Most baseball fans have been suspicious of Barry Bonds' steroid usage for years, but it's still weird to see it all in print. Wednesday, reams of documents from Greg Anderson's house were unsealed ahead of Bonds' trial for lying to a grand jury and they allege that Bonds tested positive for steroid use not just once, but four times, including once in a test given by Major League Baseball in 2003 (when the league was testing to assess whether a drug program was necessary and the results were not made public).
So, that's it. I mean, we all talked about Bonds' potential steroid use for years, but this is the smoking gun. One failed test is one thing, four failed tests plus a failed amphetamine test is something else. Bonds and his lawyers will move to suppress these documents, but the implication is immediately clear: Unless there's been a huge mix-up, it certainly looks like Barry Bonds took steroids.
So where do we go now? Beyond the baseball implications, Bonds could really find himself in a lot of trouble. He's being tried for lying to a grand jury when he told them that he didn't take steroids. While a designer steroid like THG might fall into a gray area when trying to define "steroid," these failed tests are for methenolone, nandrolone, exogenous testosterone, and clomiphene, a drug used by bodybuilders to recover during steroid cycles. There's no gray area with drugs like that -- those are steroids.
The real remaining question is whether or not these documents make it unambiguously clear that the person they're referring to is Bonds. Anderson is the one person that can answer these questions and it looks like he's going to keep refusing to do so. I don't know if the government has witnesses other than Anderson who can answer those questions, so it's impossible to say what the outcome of this trial might be.
How baseball reacts, however, isn't tied to the trial. Even if they can't pin this evidence on Bonds in court, it's pretty damning. We've still got years to go for this debate, but I can't imagine Bonds getting anywhere near the votes necessary for the Hall of Fame unless he proves that these tests aren't his.
Is this enough evidence to do that? Is this enough for Bud Selig to strike his home run records from the books? Did he really take more steroids than anyone else that played in the late 1990s and early 2000s? I don't think we can answer those questions yet, but these are certainly all debates that are going to take place in the next few months.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bonds is a cheat and a lier...
I don't understand why this is a story. Didn't we all read 'Game of Shadows'? He admitted to use of the Cream and the Clear, and we know those were steroids, whether he says he knew that or not at the time is irrelevant. Other than failing an official MLB test, I'm not moved by this new info in the slightest. And no, I don't think Bonds used the 'most' steroids in MLB in the 90's, but, given BALCO's track record, I think we can safely say he was using the best ones.
Drink up!
I AGREE WITH OAK, THERE IS NOTHING KNEW ABOUT THIS STORY. BUT I WILL SAY THIS HE WAS THE BEST PLAYER OF HIS GENERATION!!!!!!
Hey somebody tell Jay Mariotti: It was a NEWSPAPER that broke this story, for AOL to leech off of.
HEY JAY MARIOTTI, NEWSPAPER BASHER: YOUR NEW COMPANY LOST $17 BILLION LAST QUARTER, AND GOOGLE ENDED ITS PARTNERSHIP WITH YOU TODAY.
GLAD YOU'RE AT THE "PLACE TO BE" NOW, JERKOFF.
Barry is the homerun king and a great baseball player. Steroids? So what! Everybody knew what was going on but it was fun watching him kill the ball! Don't penalize him now.Just think if they tested more in the past. We currently have congressmen that have been caught with tax evasion. They aren't even being prosecuted! Barry should pay a small fine and be told not to do it again! Barry you are great!!!!
bonds by his own girlfriends admission said he was envious of mcguire and sosa (2 more cheats) and the attention they were getting this came from kim bell his mistress why would if we were to believe mr cheat why would all these people"pick" on barry bonds give us all a break just admit it and strike him from the books forever,
f barry liar
Bonds is "great"??? No, no, no, you are making me laugh too hard!!!! The REAL home run king in baseball is Hank Aaron, plain and simple. I will gladly admit that Bonds could have hit 600 home runs in his career and probably stolen that many bases, too. But he cheated!!!! Cheaters don't get to hold records nor do they get to go to the Hall of Fame. Now, let's take a look at the pictures of Bonds when he was a rookie and compare them to when he joined San Francisco---where he could barely walk. The man's head is now mis-shapen. Why can't he walk anymore? Because his testicles have shrunk down to the size of M&M's---that's what steroids do to you. Now he has been caught lying under oath, not only in court, but to Congress as well. He's looking at some SERIOUS jail time.