Barry Bonds Indicted In Steroid Probe

All-Time Home Run Leader Faces Perjury And Obstruction Of Justice Charges

(CBS/AP)  Union head Donald Fehr said he was "saddened" to learn of Bonds' indictment.

"However, we must remember, as the U.S. Attorney stated in his press release today, that an indictment contains only allegations, and in this country every defendant, including Barry Bonds, is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until such time as he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

The White House weighed in, too.

"The president is very disappointed to hear this," Bush spokesman Tony Fratto said. "As this case is now in the criminal justice system, we will refrain from any further specific comments about it. But clearly this is a sad day for baseball."

Mr. Bush, who once owned the Texas Rangers, called Bonds to congratulate him in August when the Giants' outfielder broke the home run mark. "You've always been a great hitter and you broke a great record," Mr. Bush said at the time.

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, who is investigating drug use in baseball, declined comment. So did Hall of Fame vice president Jeff Idelson.

Bonds was charged in the indictment with lying when he said he didn't knowingly take steroids given to him by Anderson. Bonds is also charged with lying that Anderson never injected him with steroids.

"Greg wouldn't do that," Bonds testified in December 2003 when asked if Anderson ever gave him any drugs that needed to be injected. "He knows I'm against that stuff."

Anderson's attorney, Mark Geragos, said the trainer didn't cooperate with the grand jury that indicted Bonds.

"This indictment came out of left field," Geragos said. "Frankly I'm aghast. It looks like the government misled me and Greg as well, saying this case couldn't go forward without him."

Prosecutors promised Bonds they wouldn't charge him with any drug-related counts if he testified truthfully. But according to the indictment, Bonds repeatedly denied taking any steroids or performance-enhancing drugs despite evidence to the contrary.

For instance, investigators seized a so-called "doping calendar" labeled "BB" during a raid of Anderson's house.

"He could know other BBs," Bonds replied when shown the calendar during his testimony.

Asked directly if Anderson supplied him with steroids, Bonds answered: "Not that I know of." Bonds even denied taking steroids when he was shown documents revealing a positive steroids test for a player named Barry B.

Bonds said at the end of the 2003 season, Anderson rubbed some cream on his arm that the trainer said would help him recover. Anderson also gave him something he called "flax seed oil," Bonds said.

Bonds then testified that prior to the 2003 season, he never took anything supplied by Anderson, which the indictment alleges was a lie because the doping calendars seized from Anderson's house were dated 2001.

Bonds became the highest-profile figure caught up in the government investigation, launched in 2002, with the raid of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), the Burlingame-based supplements lab that was the center of a steroids distribution ring.

Bonds has long been shadowed by allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. The son of former big league star Bobby Bonds, Barry broke into the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986 as a lithe, base-stealing outfielder.

By the late 1990s, he'd bulked up to more than 240 pounds -- his head, in particular, becoming noticeably bigger. His physical growth was accompanied by a remarkable power surge.

Speculation of his impending indictment had mounted for more than a year.

Bonds' contract with the San Francisco Giants ended this season, adds Keteyian. Now there's a very good reason to believe he may well have played his last game in the major leagues.

Bonds remained out of sight today on a hunting trip.

[bhappy2-2]

HEY CBS-
Why is there a comment section for this story:
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If YOU aren''t going to SHOW the comments? Are you afraid the citizens of America might PISSOFF the president of mexico by telling him he can take his 20 million ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADERS home? Are you concerned we, the citizens of America, might tell him if his CRIMINALS don''t want to be harassed they should SELF DEPORT? Why don''t you show the comment about these ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADERS and their sorry excuse for a president? What makes him think he can dictate ANYTHING to OUR COUNTRY when his country is so bad HIS people are leaving in droves?

[name_verify]

Bonds could have squeezed an extra 100 homers out of his career using steroids.

[Krazcarl]

Lets face it the chance to make millions endorsements we might all take a few pills but I do agree he should be taken out of the record books but how many others are sliding? My brother got caught up in steroids bodybuilder could press 400 it showed in his personality.

[thgdriver]

Barry Bonds, baseball''s home run king, NOT ---- *****----

[thgdriver]

Barry Bonds is a great baseball player who probably did not need performance enhancing drugs to begin with.

