Rockies pitcher accuses Bonds...

[DegenerationY]

Rockies pitcher accuses Bonds
Giants star angry at first player to say he took steroids


Scottsdale, Ariz. -- The temperature soared literally and figuratively at Giants spring training Wednesday, after a Colorado Rockies relief pitcher accused Barry Bonds of taking steroids, the first such public statement by another major- league player.

After participating in the team's first full-squad workout on a sunny, spring-like morning, Bonds held his second news conference in three days and reacted angrily to quotes attributed to Turk Wendell in Wednesday's Denver Post.

Later, in the Giants' clubhouse, Bonds was asked directly if he had knowingly taken performance-enhancing drugs. He refused to answer.

Wendell, speaking about the Feb. 12 indictment of Bonds trainer Greg Anderson for allegedly distributing illegal performance-enhancing drugs to athletes, was quoted as saying, "If my personal trainer, me, Turk Wendell, got indicted for that, there's no one in the world who wouldn't think that I wasn't taking steroids.

"I mean, what, because he's Barry Bonds, no one's going to say that? I mean, obviously he did it," Wendell said. "(His trainer) admitted to giving steroids to baseball players. He just doesn't want to say his name. You don't have to. It's clear just seeing his body."

Wendell's comments raise the prospect that besides hearing it from fans and the media for much of the season, Bonds could face a large dose of insinuation or outright accusation from fellow players.

Wendell, 36, is not an average major-leaguer, however. An outspoken pitcher who has played for 11 seasons, he has been known for, among other eccentricities, brushing his teeth between innings. He is preparing for his first season with the Rockies, who are scheduled to play the Giants 19 times this season.

Bonds had seen Wendell's comments before his news conference and reacted by blasting the pitcher.

"You know what?" Bonds said. "If you've got something to say, say it to my face. Don't be a little p-- and talk to the media. If you've got something to say to me, come to my face and say it and we'll handle it amongst ourselves, but don't talk to the media. I'm tired of that. I'm tired of guys chirping through the media.

"I'm not worried about (Wendell). I don't worry about any of them. I have a lot of respect for Turk Wendell. I have a lot of respect for every baseball player in this game. Just to disrespect other people like that, or talk to the media, I think that's chickens -- . If you've got something to say, you come to my face and say it, and we'll deal with each other, but don't be a pussy and go talk to the media like you're some tough guy."

Bonds has implied that he does not use performance-enhancing drugs, even saying Monday that Major League Baseball can test him "every day if they choose to." But he declined an opportunity to issue a blanket denial Wednesday.

A half-hour after Bonds' news conference, a Chronicle reporter approached the 39-year-old star in the Giants' clubhouse and asked if he had ever knowingly taken a performance-enhancing drug. Bonds calmly said he would not answer the question. On Monday, he did say "no" when asked if he thought he ever took any without his knowledge.

Bonds has declined to answer any specific questions about the indictments involving Burlingame's Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, other than to say he feels bad for Anderson. Before Wednesday's news conference, Giants media relations official Blake Rhodes, who sat next to Bonds the entire time, said, "Before we start, we need to reiterate that Barry will not be able to address legal questions."

Even if Bonds were to issue a denial when asked if he took a performance- enhancing drug, it's doubtful everyone would believe him.

In the Denver Post article that carried Wendell's comments, Rockies pitcher Denny Neagle was quoted as saying, "It is a pretty good coincidence that some of the names that are linked to (steroids) are the guys that are the big, massive, over-muscular-looking guys. And guys that did go through some serious body changes. I don't know or remember what (New York Yankees first baseman) Jason Giambi looked like back in his early days, but I know he wasn't as big as he is now. The jury is always going to be out on Barry."

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

LOL he called him a pussy hahaha

I still think Bonds is on the sauce though

[Mikey]

Originally Posted by sTiMa34 LOL he called him a pussy hahaha I still think Bonds is on the sauce though

Yeah, he called him a pussy on ESPN last night too, but they bleaped it out. HAHA

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

LOL a ton of players are coming in way under the weight they were last season..I wonder why?

Also on ESPN last night, Sheffield said that this guy asked him to take a test right then and there the other day. Sheff Agreed, but he said the guy didn't have any of the equipment with him or something. LOL WTF

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

I dont think Sheff is on the sauce, Giambi is the Yankee they shoulda tested

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Sheffield, Sosa, and everyone else always say "test me test me I dont care" because they know the player's union will never allow it so they're in the clear no matter what.

Plus I'm sure whatever drug they use now isnt detectable by modern tests

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Bonds is even bigger this year must have gotten some good shit from BALCO right before it got shut down

[Sensei Of Mattitude]

Anyone see Giambi lately? He's a stick figure compared to his impression of Scott Steiner last season.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Originally Posted by Sensei Of Mattitude Anyone see Giambi lately? He's a stick figure compared to his impression of Scott Steiner last season.

