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The Indictment of Barry Bonds On November 15 2007, baseball’s current home run king was indicted on charges of perjury, lying in front of a grand jury. Since 2003 the grand jury has been exploring what stars in the MLB could be possible users of performance enhancing drugs. When Barry Bonds testified in front of them, he said that he would have never knowingly used steroids, but this indictment contends that he did. If Bonds were to be convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice he could face up to 15 years in prison. Even if Barry Bonds is convicted there is no guarantee that he would still not be able to get into the Hall of Fame. In May of 2002 Bonds was quoted as saying, “Doctors ought to quit worrying about what ballplayers are taking. What players take doesn't matter. It's nobody else's business.” Actually, as a professional athlete, it’s everyone’s business. A player doesn’t have to be a great role model for kids to be in the HOF, but they should at least have a strong moral problem with cheating to get there. It would just be sad that on many occasions, if convicted, he would’ve had the audacity to say he never used. Pete Rose the all time leader for most hits was banned from baseball for gambling on his team while he was the manager and is not in the Hall of Fame. If Barry Bonds is indicted he should be banned from baseball for cheating and lying to the federal government during his career. If Bonds were to be barred from the Hall of Fame, his records would still exist. Most would like to put a big asterisk next to all of his achievements. The problem with this is that his shadow of cheating would stay on baseball forever. This situation should be dealt with the same way as other steroid issues in professional sports. In September of 2007, Tour de France winner Floyd Landis was found guilty for doping, and he was stripped of his medals and any records or times during the race. October, 2007, found track star Marion Jones guilty of using steroids. All of her 5 medals and times from the 2005 Olympics have been taken away. If Barry Bonds does get convicted why not treat him like other big record holders in other sports, take away his titles, and remove him the spotlight. Bonds has not actually been convicted, or proven guilty at this point. The grand jury seems to think that they have enough evidence send him to prison, but will MLB have the guts to revolt against their home run king? |
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