Bonds exposed



Shadows details superstar slugger's steroid use
Posted: Tuesday March 7, 2006 12:55PM; Updated: Tuesday March 7, 2006 1:15PM

NEW YORK (SI.com) -- Beginning in 1998 with injections in his buttocks of Winstrol, a powerful steroid, Barry Bonds took a wide array of performance-enhancing drugs over at least five seasons in a massive doping regimen that grew more sophisticated as the years went on, according to Game of Shadows, a book written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters at the forefront of reporting on the BALCO steroid distribution scandal.

(An excerpt of Game of Shadows that details Bonds' steroid use appears exclusively in the March 13 issue of Sports Illustrated, which is available on newsstands beginning on Wednesday. The book's publication date is March 27.)

The authors, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, describe in sometimes day-to-day, drug-by-drug detail how often and how deeply Bonds engaged in the persistent doping. For instance, the authors write that by 2001, when Bonds broke Mark McGwire's single-season home-run record (70) by belting 73, Bonds was using two designer steroids referred to as the Cream and the Clear, as well as insulin, human growth hormone, testosterone decanoate (a fast-acting steroid known as Mexican beans) and trenbolone, a steroid created to improve the muscle quality of cattle.

BALCO tracked Bonds' usage with doping calendars and folders -- detailing drugs, quantities, intervals and Bonds' testosterone levels -- that wound up in the hands of federal agents upon their Sept. 3, 2003 raid of the Burlingame, Calif., business.

Depending on the substance, Bonds used the drugs in virtually every conceivable form: injecting himself with a syringe or being injected by his trainer, Greg Anderson, swallowing pills, placing drops of liquid under his tongue, and, in the case of BALCO's notorious testosterone-based cream, applying it topically.

According to the book, Bonds gulped as many as 20 pills at a time and was so deeply reliant on his regimen that he ordered Anderson to start "cycles" -- a prescribed period of steroid use lasting about three weeks -- even when he was not due to begin one. Steroid users typically stop usage for a week or two periodically to allow the body to continue to produce natural testosterone; otherwise, such production diminishes or ceases with the continued introduction of synthetic forms of the muscle-building hormone.

Bonds called for the re-starting of cycles when he felt his energy and power start to drop. If Anderson told Bonds he was not due for another cycle, the authors write, Bonds would tell him, "F--- off, I'll do it myself.''

The authors compiled the information over a two-year investigation that included, but was not limited to, court documents, affidavits filed by BALCO investigators, confidential memoranda of federal agents (including statements made to them by athletes and trainers), grand jury testimony, audiotapes and interviews with more than 200 sources. Some of the information previously was reported by the authors in the Chronicle. Some of the information is new. For instance, in an extensive note on sourcing, the authors said memos detailing statements by BALCO owner Victor Conte, vice president James Valente and Anderson to IRS special agent Jeff Novitzky were sealed when they first consulted them, but have been unsealed since.

....now that he's off steroids.....

The very foundation of the sport of baseball is about to come tumbling down. I've read the entire excerpt from the book and Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, Raffy Palmiero and the likes of them NEED to all be banned from baseball for life. Never have I seen such detailed information of this scandal that is going to rock the baseball world.

The Truth
About Barry Bonds and Steroids

It's 13 pages of disgusting fodder that should run Barry Bonds out of baseball forever.

i have never been a homerun hitter admirer...that not my type of ball player....so i have never been a bonds fans...his arrogant attitude is nothing but guilt....it's good his dad is not around to see this.... :(

Baker: I didn't know
By Paul Sullivan
Tribune staff reporter

March 7, 2006, 9:07 PM CST


MESA, Ariz. -- Cubs manager Dusty Baker reiterated Tuesday he did not know whether Barry Bonds was using steroids when Baker managed the slugger in San Francisco.

Baker's name appears in the book "Game of Shadows," a detailed report on Bonds' alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Excerpts in Sports Illustrated portray Baker as a manager who watched Bonds' body go through massive change but never questioned why. The book says: "The Giants, from owner Peter Magowan to manager Dusty Baker, had no interest in learning whether Bonds was using steroids."

Asked if he would have said something to Bonds had he known Bonds was using steroids, Baker replied:

"Had I known, definitely I would've said something. But I didn't know. Everybody was speculating about a lot of people."

Baker repeated he "never" saw Bonds use steroids.

"Everybody saw the physical change," Baker said. "You didn't know if Barry was [just] lifting weights, because he lifts all the time. [The book] says I wasn't interested, but what are you going to do? I'm not a detective. What are you going to do as a manager?

"How can anybody assert I wasn't interested?"

Baker added he never has condoned the use of steroids.

"I have a little boy, 6 years old," he said. "I want to protect him and all kids. Anybody will tell you, I'm one of the guys who really spoke out most about it. I didn't know the extent. I didn't know what was said in court. This is the first time I've heard a lot of this stuff."

Baker read the magazine excerpts Tuesday and said he was "lost" at times amid the detailed reports of different steroids Bonds allegedly used.

