We’re currently enjoying the makings of a fantastic postseason, so hearing anything relating to Barry Bonds is something of a downer, but here goes.
According to the Associated Press, Federal prosecutors on Friday submitted their list of witnesses they intend to call for Bonds’ long-delayed perjury hearing, scheduled to begin March 21 in San Francisco.
Nothing all that revelatory, as the the list of 25 witnesses doesn’t have any new names from the near-identical list prosecutors filed in February of 2009, a month before the trial was originally scheduled to begin. According to the report, the list includes Jason Giambi, Jason’s brother Jeremy Giambi, Bobby Estalella, Armando Rios, Marvin Bernard, Benito Santiago and Randy Velarde. Bonds’ former girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, and former football player Larry Izzo are also expected to testify.
Perhaps the most interesting thing to emerge from the AP report -- it was new to me, anyway -- is that prosecutors intend to use a urine sample Bonds provided as part of MLB’s testing program in 2003, which they say proves that he tested positive for steroid use.
OK, with that painful update out of the way, let’s get back to talking playoff baseball.