Barry Bonds (Juiced Merge)

[OH10]

File the possibility of Bonds winning this suit in the "No Chance" category.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

3/26/06

Appointment expected

With opening day only a week away, it’s highly likely commissioner Bud Selig will appoint someone to investigate Barry Bonds’ ties to steroids within the next few days. Selig, fatigued by travel from Milwaukee to Arizona and the World Baseball Classic sites this spring, spent the weekend resting and clearing his head before publicly diving into the Bonds matter.

According to highly placed sources, Selig has been wrestling with the scope and language of an investigation. It appears Bonds’ alleged flagrant use of steroids, as reported in the book Game of Shadows, which largely followed the same trails as federal prosecutors in the BALCO investigation, will be the primary focus but that could open doors involving other players, including Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield.
Bonds has had an amazing spring considering questions about his knee and the storm clouds over his career. He entered the weekend having gone 9 for 13 with four home runs and eight RBI. He was scratched from the San Francisco Giants’ lineup for an exhibition game yesterday because of a strained left elbow. Giants trainer Stan Conte stressed the move was strictly a precaution for the seven-time National League MVP, who’s closing on Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron atop baseball’s career home-run list.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

3/27/06

Bonds may not take another spring swing

JANIE McCAULEY

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Barry Bonds might not take another Cactus League swing in Arizona, choosing instead to rest his tender left elbow and surgically repaired right knee before the season starts.
Bonds was examined by two doctors Sunday for evaluation of his inflamed elbow, and the San Francisco Giants were hopeful the slugger would resume on-field baseball activities Monday.
"The doctors were very happy with what they saw in the examination," team spokesman Blake Rhodes said.
The Giants break spring training on Wednesday, though Bonds has said he plans to return to the Bay Area a day ahead of the team and work out Wednesday at the stadium in San Francisco. The Giants host the Angels on Thursday and Bonds is still projected to play in that game as well as Saturday's exhibition in Oakland. San Francisco opens the season April 3 at San Diego.
"Thursday and Saturday, that's what we're looking at," manager Felipe Alou said after the Giants' 6-5 loss to the San Diego Padres in Peoria. "I wasn't really concerned yesterday. ... It's nice to know for sure it's nothing serious."
Alou certainly would like to see Bonds in left field again before the opener, though Bonds potentially could be the designated hitter in both those games if the Angels agree to let him do it in the Giants' NL ballpark.
Bonds, scratched from the lineup Saturday with what was then called a strained elbow, seemed upbeat during a brief stop at Scottsdale Stadium for treatment before heading out. He was examined by Giants team doctor Ken Akizuki and Angels orthopedist Lewis Yocum.
The seven-time NL MVP, 10-for-16 with four homers this spring, underwent an MRI exam Saturday that revealed inflammation in the back of his elbow - apparently unrelated to the surgery he had April 20, 1999, to repair a damaged triceps tendon near his left elbow that landed him on the disabled list for seven weeks.
"The trainer had a pretty good feeling this (wasn't) 1999," Alou said.
By Sunday, Bonds had full range of motion in the joint, the swelling was gone and he was not in pain, trainer Stan Conte said.
"If this were a regular-season game, he could probably play," Conte said. "We're trying to be ultraconservative. He shouldn't have any restrictions, but we'll see how he comes through."
Bonds, facing more scrutiny than ever after last week's release of the book "Game of Shadows" detailing his alleged longtime steroids regimen, has been optimistic about starting the season healthy and resuming his chase of the home run record. In the final season of a $90 million, five-year contract, the 41-year-old Bonds has 708 homers - seven shy of passing Babe Ruth and 48 from breaking Hank Aaron's mark of 755.
Bonds' teammates aren't worried about him being ready. Even after missing the first five months of the 2005 season following three operations on his right knee, his swing was still intact in the 14 games he did play in September.
He hit five home runs and drove in 10 runs.
"He's the kind of guy who can come back after a two- or three-month period and do what he's used to doing," said Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel, who won his 10th Gold Glove award last season at age 38.
"He's one of those patient hitters at the plate and he has natural ability. We hope he'll be OK. You don't want to go into the beginning of the season hurt or with any sore muscles."

[tibor75]

Bonds proclaims 'my life is in shambles'
Slugger 'just trying to stay sane,' but also upbeat amid steroid controversy

Updated: 7:23 p.m. ET March 27, 2006
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Seven home runs shy of passing Babe Ruth, this should be a time of unbridled joy and excitement for Barry Bonds.

Not so, he says.

“My life is in shambles. It is crazy,” Bonds said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press. “It couldn’t get any crazier. I’m just trying to stay sane.”

Then, clearly joking, he went for shock value:

“Go to the Empire State Building and jump off, commit suicide and people can say, ’Barry Bonds is finally dead.’ Except for in San Francisco,” he said. “I’ll leave something for them.”

Despite those pronouncements, the 41-year-old Bonds has been upbeat and approachable — by his standards — this spring despite the recent release of “Game of Shadows,” the book detailing his alleged longtime regimen for taking performance-enhancing drugs.

He appears unfazed at the plate. He’s 10-for-16 with four homers in exhibition play despite being held out of San Francisco’s lineup for the third straight day because of a tender left elbow.

Bonds starts the season next Monday at San Diego with 708 homers, close to Ruth and 48 from breaking Hank Aaron’s mark of 755.

Asked how he blocks out distractions, he says:

“What’s my job description? That’s what I’m doing at that time,” Bonds said. “No, I don’t forget (what is said). I will never forget. I forgive you but I don’t forget. I forgive everybody.”

Bonds teased about starting the season on the disabled list, — saying “it could happen” — then changed his stance completely and said he “will” play in one of the Giants’ exhibition games back in the Bay Area later this week.

Bonds certainly looks healthy and vibrant, though still a little heavier than usual.

He spent the morning slurping a smoothie while sitting in his corner locker, and wrestling with his personal videographer in the clubhouse. He stopped by the card table to socialize with teammates, too. Later, he had a lengthy sitdown with players’ union head Donald Fehr.

Bonds is scheduled to return to California on Tuesday — one day before the Giants officially break camp in Arizona — and work out Wednesday in San Francisco.

Bonds played in only 14 games last season, all in September, following three operations on his troublesome right knee. An exam over the weekend revealed inflammation.

“It’s fine,” Bonds said. “The knee is good. ... I’ve just got to get my strength back. My legs are fine. I just took a couple weeks off from training.”

Bonds joked that he is ready for the season to start because then “it’s closer to being over.” He is in the final year of a $90 million, five-year contract and will be eligible for free agency after the World Series.

Bonds has said he wants to retire in San Francisco, and the Giants realize he is the biggest reason they have drawn 3 million fans a year in each of the first six seasons of their waterfront ballpark — the highest attendance in the National League during that period.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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[NFBuck]

“Go to the Empire State Building and jump off, commit suicide and people can say, ’Barry Bonds is finally dead.’ Except for in San Francisco,” he said. “I’ll leave something for them.”

Leave what in SF? A dumpster full of empty vials and syringes? What an ass.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

“My life is in shambles. It is crazy,” Bonds said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press. “It couldn’t get any crazier. I’m just trying to stay sane.”

You reap what you sow......I have no sympathy for this guy....