As the government has gone after the prosecution of BALCO, it's always been apparent that they weren't satisfied with breaking up the labs or convicting Victor Conte. The Playboy article last summer showed a near vendetta by senior agents of the FBI and IRS towards Barry Bonds.

Now, we have the first smoking gun in the case. I'm reserving comment on particulars for now, but this looks extremely bad. There are detailed references to specific drugs with specific side effects in the testimony obtained by the SF Chronicle.

This "trial by leak" is something I'm very much against. In this case, the government has leaked its first significant broadside into what has been a very united front by Conte, Anderson, and others. The coming weeks should be very interesting and for the game of baseball, very sad. This could be as significant as any negative event in baseball history and as much of a media circus as the Ron Artest brawl.