods debacle, it may be difficult to rationalize how one feels about Clemens today--but it's even harder to wonder how one would have felt about Clemens back then. Clemens was never a Giant, he mostly pitched in the AL, so we didn't get a chance to see him at Chavez Ravine all that much. But if he really isn't all that different from Bonds, isn’t he also deserving of our scorn, our hatred?

And if Clemens had spent the last fifteen years as a Giant, would I have booed just as loudly? Would any of us have booed at all?

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Bonds indicted on federal charges of perjury...

Barry Bonds Indicted for Perjury

Barry Bonds indicted on perjury, obstruction charges (AP/ESPN.com)

Read the indictment! (.pdf)

Bonds Fights Punctuation Symbols: "Asterisk or Me"

Teamless "victim" Barry Bonds has challenged the Baseball Hall of Fame to deny his asterisk-laced home-run ball, or he will boycott the Hall of Fame. Assuming he gets voted in, of course:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Barry Bonds would boycott Cooperstown if the Hall of Fame displays his record-breaking home run ball with an asterisk.

That includes skipping his potential induction ceremony.

"I won't go. I won't be part of it," Bonds said in an interview with MSNBC that aired Thursday night. "You can call me, but I won't be there."

The ball Bonds hit for home run No. 756 this season will be branded with an asterisk and sent to the Hall. Fashion designer Marc Ecko bought the ball in an online auction and set up a Web site for fans to vote on its fate. In late September, he announced fans voted to send the ball to Cooperstown with an asterisk.

Of course, the asterisk suggests Bonds' record is tainted by alleged steroid use. The slugger has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. Fans brought signs with asterisks to ballparks this season as he neared Hank Aaron's career home run mark.

Bonds has called Ecko "an idiot."

"I don't think you can put an asterisk in the game of baseball, and I don't think that the Hall of Fame can accept an asterisk," Bonds said. "You cannot give people the freedom, the right to alter history. You can't do it. There's no such thing as an asterisk in baseball."

Ecko may indeed be a self-promoting idiot. But Barry clearly doesn't know baseball history, or he would be aware of Roger Maris and the asterisk he lived with for so many years. Barry, there is indeed such a thing as an asterisk in baseball--and according to the fans, you've earned one. Enjoy.

Brain Teaser

What uncommon attribute do the following four people share?

Barry Bonds Doesn't Have Fans In San Francisco

From "Bonds likens departure from Giants to being 'fired' (AP/ESPN.com):

Barry Bonds is a tad bitter about his departure from the San Francisco Giants.

The 43-year-old home run king heard a long list of his accomplishments read during a special speaking forum Wednesday night hosted by the Commonwealth Club, then was asked by KGO Radio host Ray Taliaferro if he'd really reached all those feats.

Fourteen All-Star game selections. A record seven NL MVPs. Eight Gold Glove awards.

"I did, and then I got fired," Bonds told a group of about 450 people in the audience. "Shame on me, huh?"

Bonds, who broke Hank Aaron's home run record with No. 756 on Aug. 7, was told last month by Giants owner Peter Magowan that he would not be brought back for a 16th season in San Francisco.

Bonds, dressed in a dark suit jacket and tie, entered to a roaring standing ovation and repeatedly drew loud applause from an adoring crowd through the nearly 90-minute forum. They chanted, "Barry! Barry!" One person hollered, "We love you." Others took pictures on cell phone cameras or sported shirts with Bonds' No. 25.

Yes, this was a glorified pep rally in a swanky downtown San Francisco hotel featuring five ovations and two of those standing -- for a star baseball player who didn't even stick around when his team paid tribute to him with a video presentation during the final home game of the year. Outside the ballroom where he spoke, Game 1 of the World Series between the Red Sox and Rockies at Fenway Park showed on a TV.

"I don't have fans in San Francisco -- this is my family," said Bonds, who used to bounce around the clubhouse at Candlestick Park as a boy while hanging out with his late father, Bobby, and Hall of Fame godfather Willie Mays.

The Power of Branding: 756 Ball To Get Asterisk

Mark Ecko's publicity stunt worked, as the people voted to brand the 756th HR ball with an asterisk before it goes to Cooperstown:

Over 10 million people voted and were given the options of banishing it into space, bestowing it to the Hall of Fame or branding it with an asterisk, due to the popular thought that Bonds used performance-enhancing drugs to accomplish the feat.

