FanHouse Susan Illston

Over the last few years there have probably been more than a few baseball fans who feel like they've learned a bit too much about those who play the sport. Instead of hearing all about their steroid use, these people would prefer to live in denial about any such problems with the sport and just watch baseball. Bud Selig is no doubt an example of this type of baseball fan.

Well, Bud and the rest of those fans should probably do everything in their power to avoid Barry Bonds' trial over the next few weeks, because if you think hearing about players injecting themselves -- or in some cases, having Jose Canseco do it -- in the butt with steroids is too much, then you're going to faint during Barry's trial. On Wednesday Barry's lawyers filed a motion to ensure that his testicles can't be used as evidence against him.

We now interrupt our playoff programming to bring you an update on baseball's greatest villain: Barry Bonds.

In case you forgot about it, Barry Bonds is getting ready to go to court as part of that whole BALCO investigation we used to hear so much about. Bonds faces possible jail time if he's found guilty of perjury for lying to the grand jury during the investigation, but he did get some good news on Friday.

Tammy Thomas is a former bicyclist who was on trial for the same crime in the same BALCO investigation, and she won't have to serve any prison time even though she was found guilty.

In U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Judge Susan Illston sentenced Tammy Thomas to six months of home confinement on her four felony convictions for perjury and obstruction of justice.

Some experts said the decision was a hopeful sign for Bonds. He is scheduled to go on trial in Illston's court in March, accused of the same offenses as Thomas and facing the same prosecution team. He has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutors had asked for Judge Illston to sentence Thomas to 30 months in prison, but the judge said that would be incredibly unfair considering that Victor Conte -- the man who ran the BALCO lab -- only had to serve four months in prison.

Of course, as some legal experts point out, this doesn't necessarily mean that Bonds will be dealt the same fate. Thomas is essentially a nobody -- had you heard of her before reading this? -- while Bonds is a very well known athlete. Sentencing Bonds to jail time would send a very loud message to anybody thinking about lying to a grand jury in the near future.

We now return to our regular playoff programming.