"I didn't even know there were that many kinds of steroids," he said. "I've never even seen a steroid. I didn't even know what kinds of steroids are steroids, other than the kind that you used to fight allergies. You have to be a doctor to keep up with all the stuff that was in [the excerpts]."

Baker said he has been against steroids "ever since my friend Lyle Alzado died," referring to the late NFL star, a steroid abuser.

"So it can't be good," Baker said. "There's no way it can be good. It's not good for our country. It's not good for the game. It's not good for your system, and it's certainly not good for these kids. I'm definitely against them."

Bonds' alleged supplier, Greg Anderson, frequently was in the clubhouse when Baker managed the Giants. Baker said he had "no clue" about Anderson's alleged activities and thought he was Bonds' trainer, as Bonds had described him to management.

"He was given the OK from upstairs," Baker said, referring to Magowan.

"What are you going to do when he's given the OK from upstairs?"

The allegations against Bonds aren't new, and Baker has denied knowing about the abuse many times.

"What's new is the extent of it," he said. "This is like … boy, it's a bad day."

Dusty didn't know? ;) Didn't he notice Bonds return from the offseason with 25 lbs of muscle added to his frame? I guess Dusty must have mistaken Bonds' sycophant trainer for one of his players.

Not that Dusty is at fault anymore than the rest of Major League Baseball, but this is just another example of ZERO accountability from Dusty. :(

Yep, Dusty, those weren't syringes your team was sticking each other with, and they weren't full of steroids. Nope, they were fairy sticks with pixie dust.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what spine-less Selig does in response to this book's release.

Absolutly Nothing!!

P.S. Nice to see your here again CraziCub, Long time no see.

The Chico

Here's a good one from over at Goatriders.org.


Baker pleads ignorance
A message of Death
(From the AP)

CHICAGO - Cubs manager Dusty Baker recently denied any knowledge of the alleged steroid abuse by Giants star slugger Barry Bonds.

"I just don't know, dude," Baker said. "A lot of guys in baseball were getting big back then. Barry worked out a lot. Honestly, I knew he had a mistress, and I thought the weight gain was because he had twice as many women cooking for him as usual."

Pundits are skeptical about how anyone in the Giants organization could have been oblivious to Bonds' abuse of steroids, but Baker remained stedfast in his claimed ignorance. Baker also acknowledged that he's been unaware of other things as well. When asked the color of the sky, Baker said he wasn't sure.

"I don't know dude, I haven't been outside for a while," Baker said. "How am I supposed to know something like that without looking?"

Baker is also unsure of whether or not Santa Claus exists, and he's also not clear on the month of the year or his own gender.

"I just haven't looked, okay?" Baker said. "My own gender is a very private thing, and I just don't think it's my business to know. Look, dude, if I was walking around all namby-pamby and naked, then maybe I would know if I was a man or woman, but even then I don't think I'd take the time to look down, you know? Not to mention the fact that my stomach is in the way, dude."

In spite of the newest controversy surrounding Bonds, Baker is actually relieved to be distracted from the health issues regarding pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.

"I'm just glad to get asked new questions. After all, how could I know if Prior or Wood are healthy?" When informed that Wood has a cast on his leg, Baker acted innocent. "A what? Dude, when I see Woody, I always look him in the eye like a man. (Referring to Wood being in a wheel-chair), I did think it was weird that he suddenly got shorter, but I didn't think it was my business to ask."

In spite of the injuries to Wood and Prior, Baker isn't concerned that Carlos Zambrano might hurt himself while pitching for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.

"Who? I just looked around the clubhouse, and I didn't see any 'Carlos Zambrano.' If he's not right in front of me, he must not be on my team. Speaking of which, when are you going to put down that microphone and shag some flies? You're dogging it, dude. You don't pick up the slack, and you won't make this team!"

Posted by Death at 10:00 AM | Comments (2)

Baseball did not ban performance-enhancing substances until after the 2002 season.

To all, Does someone want to concur with me on this? It's wrong, right? Steriods have been banned since 1991. It's only that we began TESTING in the 2002 season. Why does everyone have this misconception? Besides, they're ILLEGAL! Best regards, Cle

Congressman writes Selig about steroids
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Prompted by an upcoming book about Barry Bonds, a congressman who sponsored legislation calling for tougher drug testing in pro sports wrote a letter Wednesday asking baseball commissioner Bud Selig about his role in policing steroid use from 1998-02.

"As commissioner, you have the essential responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the game and to ensure that cheaters have no place in professional baseball," Rep. Cliff Stearns said in the letter.

Stearns' House Energy and Commerce subcommittee held hearings last year about steroid use and he introduced the Drug Free Sports Act, one of several bills that would have made sports leagues give players lifetime bans for a second or third steroids offense.

Under pressure from Congress, baseball's players association agreed to toughen drug testing rules and penalties for 2005 and again this season.

"The Congress remains very concerned about the use of illegal, performance-enhancing drugs in sports at all levels and the effect that unpunished professional athletes who use such drugs will have on future generations," Stearns wrote to Selig.

