Today's Wall Street Journal scouts the Barry-Bonds-book competition between Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports by San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance William (Gotham Books, $26, 1592401996), the upcoming title whose excerpt in Sports Illustrated last week has caused the publisher to bump up publication to March 23 and 24, and Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero by Jeff Pearlman (HarperCollins, $25.95, 0060797525), whose excerpt in ESPN The Magazine has been moved up to this Wednesday.

David Hirshey of HarperCollins told the paper, "I'd like to think of the Balco book as the leadoff hitter, and we're batting cleanup." Lisa Echenthal, sports book buyer at Barnes & Noble, indicated that Game of Shadows "is going to be perhaps the major sports title for spring" but held out hope for Love Me, Hate Me, saying, "It's rare for two books on one topic to perform at the same level, but there will be a lot of interest in [Bonds]."