Bonds Cashing out?

The best hitter since Babe Ruth hinted today that he might just retire before breaking the Bambino's lifetime homer mark, in the face of three recent knee surgeries and the ongoing steroids scandals.

"You wanted me to jump off a bridge, I finally did," Bonds [told reporters]. "You finally brought me and my family down. … So now go pick a different person." […]

"My son and I are just going to enjoy our lives. You guys wanted to hurt me bad enough, you finally got me," Bonds said. "I'm mentally drained. I'm tired of my kids crying."

The latest incidence of illegal Bonds-related Grand Jury leaking came over the weekend, when the testimony of Bonds' reported ex-mistress, who says the slugger copped to steroid use in 2000, was spilled across the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Here's my take from December on George Bush vs. Barry Bonds, and here's a column from the March issue poking the Chron for confusing their government-enabling series of Grand Jury leaks to the Pentagon Papers.