"We have been encouraged by the tougher policy and penalties you re-negotiated with the MLBPA, and will withhold judgment of their effectiveness until sufficient time has elapsed."

Specifically, the Florida Republican asked Selig for information about a 2004 meeting with Bonds, baseball's policy for addressing alleged steroid use if a player doesn't fail a drug test, and what Selig's authority is to investigate alleged steroid use.

Bonds, who broke Mark McGwire's season homer record in 2001 and is approaching Babe Ruth's career total, is accused in an upcoming book of using steroids, human growth hormone and insulin for at least five seasons beginning in 1998. Baseball did not ban performance-enhancing substances until after the 2002 season.

Last week, Selig wouldn't commit to investigating. He said baseball will await publication of the book, "Game of Shadows," which is due out March 23, then decide how to proceed.

______________________________________________________________________



Barry Bonds Took Steroids, Reports Everyone Who Has Ever Watched Baseball

Onion Sports

SAN FRANCISCO—With the publication of a book detailing steroid use by San Francisco Giants superstar Barry Bonds, two San Francisco Chronicle reporters have corroborated the claims of Bonds' steroid abuse made by every single person who has watched or even loosely followed the game of baseball over the past five years.
Enlarge ImageBarry Bonds

In Game Of Shadows, an excerpt of which appeared in Sports Illustrated Wednesday, authors Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams claim that more than a dozen people close to Bonds had either been directly informed that Bonds was using banned substances or had in fact seen him taking the drugs with their own eyes. In addition to those witnesses, nearly 250 million other individuals nationwide had instantly realized that Bonds was using banned substances after observing his transformation from lanky speedster to hulking behemoth with their own eyes.

According to hundreds of thousands of reports coming out of every city in the U.S., Bonds' steroid use has been widely reported and well-documented for years, with sports columnists, bloggers, people attending baseball games, memorabilia collectors, major ballpark popcorn and peanut vendors, groundskeepers, roommates, significant others, fathers-in-law, next-door neighbors, fellow fitness club members, bartenders, mailmen, coworkers, teachers, doormen, parking-lot attendants, fellow elevator passengers, Home Depot clerks, servicemen and women serving in Iraq, former baseball players, Congressmen, second-tier stand-up comics, Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly, and random passersby all having stated at some point in the last five years that Bonds was obviously taking some sort of performance-enhancing drugs.

Many of those eyewitnesses came forward following Wednesday's revelation with their own accounts of Bonds' seven-year history of steroid use.

"I originally heard that Barry Bonds was on steroids during a Giants game in 2001, when my buddy Phil, who was on the couch next to me, said, 'Dude, that Barry Bonds guy is definitely on steroids,'" said Chicago resident Mitch Oliveras. "After 10 seconds of careful observation, and performing a brief comparison of Bonds' present neck width with that on Phil's old 1986 Bonds rookie card, I was convinced."

"I can see how some people might be shocked about Bonds' doping, but this has been an open secret for years among the people in my industry," said air-conditioner repairman Mike Damus. "I'm sure it's an even more widely known fact in baseball."

"Everyone in our front office has known about Bonds since the 2001 season," said San Francisco-area accounts-receivable secretary Mindy Harris of McCullers and Associates, Ltd. "People in our ninth-floor office, too, and all seven branch offices. None of us were sure exactly which kind of steroids he was on, but we were pretty sure it was the kind that causes you to gain 30 pounds of muscle in one offseason, get injured more easily, become slow-footed, shave your head to conceal your thinning hair, lash out at the media and fans, engage in violent and abrupt mood swings, grow taut tree-trunk-like neck muscles, expand your hatband by six inches, and hit 73 home runs in a single season."

"Come to think of it, we're all fairly certain he's on all of them," Harris added.

"My 6-year-old son and I bonded over our mutual agreement that Bonds was obviously juicing up," San Francisco-area construction worker Tom Frankel said. "I hope that, one day, little Davey will have kids of his own, and that they will be able to easily glean the knowledge that Bonds was a cheater just by looking at the remarkable shift in his year-by-year statistics on his Hall of Fame plaque."

In light of the most recent accusations, which echo what any idiot with a pair of eyes and even the most fundamental knowledge of how the human body works has said in recent years, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig issued a statement Wednesday to address the issue.

"It is unfair to judge Mr. Bonds based solely on the fact that everyone says he has taken some sort of performance-enhancing drug for the past five years," Selig said. "I myself think Bonds has been taking steroids—I'm not blind, after all—but nothing, even an admission by Bonds himself, can conclusively prove that he took steroids, as he has not tested positively in an MLB-sanctioned drug test. Unless that is somehow made to happen, we must all accept his recent unfathomable accomplishments as one of the truly exciting and continuing storylines of this great sport."

When reached for comment, Bonds insisted that he "[doesn't] have time to deal with all these charges."

"I'm not going to respond to these 228 million allegations," Bonds said. "I don't care what every last person in the entire world thinks. As long as my fans believe me, that's the most important thing."

LOL on the article by Onion Sports. Good stuff.

