Hank Aaron is still my home run champion.

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AFP: Appeals court gives investigators access to baseball drug tests
A US appeals court in San Francisco ruled that results of Major League Baseball drug tests conducted in 2003 can be used in the government's ongoing steroids probe.

A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeal, hearing the case of the United States vs. Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., said lower courts erred in blocking access to the information.

The test results could provide evidence as to whether any of the star players who testified to a grand jury in the BALCO steroid scandal - including San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds - committed perjury.

Bonds' lawyer, Michael Rains said Wednesday that his client is not among the players who tested positive, and the ruling will have little bearing on his case.

It isn't known if any of the test data seized involved a specimen from Bonds.

"I don't think things change for Barry," Rains said. "They've had the test results since '04. If they had a positive test, they could have used it to obtain an indictment of Barry. I think the deal is they don't have a positive test of Barry from '03."

Baseball officials implemented the confidential tests in 2003 merely as a means of gauging the scale of doping in the game.
The government originally sought the test results for 10 players linked to the BALCO scandal, but also seized the records on dozens of other players.

That sparked a legal battle, with opposition from two laboratories involved in the testing - Quest Diagnostics in New Jersey and Comprehensive Diagnostic Testing in Long Beach, California - as well as from the Major League Baseball Players' Association.

"The subpoenas were not unreasonable and did not constitute harassment," Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain wrote in Wednesday's majority opinion.

Diarmuid O'Scannlain?

Wow.

Judge Sidney R. Thomas dissented from the majority opinion, writing that the actions of the government suggest "an abuse of grand jury process."

"Much is made about the "integrity of the game," Thomas wrote. "Even more important is the integrity of our legal system."

Prosecutors who have vowed to continue their probe into steroid use in sports welcomed the decision, which could be subject to further appeal.

"We are pleased that the majority of the 9th Circuit panel found that the government's seizures and use of grand jury subpoenas were reasonable," said US attorney Kevin Ryan.

"We will continue to review the 125-page opinion to determine what the next investigative step may be."

Five people pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the BALCO investigation, including the laboratory founder Victor Conte and Bonds's personal trainer, Greg Anderson.

Earlier this month, cyclist Tammy Thomas became the first athlete indicted in the fall-out from BALCO, when she was indicted for perjury over allegations that she lied to a grand jury.

Athletics coach Trevor Graham, who guided US sprint star
Marion Jones to her five medal haul at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, last month pleaded not guilty to charges he gave false statements to BALCO investigators.