Bonds' Comeback Just Got (Even More) Complicated

The slugger recently had surgery on his hip.

By ANDREW JOHNSON and FANHOUSE.COM

Updated 12:52 PM CDT, Fri, Jan 2, 2009

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When we last heard from home run king Barry Bonds, he was telling a ~~annoying~~ pesky reporter from TMZ that he wasn't retired outside a of Los Angeles restaurant.

Well Bonds hasn't let go of his desire to play again, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, but there's now a complicating factor -- the slugger recently had surgery on his hip. He underwent the procedure so that he'd be able to play in 2009, but it could negatively affect his chances to actually make a timely comeback.

A source familiar with the operation said it was conducted by Dr. Arthur Ting and that Bonds won't be 100 percent before spring training but that he could be recovered by Opening Day.

Barry Bonds is not retired in the same way that I'm not retired. We'll both put on a uniform for any team that wants to pay us, but no one's actually calling. To be clear, I think Bonds got a raw deal last year. He should have gotten a chance to keep playing somewhere. But he's another year older. He actually is going to go on trial this March. And now you can add a serious health ailment to the list of concerns that come with offering him a contract.

Bonds is nothing if not defiant until the very end, but even for him, it's probably time to put to bed the idea of him ever donning a major league uniform again.