Bonds Gives Media Needle

Two surgically repaired knees will prevent Barry Bonds from taking batting practice until March, but the San Francisco Giant slugger still got a few whacks in Tuesday, lashing out at the media for its coverage of baseball’s steroid scandal and ripping Jose Canseco for accusations in his recently released book.

“All you guys have lied -- should you have an asterisk by your name?” Bonds told the large gathering of reporters and television cameras in his first public comments since his grand jury testimony was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle in December. “All of you have dirt. When your closet is cleaned, then clean someone else’s closet. Let us move forward. We will fix the game.”

Bonds, 40, was angry, edgy and animated during the nationally televised 35-minute news conference in Scottsdale Stadium, occasionally slipping into a stream-of-consciousness mode that seemed designed to deflect attention from the question everyone wants answered but Bonds refused to discuss: Has Bonds’ pursuit of Hank Aaron’s home run record been aided -- and tainted -- by steroids?

Bonds, citing legal restrictions, would not discuss the case involving the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, known as BALCO, which is at the center of a major sports steroid scandal, and he spoke of steroids only in general terms.

The Chronicle reported in December that Bonds admitted to using two substances -- one he took orally, another he rubbed into his body -- obtained from personal trainer Greg Anderson, who was indicted in an alleged steroid-distribution ring.

Prosecutors believed the substances were performance-enhancing drugs known as the “cream” and the “clear.” Bonds’ lawyer backed Bonds’ testimony: that Bonds used substances he was told were flaxseed oil and an arthritis salve, not designer steroids allegedly developed and distributed by the BALCO.

Asked directly whether he’d ever used illegal performance-enhancing substances, the seven-time National League most valuable player said: “I’m not a child. You repeat those [questions] to children and eventually they tell you. I don’t.”

Bonds, who set the single-season record with 73 home runs in 2001, has 703 homers, trailing only Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).

When asked if an asterisk should be placed next to records of those linked to steroid use, Bonds grew agitated.

“You guys are like reruns, this is old stuff, like watching ‘Sanford and Son,’ ” Bonds said. “It’s almost comical, basically. ... It’s become like ‘Hard Copy.’ Are you guys jealous, upset, disappointed, what?”

Asked if he considered the use of steroids as cheating, Bonds said, “I don’t know what cheating is. I don’t believe steroids can help your hand-eye coordination, technically hit a baseball. I just don’t believe it. That’s my opinion.”

Does he believe steroids have been part of baseball in the last 15 years?

“I never paid any attention to it,” Bonds said, “and I didn’t care.”

What has been the key to his considerable gains in weight and strength and his off-the-charts home run totals in the later years of his career?

“Hard work,” Bonds said. “That’s about it.”

Canseco’s book describes a rampant culture of steroid abuse in baseball. The former slugger said he used steroids with several teammates, including Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez.

Canseco said he didn’t see Bonds take steroids, but noting Bonds’ prodigious production over the last five years, and his grand jury testimony in the BALCO investigation, Canseco said, “The simple fact is Barry Bonds was taking steroids.”

Bonds said he’s “not one to talk about another athlete -- that’s not my style,” and added that Canseco broke “a code in baseball, that you should respect your peers.

“I don’t know Canseco besides hello and goodbye. I don’t put any weight into what he says. Mark McGwire was a big boy in college. He hit a lot of home runs then and 49 homers in his rookie year. To me, Canseco, you’ve got to come with a whole lot more than that. It’s to make a buck, that’s all it is.

“I was better than Jose then, and I’ve been better than him my whole career. If he wants to go make money, go ahead. ... For somebody who brags about what he did, I don’t see enough [of his] records.”

Jason Giambi held a news conference in New York on Feb. 10 to apologize to the Yankees, teammates, fans and the media, though he never mentioned steroids.

Is there anything Bonds feels a need to apologize for?

“What did I do?” Bonds said. “I’m just sorry we’re going through all this stuff, all this fictitious stuff ... some of it may be fact, who knows? But to write it over and over again ... what’s your reason? What are you going to say about it when you’re wrong?

“Allow Major League Baseball, [Commissioner] Bud Selig, the union, the players, and the [new] drug-testing program to work.

“Let’s go forward. I truly believe we should go forward. Don’t rehash the past.”