Et tu, Barry:? After yesterday's bombshell announcement about Jason Giambi (here and here), the San Francisco Chronicle is now reporting that Barry Bonds admitted to using banned substances in 2003, but said that he did not know they were banned at the time. Although Bonds's grand jury testimony remains sealed, it has apparently been leaked to the paper as Giambi's was:

Bonds testified that he had received and used clear and cream substances from his personal strength trainer, Greg Anderson, during the 2003 baseball season but was told they were the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis, according to a transcript of his testimony reviewed by The Chronicle.



Federal prosecutors confronted Bonds during his testimony on Dec. 4, 2003, with documents indicating he had used steroids and human growth hormone during a three-year assault on baseball's home run record, but the Giants star denied the allegations.

The article has a great number of excerpts from Bonds's testimony about his dealings with his former trainer and his supposed use of the "cream" and the "clear," both of which are euphemisms for performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds also claims in his sworn statement that the drugs did not work.



So what does this mean for the man universally regarded to be the best player in baseball, and one of the best players in history. Like it or not, his records may be tainted by these accusations. If this is all that emerges, I doubt much will come of it, because as Ray Ratto writes, intent is key. However, if this is just the tip of the iceberg, both Bonds and baseball could be in for a long, bitter struggle. For Bonds, the worst thing that could happen is that his records are wiped off the books. Again, unless clear proof emerges that he took performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career, this will not happen. There has also been talk of an asterisk, though this also seems unlikely. Most probable is that every discussion of Bonds's legacy will include the statement "Yeah, but..." At this point, there seems to be little Bonds can do to change this. Many believed that he used performance-enhancing drugs before these admissions and now have evidence to back up their speculations.



No matter where this story goes in the next few days, baseball has been dealt another huge public relations blow. Instead of speculating on which team Pedro Martinez will sign with, or where Randy Johnson will go, all guessing centers on which players are using performance-enhancing drugs. Bud Selig made his first strike yesterday, calling for the union and the league to work together for stricter drug testing. Only time will tell what effect these revelations have on professional baseball.



Also: In other Balco news, Victor Conte apparently will reveal on 20/20 that we advised Olympic sprinter Marion Jones on performance-enhancing drugs before and after her gold-medal performance at the 2000 Olympics. The speculation that Jones had used drugs followed her throughout this year as she struggled to make the 2004 Olympic team. He also says that he watched her inject HGH (human growth hormone) in 2001. Jones continues to deny this but she too will most likely have her accomplishments tainted by a "Yeah, but..."

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