Bonds Is Silent on Steroids

After his first two at-bats of spring Thursday afternoon, Barry Bonds said he would know by the All-Star break if this is his final season and has not ruled out becoming a designated hitter to extend his career, but would not field questions concerning his alleged steroid use or the commissioner’s investigation into it.

Near the end of another day spent rehabilitating his chronically sore right knee, which he said he believes will be strong enough to carry him on opening day and beyond, Bonds sat in front of his locker at the San Francisco Giant spring facility.

He spoke at length for the first time since the release of excerpts of a book detailing his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs, several times answering probing questions, “Do you want to talk baseball or do you not want to talk at all?”

A team public-relations man occasionally interrupted, scolding, “Baseball questions.”

Over Bonds’ right shoulder, a cameraman captured the details for Bonds’ documentary, which will appear regularly on ESPN.

He had struck out and singled through the right side against the Angels in Tempe, but did not play left field. After three innings, Bonds, surrounded by six others, including a Major League Baseball security official, left the field and returned to the Giants’ clubhouse in Scottsdale.

In regard to his knee, and the number of games he might be able to play, Bonds said: “I probably will go through some issues. Once the season starts, you want to be out there on a day-to-day basis. I better hurry up, though.

“Right now, the way things are going ... I’m real positive. I’ll be able to tell more when I get on the field.”

Under orders from Commissioner Bud Selig, baseball is conducting a review of the book, “Game of Shadows,” which contends Bonds used a massive amount of steroids over a period of at least five years. Baseball has yet to obtain a copy of the book.

Selig will determine Bonds’ fate, and therefore has been guarded in his comments. He suggested Thursday that the investigation will be done by a panel.

“I said there would be a lot of people involved and there will be a lot of people involved,” he said. “It has to be done fairly, sensitively, conscientiously.... Any further comment would be unfair to the process.”

While it has not committed to investigating Bonds itself, the House Government Reform Committee, which subpoenaed baseball players and personnel for a hearing a year ago, will monitor Selig’s investigation.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), the ranking member of the committee, said in a statement: “This new information is deeply disturbing and, if true, devastating. This goes to the core of the game’s integrity. The Commissioner’s Office must conduct a responsible and comprehensive investigation and get to the bottom of this, just as it did with the Pete Rose scandal.”

Former commissioner Fay Vincent, who was deputy commissioner when attorney John Dowd was hired to investigate Rose in 1989, told the Associated Press that Selig should employ an outside agent or committee to examine Bonds.

If Selig finds hard evidence that Bonds played while under the influence of steroids, he could attempt to employ his best-interests-of-the-game power to discipline him. Selig has not requested a meeting with Bonds, who has denied using steroids.

The scandal and Selig’s inquiry are complicated by Bonds’ advance on the greatest home run hitters in history. Bonds has 708 home runs, third to Hank Aaron’s 755 and Babe Ruth’s 714.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), a Hall of Fame pitcher, told USA Today that if the allegations are accurate, “It’s up to baseball to do something. Anyone who did that should have their records erased.”

Angel Manager Mike Scioscia called it “disturbing” that the records of some of the game’s legendary players could be surpassed by players on steroids.

“If they are doing it with means that weren’t accepted practice or legal -- some of the stuff we used was legal at the time,” he said. “It wasn’t against baseball ethics or code of conduct. There certainly has to be some sorting out before you arbitrarily throw some records out. These guys are all great players. There’s no doubt of that. But to what extent are their records going to stand the test of time has to be sorted out and see under what pretenses some of them were made. But whether Barry took steroids or not, before he allegedly took steroids, he was the best player in the game.”

Bonds, who returned to camp Thursday after attending a child custody hearing in California the day before, appeared largely unmoved by the controversy. He joked with teammates, and in Tempe laughed with Angel players and Scioscia. At first base after his single, he playfully waved Casey Kotchman away from the bag, implying there was no need to hold him on; he wasn’t running.

Asked how he was holding up emotionally, Bonds said, “I don’t know. I haven’t shot anyone yet. So, I’m doing pretty good. I haven’t killed anyone. I haven’t gone psycho. I don’t worry about that stuff.”

A decision about retirement hasn’t been made, he said.

“I think about it every year,” he said. “I don’t know what keeps me coming back. Maybe the 1st and the 15th [of the month]. I pay child support, y’all. I gotta keep working.”

If that work was in the American League, where he would be free of the rigors of left field, Bonds said, “I’d have to tackle that in the off-season. If that’s where it’s headed, that’s where it’s headed.”

He is 258 hits short of 3,000, and of course is close to Ruth and Aaron. While he said the home run record was not important to him, he’d like to reach 3,000 hits.

“That’s something I’d like to do,” he said.