The St. Louis media is screaming for Bonds homerun record to be erased so their boy MCGuire can get the home run title back. :blink: Hey dumbasses, give it back to Roger Maris where it rightfully belongs. I think all homerun records from 1996 to 2004 should have a multiplier of .6 applied to them so Barry Bonds 73 homers would equate to 43.8. I'll give him 44 for that year. Sounds about right to me.

Dear Joe, Actually, I agree with that assessment. I think you'll like the following as well. It basically asserts that mathematically the best guess is that 26% of Baroid's dingers, (from age 34 through 40) were attributable to steroids. Take away 78 home runs? That looks like a duck I'd eat. I'm sorry that I can't display the tables from my computer's doccuments. Luckily I saved it, as the article is no longer available online. Best regards, Cle

P.S. I'm going to be in San Francisco on vacation the second week of May. Guess who else will be coming to town that week? Maybe I can get tossed out of the park formerly known as Pac Bell ! ;)

What if Bonds were Clean?


The Experts Talk
By BEN ALAMAR


Rumors have persisted for years regarding Barry Bonds' use of steroids. The publication of Game of Shadows, however, takes the steroid talk out of the arena of rumor by documenting it and pinpoints a start date. This begs the question, for baseball's stat heads, of how Bonds might have performed had he not been juiced. Knowing the presumed start date of the steroid use the question can, at least in statistical sense, be answered.

Using Bill James' concept of a similarity score, Baseballreference.com has identified the 10 players in Major League Baseball history whose career numbers are most like those of Barry Bonds. Table One shows Bonds's career statistics along with the career statistics through age 40 of the ten most similar players in MLB history.

Assuming that Game of Shadows has accurately identified the beginning of Bonds' steroid use, then the career statistics can be separated into pre and post-steroid eras.

Table Two shows the statistics of these players until age 33 (the end of the pre-steroid era for Bonds) and Table Three shows the players' statistics from age 34 through age 40.

Each table also includes the average of all of the players except Bonds and the ratio of Bonds' statistics to the average.

Table Two shows that Bonds' numbers were fairly close to the average of those "similar" in all categories, with the exception of walks, until the beginning of his steroid use. Then his numbers shot up.

For example, through age 33, Bonds had hit 411 home runs versus a similar player average of 381.5. But from 34 through 40, Bonds hit 297 home runs versus a similar player average of 203.8.

Bonds' home run productivity was now 146% of the average of the ten comparables. Moreover, his on-base and slugging percentages also soared.

Using the Bonds/Average ratio from his pre-steroid performance, Table Four calculates his likely statistics had he not taken the steroids. It identifies the steroid-related change in the statistics

Applying the pre-steroid ratio to the post-steroid average of the ten comparable players, one can calculate adjusted statistics that might have been had Bonds not taken steroids. This calculation shows that approximately 77.5 of Bonds' 297 homeruns, or 26%, (from age 34 through 40) were attributable to steroids.

In adding them — and 133.5 walks — to his totals, Bonds has cost baseball fans another hero. It doesn't seem worth it.

Cle, that's an interesting article. Now they need to apply it to McGuire, Sosa, and the rest of the players that got a dramatic upturn in production for no apparent reason. (Brady Anderson, Luis Gonzalez, Raffy, etc... )

Then they need to put an asterisk next to those players statistics deatailing the pre-steroid and the steroid numbers and let it be a part of the official records. Then throw a big gala for the Roger Maris family and re-king him as baseballs single season homerun champion.

What was Maris using at the time? His big 61 HR season was well off his career standards as well. ;)


Yes, I'm joking.

Spinach. <_<

I was thinking he "one upped" the other skim drinking players and switched to 2%.

I say we exhume the body and get to the bottom of this. :lol:

Haha, okay, I'll help dig, but you've gotta remove the liver and all that icky stuff. ;)



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4571590


EDIT: http://www.athomeplate.com/recordsandsteroids.shtml I thought this was rather interesting. It was written before the recent books about Barry, but still interesting. Not sure about everything they say about Maris because I really don't know much about him other than career stats and the stories I've read- none of which ever talked about health problems like that.

Wendell lumps Sosa with steroid users

ESPN.com news services

Turk Wendell has a theory about Sammy Sosa's meteoric career.
Although he has no proof that Sosa used steroids, he told The Daily Herald of suburban Chicago that it's not hard to figure out.

"C'mon. Of course. There are so many guys who did and it's all going to come out,'' said Wendell.

"Here's a guy [Sosa] who goes from 30 homers to 60 homers every year, and just as fast he's out of baseball. Can't get a job. How's that work?

"Baseball people know this is going to get worse and nobody wants anything to do with the guys who were on the stuff.

"We would sit there in the clubhouse and laugh. How's a guy gain 30 pounds of solid muscle in three months [over the winter]? It's physically impossible without the juice.''

Wendell, who played for the Cubs with Sosa through 1997, is no stranger to the steroids controversy. Two years ago he pointed a finger at Barry Bonds.

"Obviously, he did it," Wendell said at the time of Bonds. "... [I]t's clear just seeing his body."