The decision was a landslide as 47 percent of voters put their support behind branding it while 34 percent voted to bestow it to the Hall of Fame.

"We're going to be working with the folks at the Hall of Fame. It is a historical museum. We want to treat this ball as such, as an artifact with respect," Ecko said on the Today Show.

"You bet we're happy to get it," Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey said. "This ball wouldn't be coming to Cooperstown without Mark Ecko buying it from the fan who caught it and then putting it up to the vote of the fans."

I don't know if I would have voted to brand the ball, but now that the decision has been made, I hope the HOF puts the ball in a prominent exhibit, such that it raises the specter of impropriety on Bonds for all who see the artifact. Or, they could put the ball in a basement closet.

Bonds Away

The San Francisco Giants won't be bringing back Barry Bonds for 2008, the team confirmed with ESPN's Pedro Gomez on Friday. The slugger first reported he won't be returning on his Web site.

Bonds' Ball: Bestow, Brand, Banish?

Earlier we reported that Barry Bonds' home run #756 ball sold for $752,467. The buyer was designer Marc Ecko, who's offering fans the chance to vote on the ball's fate:

A) BESTOW IT.
Give the ball to Cooperstown. The ball that broke Hank Aaron's career home run record belongs in the Hall of Fame.

B) BRAND IT.
Burn an asterisk into the ball with a branding iron, adding a permanent footnote to the record. Then, send it to Cooperstown.

C) BANISH IT.
Put the ball on a rocket ship and launch it into orbit, a moon shot for the ages. Out of sight, out of mind.

I know how I'm voting. Click on the picture to vote. (Voting ends September 25.)

Another Bloated Bonds Figure: $750,000

I guess I spoke too soon. A few days ago, it looked like Bonds' 756th would fetch well below the $500,000 experts initially estimated. Alas, yesterday the ball unofficially sold for a hefty $752,467. If that price holds, it would make the top 10 list of most expensive sports collectibles (all of which, incidentally, are baseball items). Although I don't claim any expertise in the field of tainted sports memorabilia valuation, I do know it would take me almost six months to save that kind of cash.

So it looks like 752,467 will join 73 and 762+ on the list of bloated Bonds figures. And I guess Matt Murphy made the right decision to decline the $500k "sell it now" offer that was made before the auction. The buyer is as of yet unidentified. Hey buyer, if you're reading this, grab a username (now required to comment!) and please explain your reasoning.

Update 9/17/07: The buyer has revealed himself to be fashion designer and Yankee fan Marc Ecko, who is looking to you to help him decide what to do with it.

Barry Got Bacsik → Sir Makes-a-Lot?

Two more days to rummage through the sofa cushions for the few hundred thousand dollars it will take to buy Mike Bacsik's historic 31st career HR allowed (bid here). Matt Murphy, who turned down a $500,000 offer immediately after catching the ball, is now looking at a top bid of $248,148 as of 7am PST this morning - approximately 55 hrs before the auction ends. Barring a major last-minute run-up in bids (possible but unlikely), Mr. Murphy might need to try selling ancillary items from his lucky day to make up the difference. And hopefully with more success than this attempt.

A quick shout out to another enhanced slugger

Now we can get on with the rest of the season (except for anyone involved with the Dodgers, the new Stranded Runners King). I've hugged complete strangers (albeit, usually when I'm drunk) with more sincerity than how Bonds embraced his son. Made me sort of miss the king of the hugs... Mark McGwire.

Bonds began to show he's not a machine when tearing up at the mention of his father. But it didn't take away from how the rest of the team reacted - I've seen those guys get more excited for a sacrifice bunt.

All differences aside, I think Bonds will celebrate his record tonight in a fashion very similar to Big Mac.

Staying Classy Pays Off

From "Bonds' No. 70 ball fetches just $14,400 at auction" at CBSSportsLine.com:

CLEVELAND -- Barry Bonds' 70th home run ball from his record-breaking 2001 season sold for just $14,400 at auction after previously selling for $60,000 and valued at about half that.

Doug Allen, president of Mastro Auctions, said Hank Aaron's memorabilia attracted much higher bids in the Friday night auction.

An autographed Aaron jersey sold for $40,000 and his signed rookie contract with the Milwaukee Braves went for $31,200. Aaron's 1954 Topps rookie card sold for $19,200.

The ball was one of only a handful of items that didn't meet its estimated selling price, while all the Aaron memorabilia met or exceeded expectations, Allen said.