by Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–After beating the Federal Government on obstruction charges and having those charges overturned at the 9th District Federal Court of Appeals last month former Giants outfielder Barry Bonds could very well could have a shot at proving Major League Baseball colluded against him to keep him out of baseball. Bonds could not find a club to play for after the 2007 season. Bonds who knew of the obstruction charges being in the works wanted to wait for the federal judge’s decision before advancing MLB on the collusion case.

He had a very successful legal team that convinced over ten judges in an arbitration hearing to vote to overturn his single obstruction charge for the BALCO/Steriods scandal and now he wants to demonstrate that with a clear name baseball has no reason to keep him out of work. Bonds has worked only as a Giants 2014 spring training hitting coach since leaving baseball. After completing the 2007 season he sought another contract with the Giants but the team thanked him for his services and the team did not resign him.

With Bonds defensive status in question after the 2007 season and after playing since 1986 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and joining the Giants in 1993 and spending much his career in the National League at 43 years old he was most likely not going to land a job with an N.L. club. He was scouted as slow to get to a ball hit in the gap and his defensive prowess was not at his former all star level at the end of the 07 season.

Bonds name was floated in the off season during the winter of 2007-08 as a possible designated hitter for an American League team. Teams mentioned for consideration were all struggling American League teams who might need a DH, the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Bonds who many said had a big ego during this period was not interested in playing for teams that were not post season prone.

It turned out to be a long winter for baseball’s all time home run king who finished with a career 762 homers as his phone didn’t ring and he sat and waited for a job somewhere. In a lawsuit filed by Bonds lawyers on Monday Bonds says that MLB owners and it’s properties colluded purposely to keep him out of baseball. Bonds will have to prove that all MLB clubs stated either in emails, documentations, or other forms of written communications to keep Bonds out of baseball.

No one ever really thought that Bonds would be able to get the obstruction charges to be overturned in a federal case which also saw him charged with numerous counts of perjury during his trial none of which he was found guilty for. Bonds is working with his lawyers on the collusion case but according the Players Association Collective Bargaining Agreement Bonds is following up the case with the players union. If the union can not help him he plans litigate independently.

Bonds who this past weekend was inducted into the Bay Area Area Sports Hall of Fame with his former manager Dusty Baker is still struggling to get votes to enter the MLB Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. After much fanfare over his PED use and steroids speculation of his knowledge of using the drug before landing in federal court this was considered to be the crux of why the Baseball Writers of America Association has not voted baseball’s leading home run hitter into the Hall of Fame.

Morris Phillips is a San Francisco Giants beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com