Bonds, who faces allegations of using performance-enhancing drugs in two books to be released this spring, responded angrily. Two years later Wendell revisited that episode with the Herald.

"Everybody in Chicago knew what was going on, just like everybody in baseball knows about Bonds,'' Wendell told the Herald. "The coaches knew. So did the managers and owners. How could they not know?

"Then, Jose Canseco comes out and says it and everybody rips him, and now everything he said was true. A lot more will come out about guys who nobody's talking about yet, too.''

Wendell, who is now retired and living with his family in Colorado, has observed the changes caused by tougher testing.

"It was funny to see the guys who were on steroids and then got off them,'' Wendell told the paper. "You're watching on TV and you see a guy hit a ball and you go, 'That's gone.'

"But the thing is, it used to be gone, and now it's a routine fly ball that the year before the guy hit 10 rows into the bleachers.

Wendell also expects the effects of steroids use manifested in the future.

"You still see Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto and Johnny Pesky around, but this era of players is going to be dying early,'' Wendell told the Herald. "The stats don't lie. The stuff will kill you.

"Who cares if you have unreal numbers? You need that bad to be 'the man' for a few years? Those guys will pay later.''

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ap8D...ov=ap&type=lgns

:lol:

You know that was coming...

Now, I would never condone throwing anything onto the field....but I did giggle - HARD - over this (even though it just seems to add to BaBo's martyr complex).

As for poor, pitiful jerk's statement on the incident:

BaBo: "I was just trying to get it off the field so no one would get hurt."

Reality Point 1: He flung it into the photographer's well - so much for not wanting anyone else injured with such a "dangerous" implement.

Reality Point 2: It was a plastic syringe with no needle - so much for it being much of a danger to anyone (other than maybe a toddler that doesn't want to take his pink stuff - liquid amoxicillin for those of you uninitiated into the world of toddlers and ear infections).

:rolleyes:

I read in one article that it might not have even been a syringe but a turkey baster. :lol:

Barry doesn't have to worry though...he's got Jesse Jackson on his side now.

Jesse Jackson: Bonds unprotected

Jesse should keep the hell away from baseball! :angry:

Seriously.


Jesse, thanks for getting the hostage back. Now, please leave. kthxbye.

It could have had a needle on it! But it didn't.

I'm one of those morons who purchased the book. Nearly finished and one thing for sure; I think someone in the government actually leaked these transcripts to the public. Personally I don't think they should be kept from us in the first place but...

"Fans On Bonds"

To all, Too cool. Anyone have something to say to Baroid? Best regards, Cle

To all, "Bloated Barry Becomes Bull's Eye" Best regards, Cle

The New York Times
By JACK CURRY

HOUSTON, May 17 — Russ Springer threw four too-close-for-comfort pitches to Barry Bonds on Tuesday night before pinning a 92-mile-an-hour fastball on his right shoulder. For those dangerous pitches, Springer is expected to be suspended for three or four games by Major League Baseball.

Bob Watson, baseball's vice president for on-field operations, said Wednesday that he had to review the official videotape of the game and speak with Joe West, the plate umpire, and others. But Watson strongly hinted that Springer, a reliever for the Houston Astros, would be suspended.

"I'm not going to comment on that, other than to say look at the track record of what happens after a warning and then the umpire throws the guy out," Watson said in a telephone interview.

When Kevin Millwood was pitching for the Cleveland Indians last July, he hit Seattle's Yuniesky Betancourt after both teams had been warned. He was suspended for five games. Boston's Bronson Arroyo received a six-game suspension in April of 2005 when he hit Tampa Bay's Chris Singleton after a warning.

Since Millwood and Arroyo are starters who usually pitch once every five days, they received lengthier suspensions than that given to a reliever like Springer, who can pitch every day.

In addition to Springer's imminent suspension, Houston Manager Phil Garner will also receive an automatic one-game suspension because one of his pitchers was ejected after a warning about tight pitches.

Bonds, who has been stuck on 713 homers since May 7 in his pursuit of Babe Ruth's 714, did not play Wednesday night as the San Francisco Giants pummeled Houston, 10-1, to sweep a three-game series.

West met with Garner and Giants Manager Felipe Alou before the game and advised them not to exacerbate what happened Tuesday. Alou referred to it as "a strong lecture." So, three Giants pitchers did not come close to drilling any Astros batters in retaliation.

"There was no warning, but it was a gentleman's agreement," Alou said. "We were really the team last night that had been offended."

During a testy at-bat in the fifth inning of San Francisco's 14-3 victory on Tuesday, Springer seemingly acted as if Bonds had a bull's-eye on his uniform. Every pitch Springer threw could have hit Bonds.

Springer's first pitch would have nailed Bonds in the buttocks if Bonds had not avoided it. The second pitch nearly nipped his ankles. The third pitch rode so far inside that it bounced off the knob of Bonds's bat. The fourth pitch was inside, too. On the fifth pitch, a 3-1 fastball, Springer finally connected.

Neither Springer nor Bonds was available in their clubhouses after the game. Bonds declined to answer questions again on Wednesday. Springer's wife had gall bladder surgery on Wednesday, so he was not at Minute Maid Park.

