Bonds will fight back in court
Barry Bonds plans to sue the authors and publisher of a book that alleges the San Francisco Giants’ slugger used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, saying they used “illegally obtained” grand jury transcripts.
Bonds’ attorneys sent a letter Thursday to an agent for the authors of “Game of Shadows,” alerting them of plans to sue the writers, publisher Gotham Books, the San Francisco Chronicle and Sports Illustrated, which published excerpts this month.
The letter, signed by Alison Berry Wilkinson, an associate of Bonds’ lead attorney, Michael Rains, was posted on the Chronicle’s Web site. A hearing was tentatively scheduled for today in San Francisco Superior Court.
Rains said laws prohibit people from possessing grand jury materials unless they are unsealed and said authors Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, both reporters for the Chronicle, “have made a complete farce of the criminal justice system.”
The book, released Thursday, claims Bonds used steroids, human growth hormone, insulin and other banned substances for at least five seasons beginning in 1998.
“We certainly stand by our reporters and the reporting they did for us,” Chronicle executive vice president and editor Phil Bronstein said. “Nothing that’s happened will change that.”
Moyer lands opening stint
Seemingly ageless Jamie Moyer will be the Seattle Mariners’ starting pitcher on opening day for the third consecutive season.
Manager Mike Hargrove made the announcement from Peoria, Ariz., while looking ahead to his team’s April 3 opener against the Los Angeles Angels in Seattle.
Moyer, 43, signed a $5.5 million, one-year contract in December to return for his 11th Mariners season. The left-hander went a team-best 13-7 with a club-leading 4.28 ERA and 200 innings last season.
Felix Hernandez, 19, who dazzled after debuting last August, may also be ace-worthy. But the Mariners have pledged to limit Hernandez to less than 200 innings to preserve his long-term health and effectiveness.
Seattle’s rotation will be Moyer, Joel Pineiro, Jarrod Washburn, Gil Meche and Hernandez.
•Felix Hernandez allowed one run and four hits in five innings, and Ichiro Suzuki, returning from Japan’s championship team in the World Baseball Classic, went 3 for 3 as Seattle’s split squad defeated Arizona 4-2 in Cactus League play at Peoria, Ariz.
Earlier, Glendon Rusch gave up one hit in five innings, pitching the Chicago Cubs to a 6-1 win over a Mariners split squad in Mesa, Ariz.
Around the bases
Lakeland (Rathdrum) High graduate Josh Phelps, a first baseman/designated hitter, was reassigned to minor league camp by the Detroit Tigers. … New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada was released from a Tampa, Fla., hospital, one day after being admitted for a broken nose. Posada was hurt Wednesday when he was hit in the face by a ball while playing catch.