On Friday, Barry Bonds – who has been pretty quiet in retirment – was sentenced (finally) in his role in the BALCO saga. However, he was on trial in federal court in San Francisco for allegedly lying about his steroid use.
Frankly, I even forgot his case was still on-going.
After all the federal money used on his case, years of investigation and probably paperwork numbering thousands of pages — this is what Bonds got for his punishment: 30 days of home confinement (aka, house arrest), two years of probation, 250 hours of community service and a $4,000 fine.
So, Bonds doesn’t go to jail and I’m sure he’ll serve his house arrest in a mansion somewhere. That’s all fine and well; however, some people are upset that he’s not serving time in a penitentiary.
Personally, who cares if Bonds goes to jail? Honestly, he’s already serving a harsh sentence as-is. No one really cares about him.
Wherever he goes in the United States – or even on God’s green earth – he’ll be as a freaking cheater rather than an all-time great ballplayer.
The man could not find a job in the sport after the Giants decided to cut ties with him not too long after the 2007 season. It’s not like he was washed up at time. Bonds did have relatively strong numbers in light of dealing with injuries.
Furthermore, Bonds is probably paying a heavy price for being a reported jerk to the media and fans over the years. He more than likely would never get a job as a coach, broadcaster, executive or ambassador in sport of baseball right now.
I’m sure if Bonds had been a nicer fellow, he might have gotten a little more sympathy from everyone and perhaps been open about his use. Look at what happened Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi and Mark McGwire – who is the hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s not to say that Bonds would not been derided by the public for his alleged drug use; however, but he would not be exiled from the sport that his father played and brought him immeasurable wealth.
In the end, the court of public opinion has given him a sentence. Much like former Oriole Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and Jose Canseco, he’s been seemingly frozen from the game.
