Selig must deal with Bonds situation, then step down

	BOOK EXCERPT Bonds revealed in the pages of the Game of Shadows SI EXTRA Now Bonds could wind up next to Rose in baseball purgatory BONDS EXPOSED Game of Shadows details Bonds' longtime steroid use THE DOCUMENTATION Compelling evidence of Bonds' use of performance enhancers UNCOVERING THE TRUTH Sports Illustrated's history of revelation THE QUOTES Barry Bonds in his own words on whether he used steroids PHOTO GALLERY The growing legend of Bonds, from 1983 to the present VIDEO Tom Verducci examines the impact of these revelations on Bonds and baseball  VIDEO Verducci interviews the book's co-authors, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams  MORE COVERAGE For more on Bonds' grand jury testimony, go to the San Francisco Chronicle. Readers' reactions | National headlines Buy Game of Shadows

Here we are, still and once again, knee deep in the muck of Major League Baseball. No matter how hard we talk about the optimism of spring, or how tightly we wrap ourselves in the new nationalism of the World Baseball Classic, or how often we wax about the intrinsic beauty of the game, the needy and the greedy end up pulling us back into the doldrums again.

So now what, Barry? Now what, Bud? Now what, baseball?

What do we do with Barry Bonds? If you believe the excerpt from Game of Shadows (and any level-headed person must), Bonds broke the law by taking illegal drugs, he may have committed perjury and, by doing so, he cheated and shamed the game that has made him millions of dollars. What do we do with commissioner Bud Selig, who has presided over the national pastime while all this happened? It's easy, of course, to look back, wag a finger and say that he should have been more vigilant, or even suggest that he purposely turned away from the telltale signs. The fact is, it's hard to see straight when the cash registers are humming and everyone's happy. But that, of course, is when vigilance is needed the most.

And what about the other steroid cheats? What about those who knew about it but did nothing? What about the history and the numbers of the grand old game? What do we do with them?

It's a fine mess we're in, pulled back into it by Bonds and the information in the new book. To get out of it -- and to begin to rid ourselves of the stigma of the Steroid Era -- will take a gargantuan effort. Selig must show the way. Here's what the commish should do.

Bud Must Investigate

You can't have all that evidence slapped on your desk and pretend it doesn't exist. Selig has said he'll review the information in Shadows, and he should. Then, as former commissioner Fay Vincent said on Thursday, Selig needs to open a formal investigation into Bonds' actions.

If Bud's sleuths do their job, if they uncover much of the same dirt as Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams did in their painstakingly researched book, they'll come to the same conclusion: Bonds used illegal drugs. He lied and he cheated the game.

That leads to only one course of action....

Bud Must Suspend

It'll come a little late, of course. By the time Selig gets around to it, after a review and an investigation that could take weeks or months or even longer, Bonds -- assuming he continues to play -- will likely have surpassed Babe Ruth at No. 2 on the all-time home run list. He may be closing in on Hank Aaron.

But if the investigation's findings mirror those in the book, Selig must suspend Bonds. Because, again, you can't ignore wrongdoing. That's how baseball sunk into this quagmire in the first place.

How long should Bonds be suspended? A few games? A few dozen? Maybe 100? Maybe a year? Maybe two? A lifetime ban?

The harm Bonds has done to the game is immeasurable. By allegedly taking steroids, he gained an unfair advantage over his competitors, altering the course of games, pennant races and even the history of the game itself.

Pete Rose was banned for life for less of an infraction.

Bud Must Leave the Books Alone

He has said he will, and he should stick to that, because, in truth, he can't do anything else. There's no way to measure how many home runs Bonds -- or anyone else -- hit as a result of taking steroids. There's no telling how many walks Bonds was issued because pitchers were afraid to throw anything close to the plate. No one can say how many strikeouts were recorded by pitchers on the juice.

It's unfortunate that a game in love with its numbers won't be able to trust those accumulated in the past few years. But the history books and the record books don't reflect an always-level playing field or perfect competition. Baseball fans have always known that. So in the future, when Bonds' single-season home run record is discussed, we'll know that it was set in a less-than-pristine time in the game's history.