Need a comparison more resent?

O J Simpson did not need to take the law into his own hands, but he did. Now he is in deep shait.

[thgdriver]

The whole Patriot Football team is next. Damm cheaters!!

It''s very clear now how they beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the super bowl. Lousy CHEATERS!!

[thgdriver]

Barry Bonds is a great baseball player who probably did not need performance enhancing drugs to begin with.

Well, we will never know for sure will we? We do know him to be a chronic habitual lier under oath though. Do the crime pay the piper!!

Nixon would have beaten George McGovern to a pulp and did, he did not need to break into the Watergate Hotel. Fact is he did. Do the crime pay the piper.

[realpatriot1]

Major League Baseball the Major League business that knowingly looked the other way while Bonds & Mcquire & Sosa & Gonzalez & Canseco ballooned up along with their home run stats should refund the fans ticket proceeds for the past 10 years.

[cryonbrian]

I even heard that the roids they are talking about gave him better hand and eye coodination! LOL

[agarwal1]

Steroids and Marijuana should be make a must to take before any game...

AI''NT THAT A GOOD IDEA!!
I know you al love thiws idea!

[lucy-in-tx]

Barry Bonds is a great baseball player who probably did not need performance enhancing drugs to begin with.

And it is too bad those kinds of drugs are made so readily available to players who lack that tiny bit of security needed to totally believe in themselves and their natural abilities without having to pump up and become ''super'' size. It is also a sad thing that the human ego is so fragile in so many of us, but that is our nature sometimes.

And it is awful there are greedy ''doctors'' and dealers out there just waiting to push and manipulate an insecure person into using those kinds of drugs. I do hope the person responsible for pushing them is also punished just as harshly, as they dang well should be as this is probably an extremely profitable ''business'' for the dealers and/or doctors because of whom they prey upon.

But Barry, apparently you made the choice to use them in the first place, but no matter the outcome I wish you well and it has always been a pleasure to watch you play... even though I am a lifelong dyed blue DODGERS fan! :)

[agarwal1]

See Berie injecting caught on tape!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y
YjQpFAGUrQ

[aesop2-2009]

Why is so much money being wasted in pursuit of something that I for one find unimportant. Baseball is entertainment who cares what those who play do to themselves. It is not important in the greater scheme of life. If Barry Bonds or others wish to use steroids, so what.

[jetlizhan]

i really hate this for him. i''ve believed him all the way, but i don''t know, something''s just not right. hate to say this, but i think he knowingly took the steroids. what a shame.

[agarwal1]

see it caught on tape
Watch the beating of women on live video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjQpFAGUrQ

[brianbwb-2009]

"That will be fair to the ones that played honestly, and to Bonds as well."
Posted by adian1

The problem is that none of them played any more "honestly" than Bonds.

[jowand]

"Pat Robertson claims on his web site that through training and his "Age-Defying energy shake", he is able to leg press 2,000 pounds..." [Wikipedia]

I cannot be persuaded that Pat Robertson is five times as strong as Madeleine Albright.

[Robertson is 76, Albright a mere 70]

Posted by Iceman_1960 at 01:16 AM : Nov 16, 2007

Depends what the incline angle is, but then you would have to ask, what is IS?

[adian1-2009]

This is no big deal. Bonds always deserved an asterisk near any mention of his leadership in home runs. If he is found guilty, either he deserves double-asterisks or a full explanation to the effect that his numbers are owed to chemistry as opposed to natural numbers achieved by others in the Hall of Fame. That will be fair to the ones that played honestly, and to Bonds as well.

[tmn]

"his head, in particular, becoming noticeably bigger"

[rudy654-2009]

Of course, as I said earlier, we can all go back to Limbaugh and remember the little pat on the hand he got for doctor shopping. He made a big deal about his DOCTORS being interviewed and that it was a violation of his rights. Apparently, that didn''t stop them from violating Bond''s rights now did it? I knew the hate monger would get away with it, because, well, he is white and rich, and a political favorite. If only he had been some poor white trash then just maybe they would not have thought twice about interviewing all those doctors prescribing illegal medications for him. I love the hypocrisy of our system.