While Giants Manager Felipe Alou declined to discuss Springer before Wednesday's game, he was irritated that the fans gave Springer a standing ovation after he was ejected. Bonds, who has been plagued by accusations of steroid use, has been consistently booed while playing on the road this season.

"It bothered me a lot because there's a lot of children here," Alou said. "I don't believe that's playing ball, what we saw last night. I'm not talking about a guy getting hit. I'm talking about people giving a standing ovation for that action."

Later, Alou said Springer was disrespectful to Bonds and baseball.

"To get a guy hit in the head like that almost three times in one at-bat, that's not saying what you want to say," Alou said. "That is doing what you want to do."

When Alou was asked if he solely blamed Springer or thought Garner was at fault, too, he said, "I didn't see any manager pitching on the mound."

Bonds arrived a leisurely two and a half hours before the first pitch Wednesday because he knew he was not starting for the first time in the last nine games. After the Giants leave here, they are off on Thursday before starting a three-game series against the Athletics in Oakland.

The weary Bonds should get a reprieve as he will probably be the designated hitter in the American League stadium.

"He will D.H. three games," Alou said. "I hope."

Mixed emotions
Fans, players express admiration and trepidation

The Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Tyler Snyder caught Barry Bonds' 714th homer on the fly Saturday, snagging it cleanly with his glove. The people around the 19-year-old Athletics fan cheered wildly, with nobody assaulting or gouging him.

Bonds got a standing ovation from the Bay Area's forgiving faithful -- and then Snyder got to speak the minds of millions of baseball lovers who see Bonds as the game's greatest antihero.

"I hate that guy," Snyder told reporters before he was whisked away. "I don't really care for the guy."

But Snyder's perfect catch was a rare moment of grace in this ragged, tainted quest for baseball immortality by Bonds, who ended a nine-game homer drought with a second-inning solo shot for the San Francisco Giants. Fans stood and applauded, and Bonds' peers acknowledged another milestone.

"He finally hit it? It's about time," said Ken Griffey Jr., who entered the night with 539 career homers, in the Cincinnati Reds' clubhouse at Detroit. "Now I don't have to keep watching TV to see him do it."

Fans, players and managers across the majors reacted with the same mix of admiration and trepidation that's been part of Bonds' every achievement since his 73-homer season in 2001 and late-career power binge fell under strong suspicion of steroid use.

There's not much sentimentality around this quest -- and it sure has a money-colored tint. The ball still was in Snyder's glove when the holder of Bonds' latest horsehide lottery ticket said he definitely would sell the ball.

When asked if he would consider giving it to Bonds, Snyder declined with a mild expletive.

But nearly every fan in the Coliseum joined in a standing ovation when the homer settled into the stands -- even a guy right behind home plate wearing a No. 25 Giants jersey with the word "BALCO" stitched where "BONDS" should be.

Across the nation, the Mets posted a message on the Shea Stadium scoreboard moments after Bonds' homer -- and the Subway Series fans booed. When a similar message went on the scoreboard at Dodger Stadium, the boos from the crowd of 55,587 were more understandable, given the Giants' archrival status.

"I still remember Barry Bonds as a great player, regardless of steroids or what," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "How many home runs would he have hit without whatever people are saying is going on? I don't know. I know one thing: That player-wise, he's pretty good."

The 714th homer matches one of baseball's most hallowed numbers, but others thought the hype was overblown, given the 755 homers hit by Hank Aaron.

"Our reaction in the clubhouse has always been that record's already been broken," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "Hank broke it. That's the big one. What's the big deal?"

Giants fans packed their waterfront ballpark last week, hoping Bonds would reach another milestone at home. The scene atop the right-field arcade resembled a mosh pit most days, but no homers reached the fans.

His drought stretched through three games in Houston and the series opener in Oakland, where he made the last out in the A's win on Friday night. But Bonds wasted no time on a gorgeous East Bay afternoon, hitting a line-drive homer off Brad Halsey for No. 714.

"It's a shame that ... such a historic moment has a cloud over it," Marlins manager Joe Girardi said. "He's a special player for a long time. My rookie year was '89, he was a great player then. He accomplished a lot of wonderful things before people started speculating. I thought he was a greatest player I saw personally in the '90s."

As news of the homer trickled throughout the league, both points of view on Bonds' unique career were heard.

Even Bonds' enemies had a grudging respect: Astros reliever Russ Springer was suspended for four games Friday for hitting Bonds earlier in the week in the latest chapter of their feud.

"Neutral," Springer said of his attitude toward the accomplishment. "I'm not anti-Barry Bonds. I'm not pro-Barry Bonds. He's a good player. I enjoy watching him play. He's one of the better hitters. I'm just glad he didn't hit it here, and he can hit all he wants somewhere else."

Retired veterans expressed restrained admiration for Bonds, who passed Frank Robinson and Willie Mays while climbing the charts in recent years.

