Bonds to appear before BALCO grand jury

THE STEROID SCANDAL SI Writers • CNNMoney: Players' health should be priority • Donovan: Yankees in middle of storm again • Verducci: This problem won't go away • Taylor: Players should stand up to union • Layden: BALCO case puts stars at risk • Donovan: Baseball's numbers don't add up • Verducci: MLB's drug plan lacks punch • Fish: Steroid sleuth leads charge against THG • SI Special Report: Steroids in baseball • SI Flashback: Caminiti comes clean Latest News • Lawyers reiterate defense of Bonds • Report: Bonds, Giambi, Sheff got steroids • Smoltz calls for tougher drug testing • Kent: Was Babe Ruth on steroids? • BALCO lawyers say Bonds is clean

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds weighed 185 pounds as a rookie in 1986, when he was a slender leadoff hitter known more for stealing bases than hitting homers.

Now he's a muscle-bound 230 pounds, a six-time National League MVP who holds the season record for home runs and is gaining on Hank Aaron's career mark.

Bonds says his increased strength comes from intense weight training, a proper diet and nutritional supplements from companies such as the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO.

Still, when Bonds testifies Thursday in a probe focusing on possible tax and drug violations by BALCO, the grand jurors and fans across the country might wonder whether his muscular development has been entirely natural.

Bonds, 39, repeatedly has denied using steroids and argues that his evolution as a home run hitter has been steady.

"Go look at the back of my bubble gum card," he said after winning a third straight MVP award last month. "My numbers are consistent."

Except for 1989, Bonds has hit at least 24 homers in each of his 17 full seasons. The only dramatic jump came in 2001, when his record 73 homers marked the only time he topped 50.

On the other hand, four of Bonds' five biggest homer totals came in the last four seasons -- all after his 35th birthday.

Bonds will be the biggest name to appear before the grand jury.

Athletes from four sports -- football, baseball, swimming, and track and field -- already have appeared. That includes track star Marion Jones and her boyfriend, 100-meter world record-holder Tim Montgomery, four Oakland Raiders and Olympic champion swimmer Amy Van Dyken.

An appearance before the grand jury, or being subpoenaed to testify, does not mean an athlete is a target of the probe.

Bonds is linked to the only two people identified so far as targets of the federal grand jury: Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, and BALCO founder Victor Conte. Bonds became a BALCO client just before his record-setting 2001 season and has praised Conte for giving him a personalized nutritional program.

Bonds posed with Conte and Anderson for the June issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine and heaped praise on both.

"I visit BALCO every three to six months. They check my blood to make sure my levels are where they should be. Maybe I need to eat more broccoli than I normally do. Maybe my zinc and magnesium intakes need to increase," Bonds said.

"Victor will call me to make sure I'm taking my supplements, and my trainer Greg will sit near my locker and stare at me if I don't begin working out right away. I have these guys pushing me."

Bonds brought Anderson, a childhood friend, on a major leaguers' tour of Japan after the 2002 season, when the trainer met players such as Jason Giambi -- who also has been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury.

Anderson's home was raided by the Internal Revenue Service and a drug task force Sept. 5, two days after a similar raid at BALCO.

Anderson's attorney, Bill Rapoport, said computer files and other things "that were not paper" were among items taken in the raid. But Rapoport said he does not know specifically what was taken and said Anderson's only connection to BALCO was when he purchased vitamins from Conte to give to athletes he trained.