[bigboydan]

god i sure hope they nail this guy to the wall somehow. the only reason bonds is even doing this, is because of that homerun record.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A lawyer for baseball slugger Barry Bonds, who is accused of using steroids in a book on sale on Thursday, said he would seek a court restraining order and disgorgement of profits from the high-profile volume.

The allegations in "Game of Shadows" have already sparked fierce debate over Bonds's place in the record books as he nears Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time home-run list.

In a letter to the agent of authors Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, attorney Alison Berry Wilkinson said her firm would file the legal action in San Francisco Superior Court on Friday.

"Our client, Barry Bonds, will seek an ex parte application for a temporary restraining order against them, as well as Gotham Books/Penguin USA, Sports Illustrated Magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle," she wrote in the letter, a copy of which was posted on the Chronicle's Web site.

"This injunctive action will be brought pursuant to California's Unfair Competition Law ... to obtain, in summary, disgorgement of any profits related to or derived from the publication and distribution of the book."

The two authors work for the Chronicle. Sports Illustrated, a Time Warner company, published excerpts two weeks ago. Gotham Books, a division of Penguin, is part of Pearson Plc..

"We at Gotham Books are shocked that Barry Bonds would take such a foolish step," said Gotham Vice President Lisa Johnson. "Any respected First Amendment lawyer in America knows that his claim is nonsense."

Author Fainaru-Wada told Reuters: "We fully stand by the reporting in the book and are confident of the accuracy of the reporting."

The authors used closed-door grand jury testimony as well as court documents and interviews to draw their portrait of Bonds as an overbearing and egotistical player driven by jealousy to use steroids.

Baseball only set rules against steroids in 2003, and Bonds, the holder of the single season home-run record of 73, has not failed a drug test since. He has nine hits in 13 at bats in spring training this year, including four home runs.

After planning an initial print run of 50,000, Gotham Books boosted the number to 248,000 in response to strong interest, Johnson said. The lawsuit could bring even more publicity to a volume already reviewed in many newspapers on Thursday

The San Francisco Giants have said little about the controversy. "We said this a thousand times -- that we cannot speak on this matter because it's an ongoing legal process," team President Peter Magowan told Reuters on Thursday.

A key source in the book is a former Bonds lover, Kimberly Bell, who bolsters the steroid case against Bonds and says she received money from the seven-time Most Valuable Player not reported to tax authorities.

"There is an ongoing investigation and I don't want to interrupt that in any way," she told Reuters. "Because of the investigation and the potential there at this time I am not making any commentary on the situation or the book."

Legal experts say the book could also prompt the U.S. attorney to investigate whether Bonds lied to a federal grand jury when he testified in the BALCO steroid case. Bell has already testified before a grand jury.

[Illusion]

Does anybody else here find it funny that he's not disputing the claims he took steroids.

[onlooker]

I just heard on ESPN News that the judge has denied the lawsuit because Freedom of Speech shielded the authors against such lawsuits.

[bigboydan]

I just heard on ESPN News that the judge has denied the lawsuit because Freedom of Speech shielded the authors against such lawsuits.

GOOD!, i'm glad to hear that the judge denied his suit. i wanna see bonds fry on this one

[Willie Bee]

"Any respected First Amendment lawyer in America knows that his claim is nonsense."

One of the few times you'll read 'respected' and 'lawyer' in the same sentence

Didn't the San Fran Chronicle already publish a lot of the GJ testimony last year? How can reading a newspaper be called 'obtaining grand jury testimony illegally?'

[Illusion]

I just heard on ESPN News that the judge has denied the lawsuit because Freedom of Speech shielded the authors against such lawsuits.

Great news. I hope this decision doesn't get appealed.

[bigboydan]

notice that he's not disputing the roids use at all. he's disputing the leaked info used in the book.

[Winston Smith]

Didn't the San Fran Chronicle already publish a lot of the GJ testimony last year? How can reading a newspaper be called 'obtaining grand jury testimony illegally?'

Unless I'm mistaken, the authors of this book were the authors of said article.

But, either way, you can't sue the publishers, the authors, and SI because somebody along the line leaked the testimony. They just wrote about it.

[shady610]

Am in the only person who doesnt believe he did roids and people are out to get him?