Barry Bonds' Prosecutors: This Is Your Testicles on Drugs

Great balls of fire!  The trial of Barry Bonds took another twist March 24 when the prosecution revealed that they would make the size of Barry Bonds’ testicles the crux of their case in order to prove that Bonds lied to a grand jury in the 2003 BALCO case.   An expert was called to the stand to explain the symptoms associated with the use of steroids. Larry Bowers, the science director for the U.S. Anti Doping Agency, testified that “it has been well-documented that you can have testicular atrophy."   The reason for this was to lay the scientific foundation to call Bonds' former mistress Kimberly Bell as a witness. She is expected to soon testify that she observed Bonds suffering from testicular shrinkage, bloating, hair loss and acne. All of these are documented side effects of steroid abuse.

A few days before Greg Anderson, the government's key witness against Bonds refused to testify in court, landing him in jail for the fifth time. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston found Bond's personal trainer in contempt of court. His lawyer says Anderson will not testify leaving the governments case against Bonds very weak. In my view Anderson is a hero and a true stand up guy who is willing to sacrifice his own freedom to stop the imprisonment of Bonds for putting a substance in his body.

Bonds returned to the same courthouse where he told a grand jury in December 2003, that he had never knowingly taken performance-enhancing substances. His lawyer confirmed this by suggesting in court that Bonds never lied to a grand jury and even admitted that he may have unwittingly used steroids.

Let's face it, Bond's indictment for lying to a grand jury may be the legal basis of the government wanting to put the baseball legend in prison, but the real underlying reason for this federal indictment 8 years after the BALCO investigation is their failure to get Bonds to admit he had used steroids or any other performance-enhancing drugs. In that case, Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) was alleged to have distributed illegal performance -enhancing drugs, triggering investigations by several governmental agencies. This resulted in a huge scandal which involved many major league baseball players and led to Major League Baseball initiating penalties for players caught using steroids in 2004.

Bonds is facing prison time if convicted. Anti-doping advocates are hoping this will happen and use Bonds as an example to those calling for jail time for baseball players who use steroids. Many say that it may be the only effective deterrent for curbing illegal use.

The government is willing to take down Bonds and in doing so blemish baseball so they can push their personal zero-tolerance agenda for drug use. They are set to call on Barry Bonds' former teammates to testify along with other retired Major League Baseball players in order to nail Bonds to a cross. What's next ? Maybe exhuming the buried bones of all-star Ken Caminiti who died of a heart attack at age 41 after admitting taking steroids to boost his career.

Jailing Bonds will not solve baseball's problem or curb drug use in America. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It has 5 percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's prisoners, with more than 2.4 million citizens sitting behind bars. Many of them have been rotting away in prison for years. One prisoner in particular I have come to know is former race car driver Randy Lanier who is in prison serving a life sentence for marijuana. He is in his 23rd year of incarceration and is currently seeking clemency from President Obama. Despite all of the incarceration, drug use and drug availability are as prevalent as ever.