"Was it worth it?

Barry Bonds' defense attorney declined to answer the question. So did his adversary from the U.S. attorney's office.

Eight years into the BALCO doping investigation and four years after Bonds' indictment for misleading a grand jury, the slugger received a sentence of 30 days' house arrest and two years' probation, plus 250 hours of community service and a $4,000 fine.

For a man who earned an estimated $190 million as a ballplayer and lives in a Beverly Hills mansion, the sentence was, in the words of prosecutor Matthew Parrella, "almost laughable." OK, subtract the "almost."

But was it worthwhile for the government to pursue Bonds for so long, in return for so little punishment?

The simplest answer: It beat the alternative.

When the same judge, Susan Illston, sentenced cyclist Tammy Thomas and track coach Trevor Graham, both in 2008, to house arrest for similar offenses, the prosecutors had to know that Bonds would avoid prison if convicted. They could have quit then instead of wrangling for three more years with someone who had the money to fight harder than 99.99 percent of all defendants.

But what message would that have sent? Surrendering to a fat wallet would have been even worse than the spa-days sentencing by Illston."