San Francisco Giants’ Barry Bonds walks to the field with Milwaukee Brewers’ Darnell Coles, left, and Pat Murphy for a spring training baseball game Wednesday, March 22, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
by Michael Duca
SCOTTSDALE AZ–Former San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds left the Giants after the 2007 season since that time he’s gone under federal perjury indictment charges and was found not guilty of perjury for the accusation of using steroids knowingly under oath during grand jury testimony but willing but was found guilty of obstruction of justice. Bonds fought back and won after spending sometime serving house arrest and had his obstruction charge dropped and cleared his name. Shortly after his legal issues were resolved he took up bicycling and rode a bike everywhere and shed weight and looked much different from the steroid era period player of the pre 2007 season.
Bonds took a job with the Florida Marlins during the 2016 season but right after the season Florida manager Don Mattingly said he would quit if the team brass didn’t get rid of Bonds, Bonds was unceremoniously fired. Reasons were not clear but fans and media in Miami used their imaginations as to why as talk was he was surly and missed team film meetings and showed up at the park later than some of the players. Now Bonds returns to San Francisco for the 2017 season as assistant CEO to Giants team president and CEO Larry Baer. Bonds will be in Scottsdale as a coach for the final six days of Cactus League before departing with the club to San Francisco for the Giants Bay Bridge Series with the Oakland A’s on Thursday the 30th at AT&T Park. Bonds calls his return to San Francisco like returning home to “family” and there is talk about adding his name to AT&T Park’s Wall of Fame. A new chapter unfolds for Bonds for 2017.
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