This verdict's already in: Bonds won't hit No. 763

"I take this indictment very seriously and will follow its progress very closely," Selig said in the statement. "It is important that the facts of steroid use in baseball be known, which is why I asked Senator Mitchell to investigate the issue. I look forward to receiving his report so we can openly address any issue associated with past steroid use."

Oh, yeah. That.

Regarding baseball's fully instituted steroid testing program and the belief that the game finally is emerging from the Steroid Era. ...

Hold that thought.

In addition to the federal indictment of Bonds -- still stunning in its finality despite the four-year investigation -- former Sen. George Mitchell's report on steroid use is expected before year's end, setting up a long, frigid baseball winter.

Though random steroid testing now is firmly in place, there remains no testing for HGH and, meantime, the game is still paying for its past sins and will continue to do so until spring camps open and bring with them what surely, by then, will be an overdue dose of sunshine and optimism.

In short order, the fallout from Bonds' indictment Thursday includes these issues:

• How badly will it hurt the game? Answer: Not much. Most fans suspected Bonds of being a user anyway, and as he approached Hank Aaron's record 755 home runs last summer, the Giants played to 33 consecutive sellouts, home and away, between July 5 and Aug. 12. Overall, baseball drew record crowds and -- as Selig just barely finished telling the owners at their meetings in Naples, Fla., on Thursday before the indictment was handed down -- baseball earned a record $6 billion in revenues in 2007. Whether Bonds is convicted or acquitted will be a sideshow. The game, stronger than ever -- and historically far bigger than any one man -- will continue and thrive.

• How badly does it taint Bonds’ all-time home run record? As if it weren’t already tainted beyond the point where any industrial strength cleaner could scrub it clean. Only Bonds and his small band of sycophants continued to insist that he improved with age the old-fashioned way, with steady weight training. Everybody else kept looking in amazement at before-and-after pictures of the size of his head.

• How will the indictment affect the record? Hmm, now here's where it could get interesting. It's unprecedented, but if Bonds is convicted, which would make him guilty of using steroids in the eyes of the legal system, baseball theoretically could attach itself to the jury's ruling and Selig could strike Bonds' marks from the record book.

• How will it affect the Giants? If their timing in retooling their club with young players is as good as it was in jettisoning Bonds, they'll be contenders in no time. The Giants' statement, which interestingly came with nary a name attached to it, was a study in masking the glee they must feel to have pulled the eject lever back in September: "This is a very sad day. For many years, Barry Bonds was an important member of our team and is one of the most talented baseball players of his era. These are serious charges. Now that the judicial process has begun, we look forward to this matter being resolved in a court of law."

• How will it affect Bonds' career? Already covered that one. At 43, with his best days behind him and his most troubling still ahead, there seems a better chance of an AL team pursuing California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for its DH role than San Francisco's erstwhile slugger.

Of course, someone in a federal uniform might have to deliver formal notice of that, along with the indictment, to get Bonds to believe that the world has turned and, you know, the sun really does pick a different dog's rear end on which to shine each day.

Just last week on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, during an exclusive interview, Bonds refuted one of Jim Gray’s questions about clubs perhaps being scared away from dealing with him for '08 because of the baggage. Bonds shook his head, grinned and insisted that he doesn't have any baggage. Absolutely not, he said. No baggage.

Whoops.

Why, as of early Thursday evening, there wasn't even any mention of the indictment on BondsPropaganda.com, er, BarryBonds.com.

His latest journal update was from Nov. 2, and it led with, "My last game at AT&T Park was extremely memorable and I didn't know what kind of emotions I would go through. It's hard to say goodbye to people who have been your family for so many years. ..."

That'll seem a piece of cake compared to saying goodbye if the jury finds him guilty.

A hitter known for extraordinary plate discipline now needs the long ball more than ever.

This moment is why Selig spent the home run chase wearing a frown, with his hands jammed so deeply inside of his pockets that they might have poked all the way through to China.

Which, coincidentally, is where the Padres and Dodgers will play a couple of exhibition games in March.

As the NL West -- and the rest of baseball -- not only continues to move beyond the Steroid Era, but beyond the Bonds Era, as well.