Bonds, and His Legacy, On Trial

Barry Bonds pleaded Not Guilty last week to perjury and obstruction of justice charges stemming from his testimony during the BALCO trial. The Federal Government contends that the Giants slugger and all-time Major League Baseball home-run record holder lied under oath when he denied having ever knowingly taken steroids. At this point, there doesn’t seem to be any question that Bonds ingested steroids, specifically THG, at some point, given that his trainer Victor Conte was convicted of conspiracy to distribute steroids. The real question for the court is whether Bonds did so knowingly.

For most of the country – in other words, everyone not in San Francisco – Bonds is going to be a villain regardless of the verdict. He is abrasive with the media, he’s had two scathing books written about him (Game of Shadows, complete with leaked Grand Jury testimony, and Love Me, Hate Me, a biography with even more damning accusations), and he does little to dispel the idea that he only looks out for #1, having even withdrawn from the MLB players’ union so he could make more money for himself.

In spite of all this, however, let’s be clear: regardless of what people may think of him personally, Bonds deserves a fair shake. He is innocent until proven guilty, and it is up to the government to prove the charges against him. That being said, one cannot help but wonder how the outcome of this case will affect Bonds’ legacy in baseball. Although Bonds is being charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, the implicit meaning of a guilty verdict would be that he knowingly used steroids. There is no telling what, if anything, Major League Baseball would do in that situation, but for the public, it would be obvious: the suspicions that have surrounded Barry Bonds the last several years would have been confirmed by a federal court, and the asterisk would be all but branded into the proverbial buttocks of the record book. Moreover, given the reaction by Hall of Fame voters to Mark Mcguire, who hasn’t been convicted of anything steroids related, it also seems likely that Barry Bonds’ entry into the Hall of Fame would be put in serious jeopardy.

On the other hand, a not guilty verdict would simply return things to the status quo of rumors and accusations, which for Bonds, is probably well within his comfort level. From an official standpoint, however, barring any ground-breaking new evidence, a not guilty verdict should put to rest any talk of official sanctions like an asterisk in front of his record, or being penalized by Hall of Fame voters. Bonds will probably never be cleared in the mind of the public, but he would have received as official an exoneration as he could hope for – namely, from a jury of his peers.

Although it is certainly not the intent of federal prosecutors to put Barry Bonds’ baseball records on trial, these perjury charges effectively do just that. For his part, facing prison time, Bonds surely has far more on his mind than asterisks and the Hall of Fame. I don’t know that either mattered a lot to him anyway. Regardless, the side-effect of this criminal trial will be some sense of resolution to the questions swirling around Bonds and his legacy in baseball. If guilty, it will be hard to pretend he did nothing wrong. If acquitted… people will still accuse. But those accusations will have to be done in the face of two words: Not Guilty.