Barry Bonds and Wife Split

Controversial baseball star Barry Bonds and his wife of 11 years, Liz Watson, have split. Watson filed for legal separation this week in  Los Angeles Superior Court. Watson’s filing seeks spousal support and joint custody of the couple’s 10-year-old daughter, Aisha.

While it is not known whether the couple has a prenuptial agreement, my guess is that they probably do. Bonds is no stranger to family court litigation, having battled his first wife over the validity of their prenup for over six years.

Sun Branco was married to Bonds from 1988 until 1994. She alleged that the slugger physically and emotionally abused her. He testified that he kicked her one time after she kicked him. The case continued over whether Branco, who is from Sweden, understood the prenup, signed a day before their Las Vegas wedding. The case went to the California Supreme Court, where the prenup was upheld.

Bonds currently holds baseball’s career home run record but is awaiting trial in federal court on perjury charges, accused of lying under oath when he told a grand jury that he had never knowingly taken banned substances. After his 2007 indictment, he spoke glowingly of Watson and their commitment to one another.

A key prosecution witness in the criminal case though is Kim Bell, who has said that Bonds confided to her that he was using steroids. Bell claims that she began dating Bonds in 1994, during his divorce from Sun. She says that their relationship continued for five more years, even after he married Watson. News of the affair surely put strain on the Bonds marriage.

Bonds’ last contract with the San Francisco Giants expired in 2007. He has not been signed by any other team since.