Barry Bonds of the SF Giants Leads the Government In the Perjury Trial

Chances are that Barry Bonds used performance enhancing substances that are frowned upon or are illegal, but in the greatest country in the world, it requires more than circumstantial evidence for one to be proven guilty.

Bonds' lead lawyer, Allen Ruby, told the jury that Bonds used steroids. Superficially, it sounds as if the prosecution has a strong case, but Ruby explained that Bonds admitted only that he used substances called "the cream" and the "clear." At the time, Bonds didn't know what he was being given. Ruby explained no other athletes were aware what they were using because the substances were new to the market.

It is impossible to prove if Bonds really didn't know what he was taking. Hundreds of millions of Americans go to the drug store to purchase drugs for various ailments. Many of those drugs used to require a physician's prescription, but in recent years it has become possible to obtain those drugs at lower than prescription strength over the counter.

Do those who enforce drug laws know if an individual used more than the recommended dose? More importantly, do those who use such drugs know what ingredients they contain?

Few Americans question "experts." Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, recommended that Bonds take certain substances. Like most people, Bonds didn't question Anderson. He took what he was given because Anderson was the "expert."

At the opening of Bonds' trial, Steve Hoskins, a former Bonds' business partner, testified that Bonds and Anderson walked into the master bedroom at his spring training home once or twice during spring for three consecutive seasons beginning in 2000. The trainer had a syringe with a needle.

Hoskins then stated that he never saw Anderson inject Bonds.

Was Anderson going to use the syringe and needle? In all likelihood, yes, but while that is a strong conclusion, it is still speculation.

If Hoskins had seen Anderson inject Bonds, there could be no speculation, but Hoskins testified that he never saw Anderson using the syringe and needle. Maybe he was going to instruct him on their use (Want to buy a bridge in Brooklyn?).

Their are many other reasons that Anderson had the syringe and needle, but concluding that he was going to use them to inject Bonds with one or more performance enhancing substances is conjecture. He might have used them to inject himself.

Hoskins said the all-time single season and career home run leader asked to get information about Winstrol in 1999 when he was undergoing elbow surgery. Hoskins received information from Dr. Arthur Ting, who has the authority to prescribe steroids to his patients who have had elbow surgery. Need some cortisone, Mr. Sore Armed pitcher?

The above proves nothing. How many individuals sought information about androstenedione when they learned that Mark McGwire was using it? Curiosity may kill cats, but it can't lead to the conclusion that because one is curious about a substance that one goes on to use it.

It was during this time period, Hoskins testified, that Bonds' body changed.

"His shoe size just got bigger. His glove size changed. His body weight changed. He got heavier and bigger."

Performance enhancing can cause such changes, but there is no proof that is what caused them. Compare the great Jeter today with Derek in 1992 when he was 18 years old (Derekat18).

How many Americans have weight problems that start when they are in their thirties?

What are the chances that getting older caused Bonds' changed physical appearance and increased hat size? The answer is slim and none, but that is not the point. Under the American justice system, in a criminal case, not a civil case, Bonds must be given the benefit of the doubt.

Hoskins recorded a conversation between Bonds and Anderson made in 2003. Anderson discussed what the prosecution alleges are steroids he supplied to Bonds. Anderson told Bonds "But the whole thing is...everything that I've been doing at this point, it's all undetectable."

It sounds incriminating, but the key is that Anderson never indicates what is undetectable. Logical and common sense support the prosecution's allegations, but that is not good enough.

Few baseball players have their best seasons after the age of about 35.

From ages 36-39, Babe Ruth hit .329, averaged 36 home runs a season, and slugged .628. Compare what Ruth looked like when he was the Boston Red Sox' pitching ace to Ruth when he was 39 years old.

Among today's players, Chipper Jones had his best season when he was 36, leading the league with a .364 batting average and a .470 on base average.

But most players reach their peak much earlier, and no one's peak seasons are equivalent to Bonds' best years.

Barry Bonds took performance enhancing substances. His lawyer admitted that fact, but Bonds is accused of lying to a grand jury when he claimed that he didn't know what Anderson was giving him.

There is not enough evidence at this point to prove that he did.

References:

New York Times