"I think if you're going to be a realist, the home run is certainly not what it used to be," said Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, now an Orioles broadcaster. "If you ever saw Frank play or if you ever saw [Hank] Aaron play or if you ever saw Mays play, you realize that 580 home runs is a lot of home runs, and that 660 home runs is a lot of home runs.

When asked if Bonds' accomplishments are tainted, Palmer said: "Of course. What [Mark] McGwire did was tainted."

But Mets closer Billy Wagner, who served up one of Bonds' homers this season, was among those who were glad to hear about No. 714.

"I'm happy for him," Wagner said. "They should celebrate in baseball. There's no guilty verdict yet."

I agree with those that say "So what?". He didn't break any record with that homer. Baseball can do whatever they want with him. He will always have an asterisk in my mind though.

Remaining in the Shadow of the Babe, and of Scandal

The New York Times
By MURRAY CHASS

JUST as Henry Aaron has learned, Barry Bonds will find out that even though he has matched Babe Ruth's career home run total, he will not be able to catch Ruth in enduring eminence.

Bonds hit his 714th home run yesterday, in the second inning against Brad Halsey of the Oakland Athletics. His next home run will send him past Ruth into second place behind Aaron and his 755 home runs.

Aaron broke Ruth's record 32 years ago, in 1974, which was 39 years after Ruth hit his last home run and retired. That means that Ruth hasn't hit a home run in nearly 71 years, but the final number he reached remains perhaps the best-known number in sports.

I'm not a poll guy, but I'd bet that if a poll were taken, a vastly higher percentage of respondents would recognize 714 than 755. It wouldn't even matter when those responding were born. Age doesn't seem to matter in Ruth's popularity.

It's not just a bunch of old guys who grew up hearing and reading about Ruth's magical feat who know 714. Young fans know 714, too. Ruth's feat has long outlived him. If Aaron were talking — he declines interviews about home runs — he might have some interesting things to say about the hold Ruth continues to have over fans and the news media alike.

If Aaron hasn't received his rightful recognition, why would Bonds?

On the other hand, Bonds is a more controversial character than Aaron ever was. The best Aaron could do was shove a carton of strawberries in a reporter's face. Aaron was too much the gentleman, had too much class, to create controversy.

When Aaron began speaking out on some hot topics toward the end of his career and afterward, it was his wife who had instigated the comments.

Aaron received vicious hate mail, but he didn't initiate the unwelcome correspondence. Bonds says he has received hate mail, too. He has acted as if no one else ever had, but he should ask Aaron to see some of his.

Bonds is easily the most controversial player in baseball today, maybe the most controversial in baseball ever, maybe the most controversial in any sport. The steroid scandal has elevated him to that status. Has he or hasn't he? Did he hit a significant number of his 714 home runs because he used steroids or other illegal performance-enhancing substances?

We don't know. We suspect he did. Most people probably think he did. If a substantial percentage of his 714 were chemically aided, maybe he doesn't deserve to be placed in Ruth's class.

Ruth ate hot dogs and drank beer. If either helped him hit home runs, more players should have followed his example. They might have fattened themselves, but they would have been better hitters.

It's not likely, though, that Ruth's diet played a role in home run history. If Bonds used steroids, they undoubtedly have.

One argument has been set forth that is designed to mitigate the accusations that Bonds would not have hit 209 home runs in a four-year period (2001-4) without using steroids. Pitchers, the argument goes, have also used steroids and would have been tougher for Bonds and others to hit. In other words, they might have all been cheating, but they were doing it on a level playing field.

But there aren't enough good pitchers whose use of steroids could counter Bonds. Totally clean, he would be one of the best hitters ever. If he was juiced, few pitchers, even fellow juicers, could contain him.

Ruth played in an era in which baseball was basically the only popular team spectator sport, and he was by far the best and most popular player. He emanated charisma. He transcended baseball. When, in 1931, he wanted a bigger salary than President Hoover was making, he said he deserved it because he had a better year. He was probably right.

When he supposedly pointed to the stands to show where he was going to hit the next pitch, then hit it there, the incident, allegory or fact, took on eternal life. The so-called called shot continues to be a source of spirited debate.

No such tales have attached themselves to Bonds. If fans wanted him to point somewhere, they would probably ask him to show them where he injected himself with steroids.

Ruth stopped playing in 1935 and died in 1948. Yet he remains a legend wherever baseball is played. Bonds may become legendary as the second-greatest home run hitter, if not the greatest, who never made the Hall of Fame, joining Pete Rose, the career hits leader, in that ignominious state.

Bonds is at least five years from appearing on the writers' ballot. Five years is the waiting period once a player retires. But Bonds could get a preview of his chances next winter when Mark McGwire takes his place on the ballot.

Because of his embarrassing and seemingly telltale appearance at a Congressional hearing on steroid use 14 months ago, McGwire lost his status as a certain first-ballot Hall of Famer. If he isn't elected next winter, it could signal trouble for Bonds five or six years hence.

Despite his arrogance and his surliness, Bonds would have enjoyed a nearly unanimous election by the writers B.S. — Before Steroids. Now there will be no guarantee, 714 home runs or whatever the number.

