Free Republic

(AP) OAKLAND, Calif. Barry, meet the Babe. Barry Bonds tied Babe Ruth for second place on the career list with his 714th home run Saturday, a shot into the first deck of elevated stands in right-center leading off the second inning against the Oakland Athletics. The ball landed about eight rows up in the seats overlooking the high fence just to the left of the out-of-town scoreboard. Though the A's don't provide estimated distances on home runs, the ball appeared to travel about 400 feet -- far from being one of his trademark behemoth drives. The ball was caught on...

(AP) PHILADELPHIA -- Barry Bonds is heading home, one behind the Babe. Bonds hit his 713th homer Sunday night, moving within one of tying Babe Ruth for second place on baseball's career list. The San Francisco Giants' slugger hit a mammoth shot in the sixth inning off Philadelphia right-hander Jon Lieber, sending a 2-1 pitch off the facade of the right-field upper deck during a 9-5 loss to the Phillies. "They tell me that's the way the Babe used to hit them," Giants manager Felipe Alou said. Bonds' fifth homer of the season was estimated at 450 feet, one of...

Who here is a Yankee fan? Yankees have gotten off to somewhat of a rocky start but the starting pitching has been generally fantastic and once the offense stops coming in spurs, they will do some solid damage. This is the year that they finally break through and win the World Series.

They never saw a doctor, didn't even talk to one by phone. The 13 West Palm Beach police officers facing suspensions for buying anabolic steroids told internal investigators they thought they had valid prescriptions because each had established a doctor-patient relationship to get the drugs. The company they patronized, the now-defunct PowerMedica in Deerfield Beach, was part of an online boom in anti-aging and hormone replacement clinics. Such clinics have popped up all over South Florida, operating in a murky area of the law, and they are drawing more scrutiny from regulators. Federal investigators raided PowerMedica in February 2004, and...

Legendary pitcher Bob Feller, who has been in baseball's Hall of Fame longer than any other living player, said on Monday controversial superstar Barry Bonds should be kept out of the exclusive club. Bonds, who owns baseball's single-season home-run record, has been under intense scrutiny since excerpts of a new book last week said he actively used steroids for at least five seasons. "He's not going to get the numbers when it comes to Cooperstown," Feller, 87, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962, told Reuters. "Those players who have been convicted of using steroids or are...

FORT MYERS, Fla. - David Wells gave up Barry Bonds’ 701st home run. He doesn’t want the Giants slugger to pass Babe Ruth’s total of 714. “No. Not really,” the Boston Red Sox left-hander said Wednesday, one day after excerpts of a book were released alleging that Bonds used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds needs seven homers to pass Ruth for second place and 48 to overtake Hank Aaron for the top spot. Wells praised Bonds’ baseball skills but said he should “be a man and come out and say that he did it” if he used steroids.

NEW YORK (SI.com) -- Beginning in 1998 with injections in his buttocks of Winstrol, a powerful steroid, Barry Bonds took a wide array of performance-enhancing drugs over at least five seasons in a massive doping regimen that grew more sophisticated as the years went on, according to Game of Shadows, a book written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters at the forefront of reporting on the BALCO steroid distribution scandal. The authors, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, describe in sometimes day-to-day, drug-by-drug detail how often and how deeply Bonds engaged in the persistent doping. For instance, the authors write that...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Barry Bonds used a vast array of performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids and human growth hormone, for at least five seasons beginning in 1998, according to a book written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters. An excerpt of "Game of Shadows," which provides details of the San Francisco slugger's extensive doping program, appears in the March 13 issue of Sports Illustrated. Bonds, who testified before a San Francisco federal grand jury looking into steroid use by top athletes, repeatedly has denied using performance-enhancing drugs. Phone messages left by The Associated Press seeking comment from his attorney and...

Bodybuilders arrested in woman's slaying Las Vegas couple apprehended outside Boston By GLENN PUIT REVIEW-JOURNAL Charged with murder in death of personal assistant Charged with accessory to murder and third-degree arson Two champion Las Vegas bodybuilders charged in the slaying of their personal assistant were apprehended Friday near Boston, bringing a quick end to a nationally publicized manhunt. Craig Titus, 40, and Kelly Ryan, 33, were taken into custody by a team of federal agents and local officers in the parking lot of a shopping center anchored by a Shaw's supermarket, roughly 15 miles outside of Boston on state Route...

For those who are interested in this tournament.

Oakland -- Testimony in the Bill Romanowski beating trial concluded here Wednesday after the linebacker's former teammate, Jerry Rice, told jurors that he did not approve of Romanowski smashing the face and ending the career of Marcus Williams during a practice drill. "No, I wouldn't condone that at all. That's not what I would do," said Rice, a 20-year NFL veteran and former Raider wide receiver. But on cross examination, Romanowski's attorney, Jeffrey Springer, asked Rice whether he saw the incident that left Williams' left eye socket crushed, ending the 27-year-old's bid to make the Raiders as a special teams...

PORTLAND, Ore. - Olympic ski champion Bill Johnson was charged with assaulting an officer and resisting arrest after punching a sheriff's deputy in the face during a traffic stop, police said. Johnson was stopped in his pickup truck Friday by a Multnomah County sheriff's deputy and a suburban Troutdale police officer. When the officers approached, Johnson pulled out his 1984 gold medal and taunted them by saying, "You don't have one of these," police said. Authorities said Johnson threw his keys at Deputy Jeff Cordes, reached out his window, grabbed the deputy's shirt and punched him in the face. Johnson...

Weightlifter pounds cops at gym By Jessica Fargen Wednesday, January 19, 2005 A muscle-bound man screaming ``like someone who lost their mind'' snapped when he was told to leave a gym, knocking one cop to the ground and punching out another officer's teeth, police said. ``He was just totally out of control,'' said veteran Braintree officer Brian Hickman, who lost two teeth in the Saturday afternoon brawl at Bay Shore Health Club. ``It was very scary. It appeared he wanted to kill both of us, or be killed.'' Michael Lear, 36, of Hull was arraigned yesterday in Quincy District Court...

HERKIMER, N.Y. (AP) -- A former player for the Pittsburgh Steelers led state troopers on a 40-mile chase along the New York State Thruway during morning rush hour Thursday before dying in a fiery head-on collision with a tanker truck carrying corrosive acid. State police identified the victim as Justin Strzelczyk, 36, an offensive lineman with the Steelers for nearly a decade until the team released him in February 2000. Troopers said Strzelczyk crashed his pickup truck into the westbound tanker just moments after swerving around a tractor-trailer that had pulled across the highway to block its path in the...

Hi, I'm sure you are all unaware of the hype! Currently going on around the World via the 'Internet' regarding Comet strikes, Asteroid strikes and 'The end of the World' Armageddon debates. I'm not a professional astronomer, astrologer or a conspiracy theorist, but I can't believe the UK or the WORLD'S mainstream media hasn't picked up on the highly increased number of meteor impacts and sightings over the last few weeks. Why could this be? In the astronomical aspect of things this is huge news. Here are some of the main news headlines over the last few weeks from around...

(CBS) Patrick Koegan was still in high school when he decided he needed to change his body image. "So many people, especially teen-agers, feel self-conscious about their bodies, and if it bothers you that much, you're willing to go to any extreme to change that," says Koegan. He went to the gym seven days a week, but, as CBS News Correspondent Jane Clayson reports, working out wasn't enough. So he, like millions of other young men in this country, started taking illegal, anabolic steroids. "People would go, 'Wow, look at you, you're the picture of health,'" he says. "And I'd...