Bonds Unhappy With Wendell’s Accusations

Barry Bonds chastised Colorado reliever Turk Wendell on Wednesday for accusing him of using steroids.

A day after Wendell said it was “clear just seeing his body” that Bonds was taking steroids, the San Francisco Giant slugger said the remark should have been made directly to him, not a reporter.

“I heard about his comments. If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face,” Bonds said. “Don’t talk through the media.

“I’m not worried about him. I’m not worried about anyone. I have a lot of respect for Turk Wendell. I have a lot of respect for every baseball player in this game. You got something to say, you come to my face and say it and we’ll deal with each other. Don’t talk through the media like you’re some tough guy.”

On Tuesday at Tucson, Wendell criticized Bonds to the Denver Post.

Bonds, who has always denied using steroids, appeared in December before a grand jury probing a supplements lab accused of illegally distributing steroids to athletes.

His trainer, Greg Anderson, was among four men charged this month. All the men have pleaded not guilty and no athletes have been charged.

“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,” Wendell was quoted as saying by the Post. “I mean, what, because he’s Barry Bonds, no one’s going to say that? I mean, obviously he did it. [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.”

Bonds also hinted that he wasn’t going to put up with as much from pitchers this season -- but he didn’t go as far as saying he would retaliate if he was hit.

“I’m not playing with any of these guys out there this year,” he said. “It’s going to be a battle and a war.... I think sometimes a couple of people got a little bit too comfortable with me, and those things are going to change.”

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Tom Glavine will start his second consecutive opener for the New York Mets.

The left-hander, going into his second season in New York, will face his former team in Atlanta on April 6.

Glavine was 0-4 with a 10.35 earned-run average last year against the Braves.

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The Boston Red Sox still prefer renovating Fenway Park to building a stadium, team President Larry Lucchino said.

Since buying the team and the stadium before the 2002 season, majority owner John Henry and his partners have made renovations. Seats were added above the left-field wall before last season and others are being added on the right-field roof for this season.

The park, which opened in 1912, has a capacity of 36,298. Of Boston’s 81 regular-season home games last year, 65 were sold out, including the last 64.

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The Toronto Blue Jays won’t discuss a new contract with Carlos Delgado until after the season. The first baseman will make $18.5 million this season, the last in a $68-million, four-year deal.

“We did the same thing with [Roy] Halladay, we waited till the end of the year,” General Manager J.P. Ricciardi said. “I think we are going to do the same thing with Carlos. We have talked to him already and told him we want him to be a part of what we are doing.”

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The Fenway Park groundskeeper involved in a bullpen brawl with two former New York Yankees sued the players for more than $33,000 for medical bills and lost wages.

Paul Williams Jr. contended his October fight with reliever Jeff Nelson and outfielder Karim Garcia left him with a deviated septum and he has lost his sense of smell, according to the suit filed Feb. 17 in Boston.

The fight occurred during Game 3 of the American League championship series between the Yankees and Red Sox.

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Former outfielder Darryl Strawberry resigned as a player development instructor with the Yankees to spend more time with church-related activities.... Kansas City right-hander Kyle Snyder will sit out the season after having surgery to repair a torn cartilage in his right shoulder.... Outfielder Ryan Thompson agreed to a minor league contract with the Houston Astros.... Gene Orza was promoted to chief operating officer of the Major League Baseball Players Assn. by union head Donald Fehr. Orza, the union’s No. 2 official, had been associate general counsel.