Bonds and others have suggested that race has played a part in diluting his popularity. But Bonds doesn't have to look for anything or anyone else to blame. He has done it to himself.

Sources see indictment on deck for Barry
BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE in Pittsburgh
and T.J. QUINN in New York
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS

Barry Bonds has played in 13 All-Star Games during his career, but during yesterday's All-Star media sessions he seemed like one of those old Soviet leaders who were airbrushed out of photographs when they fell out of favor with their peers.

While the players themselves tried to avoid any topic outside the gentle fairways of good news, the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco is mulling over whether it will seek an indictment against Bonds, perhaps as soon as next week. Bonds is facing possible indictment for perjury and tax evasion, and the grand jury that has been hearing evidence against him is due to expire within the next couple of weeks.

Generally, several attorneys said, when a grand jury comes to the end of its term, a prosecutor will seek an indictment. Getting the indictment isn't difficult: As former New York State chief justice Sol Wachtler famously told the Daily News in 1985, a grand jury would "indict a ham sandwich."

But if Kevin Ryan, the U.S. attorney in San Francisco, gets the indictment he wants from the grand jury, "it will be because they believe they have enough to convict, not because they think it will give them leverage or result in a plea or something like that," said Long Island attorney Rick Collins, the author of "Legal Muscle: Anabolics in America."

Bonds' longtime friend and personal trainer, Greg Anderson, one of four men convicted in the BALCO steroid trafficking case, was sent back to prison by a judge last week and denied bail for refusing to testify before the grand jury. (Anderson's attorney yesterday asked a California appeals court to allow his client to be freed on bail.) Though Anderson is not available, several other key witnesses have appeared. Among them: Bonds' former physician Arthur Ting; Giants trainer Stan Conte (no relation to BALCO founder Victor); and Kimberly Bell, who reportedly told the grand jury that Bonds gave her about $80,000 in possibly undeclared cash and admitted to her he used anabolic steroids before he was introduced to BALCO.

Bonds told a grand jury in December 2003 that he did not knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs.

Sources within Major League Baseball said they have no inside information, but expect that the troubled slugger will be indicted. On one of the next few Thursdays, the grand jury will meet in the Philip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco and may be asked to weigh the evidence. If at least 12 of the 23 members agree that there is "probable cause" that a crime has been committed and Bonds is the one who committed it, they will return a "true bill," otherwise known as an indictment. The grand jury could also return a "not true" bill, meaning it will not indict. The U.S. attorney could also decide not to seek an indictment at that point, or request an extension for the grand jury from the judge.

Collins said he thinks the feds would have a tough time getting an extension.

"I'm not so sure there would be a basis for it," he said, noting that he is not familiar with all the facts in the case. "If the government doesn't know what witnesses they need now, they never will."

Several senior MLB sources said they believe Bonds likely will be indicted, and that they found plenty of damning information about Bonds in their own investigation, launched secretly a year before commissioner Bud Selig appointed former U.S. Senator George Mitchell to conduct an inquiry in the spring.

A Bonds indictment, coming just two months after he passed Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list, would be a public relations calamity for the game. But players, coaches and baseball executives at the All-Star festivities said they haven't paid attention to his legal problems.

"I don't know," Mets shortstop Jose Reyes said, "and I don't want to talk about it."

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher B.J. Ryan claimed geographical ignorance. "I don't get caught up in that story because we're on the East Coast and they are on the West Coast," he said.

Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said it was a league thing.

"We're so far removed from it in the American League. It's not something I put a great deal of thought into," he said. "I just know this - the game is bigger than anybody and I think that's proven time and time again."

Tommy Lasorda seems to have an opinion on just about everything, but the longtime former Dodgers manager said he couldn't talk about Bonds' future.

"I have no idea what's going to happen, so there's no sense in commenting," Lasorda said. "Nobody else does, either."

Originally published on July 11, 2006

Looks like the "old boy" network that is major league baseball is giving Barry the stiff arm. Barry deserves what he gets but major league baseball turned a blind eye to the problem for years and Bud Selig should be hung by his testicles from Miller Parks roof.

Selig has testicles? :lol:

Not Selig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not the Guy who ripped off the Brewers franchise and there fans for many years!! Selig is a Savior in baseball.

The Chico :D

It's debatable. :lol:

Well....the ilk of MLB in the new century, Barry Bonds, is nine or so shy of the MLB home run "record." BS. This ilk isn't worthy of respect, much less recognition for some drug-induced number of home runs. To heck with this guy!

I keep hoping against hope that he will blow out one or both knees....just because he deserves it....and, that way, we don't have to put up with his continuing BS.

Sorry, cle...but, I don't have enough respect for this guy to have a "civil" or "sporting" discussion concerning this ilk.

Same goes for Sosa and, ESPECIALLY, the other ilk from St. Louis....whose name I won't recall....because he won't talk about "history."

To heck with all of them!

B)

Dear Zip, Here, vent some like I do with "an oldie but goodie" !

Best regards, Cle

Cle,

Do you know what stadium that is at? I couldn't tell from the section of the wall in the picture, but perhaps you can.

Thanks,

Sikki