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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.
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March 13, 2006

The Truth About Barry Bonds And Steroids

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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?"

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