Bonds Can’t Escape From Steroid Woes, By: Elliott Almond
As his chase of Hank Aaron’s record continues, so does the speculation of past drug use.
Monday 28, 2007
As Barry Bonds races toward baseball immortality and the title of Home Run King, he can’t escape another sobriquet: Poster Child of the Steroids Era.
Fairly or not, Bonds has become its face – even if he isn’t the only player ensnared in the BALCO Laboratories scandal and its aftermath.
His historic chase of Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record of 755 comes at a time when U.S. sports leagues are mobilizing their anti-drug efforts and American sports fans are expressing apathy toward a milestone many believe will be tainted.
“The public doesn’t think of him as being the right guy,” former All-Star Andre Dawson recently told the Miami Herald when discussing the home run record.
Right guy or not, Bonds keeps hammering away as baseball starts to confront its unsavory past. Just last week New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi said the league should have apologized for its widespread drug problem years ago.
“I was wrong for doing that stuff,” the former A’s star told USA Today. “Steroids and all of that was a part of history. But it was a topic that everybody wanted to avoid.”
It’s one Barry Lamar Bonds wishes he could sidestep now.
From the time authorities raided Victor Conte Jr.’s Burlingame, Calif., nutrition company in 2003, publicity in the BALCO case has centered on Bonds. Although he was one of almost 30 athletes from baseball, football and Olympic sports to testify in front of a federal grand jury, the left fielder has generated the most attention.
And it hasn’t gone away in the 3 ˝ years since because of an ongoing perjury and tax evasion investigation. In short, he went from witness to target – all the while continuing to hit home runs at an amazing clip.
The government believes Bonds, 42, lied under oath in 2003 when he told a grand jury he didn’t knowingly take steroids. He said he took substances he thought were flaxseed oil and an arthritis balm, products authorities say were BALCO steroids known as “the clear” and “the cream.”
It appeared the government would charge Bonds last summer, but prosecutors decided against it – at least for the time being. Still, Bonds’ personal trainer, Greg Anderson, has been in prison since November on contempt charges for refusing to answer grand jury questions about the Giants slugger.
The government also has presented evidence to a grand jury that Bonds failed to pay taxes on money earned from memorabilia, according to a lawyer for one witness.
Bonds’ one-year, $15.8 million contract with the Giants was delayed for months last winter partially because of language pertaining to an escape clause if the slugger was unable to play because of legal issues.
But even if the government were to file charges against Bonds, a trial probably wouldn’t begin until after the 2007 season.
It has been speculated, however, that Commissioner Bud Selig could suspend Bonds based on an indictment and the results from former Sen. George Mitchell’s investigation into steroid use and baseball.
America’s pastime has taken the brunt of criticism about the drug issue partially because of Bonds, Giambi and Gary Sheffield, big-name power hitters who had links to the BALCO scandal.
It was magnified in early 2005 with the release of Jose Canseco’s tell-all book that provided anecdotal evidence of steroid use by Mark McGwire and other stars. That led to an embarrassing hearing on Capitol Hill where lawmakers excoriated baseball’s leadership for their tepid drug policy.
But it was a book about Bonds, “Game of Shadows,” that proved to be the tipping point for Selig, who then appointed Mitchell to investigate the problem.
Mitchell’s ongoing investigation had gone quietly until the recent conviction of a former New York Mets employee who admitted to supplying “dozens” of baseball players with a variety of steroids. After pleading guilty, Kirk J. Radomski agreed to assist Mitchell, a move that could boost the investigation.
It is part of a new era of cooperation between sports leagues and investigators. David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said Thursday his group has been assisting the Drug Enforcement Agency on cases of international distribution of steroids and growth hormone.
And this spring all the major U.S. sports organizations met with the federal government in the first signs of a concerted national anti-drugs campaign. Initial talks have centered on the possibility of sharing information to help monitor the activities of athletes and their distributors.
With 10 home runs needed to tie Aaron, Bonds isn’t responding to steroids-related questions. He rarely addresses any off-the-field issues, let alone that type.
Still, those allegations have increased as the home run mark comes into view. Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling recently broke the game’s code of silence to criticize Bonds. Although Schilling quickly apologized for saying Bonds has admitted using steroids and cheated on his wife and his taxes, some former players haven’t backed away from their harsh words.
“It has played a major issue in his performance,” Dawson told the Miami Herald. “It hasn’t been documented, but as a player, you see it.”
Former All-Star Dale Murphy told the New York Daily News: “He’s gone about his career the wrong way. I’m very indifferent to what he’s accomplishing.”
And the man who is clinging to the all-time home run record? Aaron has said he plans to play golf the day Bonds passes his mark. Read into it what you will.