Hes on that new Atkins diet

They should just make Steroids legal for a season and see what happens just for the hell of it. You'd probably have guys like David Ekstein belting 50 homers in a season.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

LOL Unbanning an illegal substance

[Shawn]

David Eckstein with muscles would be scary. I bet David Wells would just continue to get fat.

Last year I felt Vernon Wells had bulked up way too much, too fast. Even though I'm a Jays fan, I'm not blind.

[John la Rock]

lol Barry Bonds has to be on something

[The Outlaw]

brb gonna find an article about sosa.

Also, I think Bonds is definately on the sauce.

[The Outlaw]

K here it is. I did a report on the subject, pretty interesting.

http://baseball.about.com/gi/dynamic...e_of_reilly%2F

EXCUSE ME FOR ASKING Rick reilly It was a simple, straightforward question for Chicago Cubs bomber Sammy Sosa. "You've said if baseball tests for steroids, you want to be first in line, right?" I asked him last Thursday at his Wrigley Field locker. "Yes," Sosa replied. "Well, why wait?" I said. "What?" I wrote down the name and phone number of LabCorp, which has a diagnostic test lab in Elmhurst, Ill., 30 minutes from Wrigley. I told him what LabCorp had told me: If any person wants to be tested for steroids, all he has to do is have his physician give a written order and bring in a blood or urine sample. The lab could have the results back within 10 days. Sosa looked at the piece of paper as if it were a dead rat. "Why wait to see what the players' association will do?" I continued. "Why not step up right now and be tested? You show everybody you're clean. It'll lift a cloud off you and a cloud off the game. It'll show the fans that all these great numbers you're putting up are real." Sosa's neck veins started to bulge. I tried to tell him how important I thought this was. How attendance is headed for the cesspool. A former MVP told SI that 50% of the players are on steroids. The fans are starting to look at every home run record the way people look at Ted Koppel's hair. And there's the threat of a strike. Something good has to happen. What could be more positive than the game's leading home run hitter's proving himself cleaner than Drew Carey's fork? Sosa looked at me as if I were covered in leeches. "Why are you telling me to do this?" he said. "You don't tell me what to do." I tried to explain that I wasn't telling him to do it, I was just wondering if he didn't think it would be a good move for him and the game. "You're not my father!" he said, starting to yell. "Why do you tell me what to do? Are you trying to get me in trouble?" I asked how he could get in trouble if he wasn't doing anything wrong. "I don't need to go nowhere," he growled. "I'll wait for the players' association to decide what to do. If they make that decision [to test], I will be first in line." But didn't he think a star stepping forward now, without being told to be tested.... "This interview is over!" He started looking around for security. "Over, motherf-----!!" (Note to young sportswriters: Always make your steroid question your last question.) The funny thing is, I doubt Sosa is on steroids. He has never missed more than six games in any of the last five seasons. Most nukeheads come apart like Tinkertoy houses. But plenty of people wonder: Here's a guy who went nine years without ever hitting more than 40 home runs. In the last four seasons he's hit 66, 63, 50 and 64. Here's a guy who was once a skinny, 165-pound, jet-footed Texas Ranger. Now he's a bulky, 230-pound Mr. Olympus. "This was because of my tooth," he had said earlier in the interview. "When I first came to Texas [in 1989], I had a bad wisdom tooth. The doctor discovered this, and he fixed it. After that, I start to eat much better." What'd he eat, Fort Worth? Sosa also explained that the extra muscle and added girth came from feverish weightlifting, not a feverish pharmacist. "I have a gym in my house [in the Dominican Republic]," he said. "I work out every day, seven days a week. Sometimes at two or three in the morning." He said the media's suspicions have hurt him. "They think everybody is guilty," he said. "They judge me, but they don't know me." That's about when I offered up my brilliant public relations maneuver of having himself tested. Soon we were discussing my relationship with my mother. Maybe Sosa feels he would undermine his union's bargaining power if he had himself tested. But when I asked him if that's why he didn't want to do it, he again mentioned, rather crisply, "You're not my father." No, but if I were, I'd tell him to get tested. And I'd say it to Barry Bonds and anybody else who says he cares about the game. If they've got nothing to hide, why wait? True, it would take some large cojones. Of course, if these players are on steroids, they lost those a long time ago. Issue date: July 8, 2002

I bet that guy never had a chance to interview Sosa again.

[The Outlaw]

Haha probably not.

But seriously, why would he get so upset?

LOL@Wisdom tooth story

I bet one reason he got so upset is because outside of baseball he's stupid.
Plus he's on the juice.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

True, it would take some large cojones. Of course, if these players are on steroids, they lost those a long time ago.


hahaha

[The Outlaw]

Yeah I threw that quote in when I gave my speech.

Got some laughs

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Rick Reiley is a great writer

[DegenerationY]

Wasn't Rick Reiley the guy who did the infamous John Rocker interview?

[The Outlaw]

Dunno

Rocker