The Truth About Barry Bonds and Steroids
Mark Fainaru-Wada
March 13, 2006
ON MAY 22, 1998,
the San Francisco Giants arrived in St. Louis for a three-game series with the
Cardinals. That weekend, Giants All-Star leftfielder Barry Bonds got a
firsthand look at the frenzied excitement surrounding Mark McGwire, baseball's
emerging Home Run King. � Bonds had recently remarried, but on this trip he was
accompanied by his girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, a slender, attractive woman with
long brown hair and brown eyes whom he had met four years earlier in the
players' parking lot at Candlestick Park. Bell had been looking forward to the
trip, and it was pleasant in many ways--a big hotel room with a view of St.
Louis's famous arch; a wonderful seat eight rows behind home plate; and even
tornado warnings, which were exotic to a California girl. But Bonds was sulky
and brooding. A three-time National League MVP, he was one of the most prideful
stars in baseball. All that weekend, though, he was overshadowed by
McGwire.
Erythropoietin,
a.k.a. EPO, an endurance-boosting drug?
"I couldn't
even pronounce it."
Modafinil, a
stimulant?
"I've never
heard of it."
Of the substances
Anderson provided, Bonds said, "If it's a steroid, it's not
working."
The prosecutors
also quizzed Bonds about a calendar entry that said, "Barry 12-2-02 T, 1CC
G--pee." Did that reflect events on Dec. 2, 2002, when Bonds used
testosterone and growth hormone and then gave a urine sample to Anderson for a
private drug test?
"T could mean
anything," Bonds replied. "G could mean anything. And pee could
probably mean anything."
He couldn't
explain a medical report describing his testosterone levels--"I wouldn't
even understand it anyway, so they wouldn't talk to me about that," he
said--nor calendar entries kept by Anderson that reflected his use of steroids
and Clomid.
"I've never
had a calendar with him, never had anything," Bonds said.
"Did Greg
ever give you insulin?"